Burlington Tooshkenig
Burlington Tooshkenig
An Unbroken Lineage
Sweetgrass growing in a field. Courtesy of Pl@ntNet.
Burlington Tooshkenig (he/him) has created art for as long as he can remember. Growing up in Walpole Island First Nation, he would design forts in the bush and draw designs in the sand on the beach. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he comes from a family of creatives–painters, carvers, beaders, and basketmakers. Tooshkenig specializes in sweetgrass basketry, which he learned from his grandmother. As a four-year-old, he would sit on his grandmother’s lap listening to her explain the process of making sweetgrass baskets. Through his grandmother, he is part of an unbroken lineage of sweetgrass basket makers.
At the age of fifteen, Tooshkenig began selling art on weekends at powwows. Occasionally, his family would become involved and work into the late hours to be ready for the weekend. But he didn’t take up sweetgrass basketry until young adulthood. At that time, he began to realize that the sweetgrass basket makers in his community were aging and some had passed away. He also noticed that there did not seem to be much interest in learning these techniques. This inspired him to invest in developing his basketmaking skills.
Close up of dyed quills. Courtesy of Awanigiizhik Bruce.
Sweetgrass grows across North America and is used for smudging in many Indigenous communities. In Tooshkenig’s community, sweetgrass grows abundantly and its abundance makes the plant a prime material for basket making. Today, in addition to sweetgrass baskets, Tooshkenig also makes birch baskets and has begun teaching himself black ash basketry. He adorns his baskets with porcupine quillwork, beadwork, stonework, shell work, braided sweetgrass and spruce root on locally harvested birch bark. In particular, he enjoys working with quills:
“It’s probably the natural material, the feeling in my hand, harvested from the land. Whereas beads, we don’t have that luxury of knowing that. [U]ltimately it [beading] has…come from materials that were from the earth, but it [quilling] just feels more home. I’m just comfortable with it, intrinsically; it just feels like I was supposed to do this all along.”
A view in Newfoundland where Tooshkenig lives and works. Courtesy of Michel Rathwell.
In addition to his artistic practice, Tooshkenig juggles homeschooling his two children, gardening, and other responsibilities. Now, living in Newfoundland, he has started growing sweetgrass himself. Whether working on a current piece, in his home, gardening, or visiting a museum, he is perpetually inspired by the world around him:
“When I’m working I’m always thinking of the next thing. So, my inspiration probably comes from what I’m currently doing. And then I think about traditional works. Works that have been passed down from generation to generation. I think of historical works; pieces that you can find in museums. I think about stories that were told to me by elders and my grandmother. I’m always looking for inspiration when I go out into the bush, I’m looking for inspiration when I’m looking through magazines.”
Tooshkenig’s basket All Things Familiar to Me. Courtesy of the artist.
His passion to learn and create new work is infectious and has led him to begin teaching others. He has taught basket making to pupils across communities for years. Through his efforts, several individuals have committed to sweetgrass basketry. As the COVID-19 virus spread across the world and shut down many in-person activities in 2020, he began teaching basket making classes online. In 2022, he taught 15 online basket making courses, each class composed of 12-15 students. He hopes that his classes will inspire new generations of basketmakers to be a part of revitalizing sweetgrass basketry.
With only a few sweetgrass basket makers producing work, Tooshkenig places a high value on his baskets: “I understand the value of my artwork not just as a piece of art but a piece of history…This…has been passed down to me. To me that is very, very valuable.” He finds that some artists are surprised at how highly he values his art, but believes it is part of his responsibility as a basketmaker to raise the value of art produced by all Indigenous artists.
In all that he does Tooshkenig thinks of others and those around him. From revitalizing sweetgrass basketry to sharing his knowledge with new generations of basketmakers to uplifting the work of Indigenous artists with each piece of artwork he sells, he extends support to Indigenous communities and artists across the continent.
Artist Biography
Burlington Tooshkenig is a Potawatomi artist from Walpole Island First Nation. Burlington specializes in sweetgrass basketry and is also a painter, quiller, and beader. Burlington is continually reclaiming various art forms as well as using innovative ways to demonstrate his culture through his art. He teaches some of these artistic expressions to classes in person as well as online. He creates tutorial videos for his Facebook art page, Sweetgrass & Cinnamon - Indigenous Art, which has a significant following. His commissions and sales are from around the world, including New Zealand, Hawaii, Japan, and Canada. The Indigenous Art Centre at Indigenous Art Centre, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and The Rooms Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Art Bank have acquired baskets made by Burlington. His hope is that one day he will have a few students or family members who carry on these art forms to future generations. Burlington resides in Holyrood, Newfoundland with his wife and two children.