The Mohawk people are fighting to preserve their ash trees – and with them their tradition

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The Asian ash beetle is an invasive pest that is killing ash trees across North America and threatening basketry for indigenous tribes that rely on the wood, North Country Public Radio's Ana Williams-Bergen reports.

(Sound recording of axes hitting)

ANA WILLIAMS-BERGEN, BYLINE: It's a clear, sunny day on the Akwesasne Mohawk Reservation. People have gathered to watch men hacking ash logs with axes. Tyler Curleyhead is wearing thick work gloves.

TYLER CURLEYHEAD: Yes. I start at the narrow end and work my way to the wide end, about 1.5 to 2 inches wide. That's where the white layers are.

WILLIAMS-BERGEN: The Akwesasne Mohawks have been hammering logs this way for generations. This releases the fibers in long, thin strips called sapwood, which are the main material for weaving baskets. Working baskets are durable and made for practical use. People also make more elaborate baskets that are more delicate and often feature bright colors and intricate patterns.

Like many traditional practices, basket weaving became much less common during the era of residential schools and assimilation, but some Akwesasne elders still remember woodcutting as an important part of community life.

TEKAHIOKEN: It would usually start on a Saturday morning. You would hear this pounding – pum-pum (ph).

WILLIAMS-BERGEN: That's Tekahioken. He's touched that more people are shooting baskets again.

TEKAHIOKEN: You might as well call it a sacred, lost art. And you don't want something like that to disappear, just like our language. It keeps our culture alive.

WILLIAMS-BERGEN: But there's a problem – the Asian ash borer, an invasive species first discovered here in 2016. Jessica Rasphita works for the environmental department of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe.

JESSICA RASPITHA: The larvae burrow under the bark and eat the conductive tissue of the tree, the part of the tree that we use to make splints. That kills the wood.

WILLIAMS-BERGEN: Ash trees are used for basket making by tribes across the Northeast. And the Asian ash beetle is even more widespread. It has been found in 36 states and five Canadian provinces. Most trees die within two to four years of infestation, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture blames the beetle for the death and decline of tens of millions of trees. Indigenous groups have been fighting for access to and protection of their environmental resources since colonization. But the faster environmental change accelerates, the more the stakes are, Raspitha says.

RASPITHA: Because many of our traditional practices are historically and deeply linked to our natural resources – and when one of those resources is threatened, the cultural practice itself is threatened.

WILLIAMS-BERGEN: Angello Johnson is a sixth-generation basket maker who uses an axe he inherited from his great-uncle, who taught him to chop wood as a child.

ANGELLO JOHNSON: It's just so heartbreaking. And I really love this craft. And to see that it's under threat – you know, it might not be here for the next generation – it really touched me.

WILLIAMS-BERGEN: The Mohawk Tribe of Saint Regis is a leader in the fight against the Asian ash borer. They spray trees with insecticides, release predatory wasps and save seeds for replanting. This summer, they did something they've never done before. They cut down 50 trees suitable for basket making to harvest the chips before the beetles attack them. But they also need to pass on the knowledge of the craft. Johnson says his mission is to teach Akwesasne youth how to make baskets.

JOHNSON: They can't wait to come home and show their parents and grandparents. To make that connection from generation to generation is just incredible.

WILLIAMS-BERGEN: That connection relies on a resource that's becoming increasingly scarce as the Asian ash borer spreads. He hopes the tribe can keep the beetle at bay long enough to pass the craft on to the next generation. For NPR News, I'm Ana Williams-Bergen in northern New York.

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