The 40th annual Native American Crafts Day will be held at Northwestern State University Saturday, Dec. 1, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. in Williamson Museum on the second floor of Kyser Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.
Craftspeople from Louisiana tribes and their neighbors will demonstrate and sell traditional crafts. All proceeds from sales will go to the craftspeople.
The Anthropological Society at Northwestern State and The Native American Student Association sponsor the event.
Craftspeople from the Coushatta, Choctaw, Tunica-Biloxi, Houma, Choctaw-Apache, Alabama-Coushatta, and Chitimacha will have basketry, beadwork, silverwork and other crafts. There will also be Creole file making, weaving and featherwork as well as blowguns, bows and arrows and woodcarvings.
“The Houma and the Jena Band of Choctaw are famed for their carving skills and the Chitimacha are internationally known for their cane basketry,” said Northwestern State Professor of Anthropology and director of the Williamson Museum Dr. Hiram F. “Pete” Gregory. “The Coushatta and Alabama-Coushatta are the most traditional pinestraw basket makers while the Clifton Choctaw and other tribal weavers innovate new style and colors.”
The Williamson Museum is in compliance with the Native American Arts and Crafts Act of 1990 and tribal crafts are protected from imitators at the museum.