Sewn Histories: Sweetgrass Basketry, Cultural Heritage, and Community Change in the South Carolina Lowcountry

highlights: • Sweetgrass basketry is a cherished Gullah Geechee tradition • The basket tradition relies on a strong community foundation • Hurricane Hugo and following events disrupted the Hamlin community in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina • Basketmaking has both a cultural and economic significance, which reinforces community dynamics abstract: Sweetgrass basketry, a Gullah Geechee tradition, has evolved over three and a half centuries from a utilitarian plantation tool into fine art. This paper focuses on the Hamlin settlement community in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, which played a critical role in the preservation of sweetgrass basketmaking through the twentieth century. Examining community conditions pre- and post-Hurricane Hugo, which ravaged the Lowcountry in 1989, reveals disruptions to land use practices: retention of ancestral lands, access to basketmaking materials, and locations of traditional sales outlets. These disruptions affected community cohesion, and consequently, the sweetgrass basket tradition. This paper argues that the resilience of this cultural heritage is inextricably linked to the strength of the community. To ensure the future of sweetgrass basketry, it is crucial to recognize it as both a cultural and economic asset.