T.
ABSTRACT
INTERVIEWEE NAME: Rosabel Sylestine COLLECTION: 4700.0511
IDENTIFICATION: A
woman of Coushatta heritage who made baskets for sale in the Acadian Handicraft
Project (1942-1962)
INTERVIEWER: Pam Rabalais; Yvonne Olivier (folklorists
from LSU's Human Ecology Department)
PROJECT: Acadian Handicraft Project
INTERVIEW DATE: September 2, 1995
FOCUS DATES: 1950s – 1960s
ABSTRACT:
T733, Side A
Introduction of
Rosabel Sylestine; Interviewer asks for her Coushatta [native american tribe of
which a portion live in Louisiana] name, she does not know it; Listed the names
of her husband, mother and father; Sylestine was born and raised in Elton,
Louisiana; when she was born; how many children [3] and grandchildren [11] she
had; Sylestine's mother taught her how to weave baskets; Sylestine had eleven
siblings, discussion of how many were still alive and where they lived;
Sylestine's mother made cane baskets and pine needle baskets to sell; Sylestine
only knows how to make pine needle baskets; Pine needle baskets are made by
Coushatta Indians; discussion of baskets on Sylestine's wall, elbow-basket;
discussion of how Louise Olivier[Olivier worked for the Acadian Handicraft
Project] found Sylestine and her baskets; Sylestine sold baskets to a man from
South Carolina circa 1970; Sylestine taught her children to weave but they
don't weave anymore because they all work or go to school; Sylestine began
working for the Acadian Handicraft Project at about the age of thirty-five;
discuss when Sylestine would have had time to weave since she had small
children and a family at the time; discussion of the materials to make pine
needle baskets, pine needles and raffia; Sylestine's mother and grandmother
made the same kind of baskets that she made; discuss what Sylestine did with
the money she earned for the sale of her baskets; discuss the price of the
baskets; Sylestine sold her baskets to many groups including the Acadian
Handicraft Project; Sylestine's mother would travel to town in a wagon to sell
her baskets; her parents lived nearby; discussion of several letters regarding
the Acadian Handicraft Project; interviewer asks for Sylestine's address;
discussion of time it takes to make a basket; discussion of additional designs
of the pine needle baskets; two types of stiches, wheat and plain; discussion
of the different shapes of baskets, animals, round, with or without lid;
discussion of the baskets in Sylestine's home are already sold and not
available for purchase; discuss baskets made from grass made by Sylestine's
granddaughter; Sylestine made a variety of baskets for the Acadian Handicraft
Project; Sylestine tells the interviewer the name of a basket in Coushatta;
discussion of the death of Louise Olivier; discussion about Sylestine's trip to
St. Martinville to the Acadian Bicentennial Celebration
T733, Side B
Discussion of
gathering the pine needles to make the baskets; older baskets tend to darken in
color; discussion of the measuring and weaving a basket; Sylestine's husband
worked in Lake Charles, Louisiana; further discussion of the man from South
Carolina who bought Sylestine's baskets; discussion of the other states where
Sylestine's baskets can be found; discussion of artisan labels with their names
on the baskets; one of the baskets had a label with Sylestine's name on it;
Sylestine's baskets were in an exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum in New
Orleans, Louisiana; Sylestine does not know any mystical stories related to the
baskets; Interviewer and Sylestine share the same birthday; Interviewer asks
Sylestine to respond to several questions in the Coushatta language.
TAPES: T733 TOTAL
PLAYING TIME: 1 hour
# PAGES
TRANSCRIPT: 59 pages
OTHER
MATERIALS: None
RESTRICTIONS:
None