"A third-generation Indigenous basket maker is setting the record straight about his craft it's a part of his culture, it's valuable, and artists can make a living off of it. On Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford defended his government's changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program, which lowered the maximum amount of grant money students will be eligible to receive toward their tuition from 85 per cent to 25 per cent."
"He doesn't know what he's talking about," said Spencer Lunham Jr. of the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, northwest of London, who has more than three decades of experience in the craft. "It's actually disrespectful to the people that live it every day." Spencer Lunham Jr. makes both utility baskets and traditional fancy baskets, he said, the latter featuring intricate colourful designs."
Premier Doug Ford defended changes to the Ontario Student Assistance Program that lowered the maximum grant toward tuition from 85 percent to 25 percent, and said students are 'picking basket weaving courses' instead of investing in in-demand jobs. Spencer Lunham Jr., a third-generation basket maker from the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, rejected that characterization, saying 'He doesn't know what he's talking about' and calling such remarks 'disrespectful to the people that live it every day.' Lunham learned the craft from family, uses a days-long traditional process with black ash, creates both utility and intricate fancy baskets, and works full time as a maker.
Read at www.cbc.ca
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