Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin member Sherri LaChapelle-Corn (Pitapanukiw) lectured on the plight of the black ash tree and taught a traditional basket weaving class for the Wisconsin Science Festival at the Discovery Building on the evening of Oct. 14.
The black ash is a tree native to much of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, including the current reservation grounds of the Menominee tribe in northern Wisconsin. The tree primarily grows in wet, swampy soils and saw its population rise after restoration efforts during the 1990s and 2000s.
LaChapelle-Corn said the Menominee typically harvest the trees in June and July, before processing their wood into strips. The strips are collected by first pounding the bark-stripped logs to remove water and separate the growth layers. The strips are then thinned and further processed into smaller strips for basket making. To weave them together, the strips must be soaked in water to make them more pliable and prevent them from snapping as easily, LaChapelle-Corn said.
The introduction of the emerald ash borer to Wisconsin in 2008 has drastically decreased the ash tree population in Wisconsin, which includes black ash trees, according to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Forests with the insect present typically see 98% of their ash trees die within six years of the insect’s introduction.
The EAB lives beneath the bark of ash trees, eating its tissues and killing the tree, according to the WDNR. The EAB quickly spreads when infested trees are transported to unaffected areas. The EAB is rapidly spreading across Wisconsin, but maintains mostly local infestations of ash trees.
The black ash tree will likely go extinct in three to five years on reservation lands, LaChapelle-Corn said. The trees impending extinction also comes at the time when the Menominee are working to revive their traditional methods of basket making. The Menominee are working to preserve as many strips of black ash bark as possible before the tree disappears, and with it, a distinctive tradition.
