Have you ever looked at a woven pine straw basket and wondered, “How did they do that?” If so, then now is your chance to learn. Grand Village of the Natchez Indians is proud to host a basket-weaving workshop by Becky Walsh Saturday and Sunday. Space is limited to 12 students on a first-come-first-served basis. Cost of the workshop is $60 per person and includes all materials and equipment for the class.

The deadline for reservations and payment for the workshop is 5 p.m. Tuesday. Please make checks payable to Becky Walsh, and submit them to Grand Village of the Natchez Indians, 400 Jefferson Davis Blvd., Natchez, MS.

Mrs. Walsh is a member of the Clifton Choctaw Tribe located in Rapides Parish Louisiana and the Louisiana Crafts Guild. Like many generations of women before her, Becky’s mother Kathleen Thomas taught her to weave pine straw baskets when she was 12 years old. A year later, she sold her first basket at the Folk Life Festival at Northwestern State University. This sale encouraged her to continue in her lessons and her craft to become the artist she is today.

She and her mother have attended festivals such as The New Orleans Jazz Festival, Ducks Unlimited and most recently the World Cultural Economic Forum in New Orleans. Magazines and small documentaries have featured both Walsh and her work as a basket-weaver. Today people can see her baskets in museums in Louisiana, Mississippi and other countries.

Mrs. Walsh has taught several workshops and other individuals how to make baskets. Although the basket weaving process is a long one that begins with the gathering of pine needles in the springtime, this workshop will be relatively short. It will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until noon Saturday. The class will resume at 2 p.m. and end at 5 p.m. Sunday.

For more information about the workshop please contact Grand Village of the Natchez Indians at 601-446-6502.

Rebecca Anderson is the historian at Grand Village of the Natchez Indians.