Naomi Ilakkilak

This basket which naomi made is from Pandanus leaves, which are collected from the Pandanus tree that are all over the island. Naomi then striped the leaves into thin strands. These strands are then boiled in ‘colour’. The yellow colour is from the roots of the medicine tree, the orange from coconuts, the brown is a mixture of red and yellow, the green from pandanus ashes, and the lighter colours are from the white section of the pandanus leaves. The stripped leaves and the colours are boiled in drums over the fire to absorb all the pigment then left hanging to dry. After this the weaving process begins, which can take weeks or months depending on the size of the basket or in this case the lovely pandanus basket.