Sweetgrass Basket
The sweetgrass basket is the coiled basket of the Gullah people of the South Carolina Lowcountry, woven from sweetgrass with palmetto fronds and longleaf pine needles, a craft carried from West Africa to the American rice coast. The tight coil stitch descends directly from West African prototypes, and for centuries the baskets were practical tools, above all the broad fanners used to winnow rice on the coastal plantations. Weavers of Mount Pleasant and the Sea Islands passed the skill from generation to generation, and by the late 20th century the baskets were recognised internationally as fin