There’s an interesting article in The Journal of Southern History that describes how Sara Avery McIlhenny (of Tabasco fame) saved the last remaining lands of the Chitimacha (a tribe of which I am a member) from being sold. Not only was McIlhenny’s personal interest in the Chitimacha fueled by her interest in their basketry, the baskets served as the iconic representation of the tribe to the nation, leading federal authorities to recognize the tribe officially and designating the land as a federal reservation.

For an 11:15 a.m. departure, U.S. District Attorney Walter Guion rode the Canal Street ferry across the Mississippi River and boarded a Southem Pacific train in the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. In his coat pocket or briefcase was a certified check for $1,240 signed by Sara Aveiy Mcllhenny. By late aftemoon the same day, March 13, 1914, Guion was rushing from the train station in Franklin, Louisiana, for the St. Mary Parish courthouse. There he presented the check to an attorney representing creditors whose judgment lien against the Chitimacha tribe was about to result in a public sale of these Indians’ only remaining land. …Mcllhenny put up her own money in order to preempt the sale. Within a couple of years Congress passed an act to reimburse Mcllhenny and to extend federal trust protection over Chitimacha land, making it possible for these south Louisiana Indians to become a federally recognized tribe. This sudden transformation in the Chitimachas’ political status happened mostly because of baskets.

Usner Jr., D. H. (2013). From Bayou Teche to Fifth Avenue: Crafting a New Market for Chitimacha Indian Baskets. Journal Of Southern History, 79(2), 339-374.

I only learned of this article because last April the author gave a lecture at the LSU Student Union. LSU had a few baskets on display and Dr. Usner had some slides and read parts of his article.

Chitimacha Baskets with a picture of one of the Chitimacha basket makers, who I think is Clara Darden.

Some of the Chitimacha Baskets held at LSU.

The full text of Dr. Usner’s 37 page article can be found online in the EBSCO database, Academic Search Complete.