White Oak Gathering

The event featured some incredible demonstrations of the entire process of making white oak baskets.

Splitting the Tree: Maker Billy Smith demonstrated splitting a white oak log, starting with a one-half log. Smith narrated the process of selecting, harvesting, and splitting white oak trees in the forests of Kentucky. Smith discussed the various methods of splitting, from a 4-to-5-foot long log to splitting it into halves, quarters, and eighths until it had become thin splits.

Refining the Splits: Micah Wiles continued the presentation, refining splits created by Smith in preparation for basket making. Micah narrated the process of trimming the edges and refining the splits to personal preference to achieve uniformity in the basket's look.

Basket Making: Makers Mary Ann Smith and Vicki Hast demonstrated taking the refined splits to make two different types of baskets. Mary Ann Smith created an egg basket, while Vicki Hast created a market basket. (Some parts of the baskets were pre-made to save demonstration time, but the makers narrated these parts of the process.)