(mellow guitar music) - Over the past few years, I've had the privilege of visiting the beautiful city of Charleston quite a bit, and it truly never gets old.

Whether you're visiting for the first time, or you get down here every chance you get, you're gonna be moved by the stories that the city tells through every meal, every tour and every person that you meet along the way.

And today, I have the honor for the opportunity to hear the story of sweetgrass weaving from Gullah consultant and artist Corey Alston.

Let's go for it.

(mellow guitar music) - Hey Dev!

- Hi Corey.

- How are you?

- How are you?

- It's good to see you.

- It's good to see you.

How are you today?

- I'm doing well, how you been?

- I've been so good.

- That's good, that's good.

- Family well?

- Oh, great, doing well.

- Good.

- What brings you in the area?

- Well, I'm actually here for you to tell me a little bit about sweetgrass basket weaving.

- Yeah?

- Yeah.

So, you know, people can't come to Charleston, right?

And not see sweetgrass baskets.

- Right.

- So why don't you tell me a little bit about the history behind the art form?

- Okay, well- - In South Carolina.

- Well, the art form, it dates back to the mid 1600s.

It was brought here during days of enslavement mostly because of rice cultivation.

So this pattern right here is known as a fanning basket.

And so the rice fan was used for separating the rice from the chaff, known as a winnowing style basket.

Taking more of a throwing thrashing motion.

The chaff, the husk would've blown away.

During that time of enslavement rice was the number one cash crop.

And so with the enslaved having the skill set of rice growing, sweetgrass basket weaving, that culture pretty much stayed here along the coast and passed down, now generationally.

- You have been on "Good Morning America."

You have a piece on display at the Smithsonian.

What does that mean for you as a generational artist to be able to share your story, your family story and culture with the world?

- What it means to me is more culture keeping, keeping the culture alive.

There's always someone of a generation that is active.

That's putting the work in, that's making sure the people aren't forgotten, the heritage isn't forgotten.

Let me show you something.

- [Devyn] Okay.

- This here is my raw material.

And as I can take this raw material and turn it into a piece of artwork, and then also knowing that the collectors or the families that's gonna receive it, they will also have more of a wow factor of, "Wow, he just turned that raw natural grass that was harvested."

We lay it to dry for about two to three weeks before I can even weave with it.

But I turn it from this into art.

- [Devyn] You've got some stunning work here.

It's all so beautiful.

Tell me a little bit about these?

- So these are Palmetto Roses.

I actually sell them individually.

I got a bucket up here.

Let me show you a little bit about it, if you don't mind?

- Yeah.

- All right.

So up here is where I have them individually tagged for some people that wanna learn the history about them.

But with this being a South Carolina love token artifact, I teach people how to make these because this is more of a Confederate background, and this is a Gullah African history background.

This is bloodline, this is South Carolina love tokens.

Would you like to make one?

- I would love to.

- Well, how about we walk over here?

There's a palm tree that's kind of low, and I can pull a palm frond out and maybe I can show you how to make it.

You like that?

- I would love that.

- Let's walk this way, come on.

- Let's go for it.

- All right.

(mellow guitar music) So with Palmetto Rose making we first need our state tree.

That's the palmetto tree.

What we're gonna be doing is making a fresh rose.

And as the fresh rose dries, it then takes on this natural tint that lasts forever.

Most people wanna know where did this come from?

Is it a sweetgrass rose?

No, it's not.

It's a Palmetto Rose.

So we're gonna use our palmetto trees to make this rose from start to finish.

Are you ready?

- I'm so ready.

Lets go for it.

- All right.

So what we have to do is find a palmetto tree, and what we're gonna do is we're gonna pop out the center stalk.

- Okay.

- That's where it grows at in the middle before it opens up, all right?

(soft mellow music) All right, so, if you'll hold this?

- I would be delighted to, thank you.

- What we're gonna do now is we're gonna open it up and we're gonna take that center.

- Oh my gosh.

- And then this is what we're gonna make it out of, this material right here.

So we break it down.

- I've never seen, it's like an accordion.

- Yeah.

- Almost.

- And this is gonna be how we're gonna make it.

And I'm gonna show you every step.

So then when you get back later you can make them, yep?

All right.

- That's amazing.

So we'll sit that right there.

- Okay.

- So, this here is gonna be what we call a palmetto frond.

So we're gonna split it down.

You know what?

How about, Devyn, you make this one?

- Oh, okay.

- And I make one as well.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- I love that.

- That way you have hands on.

- I love that.

- All right, let's do that.

- I sit our friends right there?

- Yeah.

- Okay.

- This is gonna be fun.

So then you'll make it yourself.

- Ah, okay.

- All right.

All right, so now I'm gonna catch up with you.

I'm gonna bring it down to about 12 inches of stem.

- Okay.

- So leave it.

Okay, so we turn the same way.

You're on my left.

So we're gonna take this top frond, fold it to the left at about a 90 degree.

Using your right thumb to press down, let's take this one and take this down to a 45, like, right in between the 90 and the stem.

Now, we go back.

Now we're gonna start rotating and alternating, all right?

I'm gonna go slow.

- Okay.

- So don't worry.

- Okay.

- I'm gonna go slow.

- I trust you.

- All right, so we're gonna take the first one and go over, turn.

Now we're gonna slowly turn the stem clockwise.

Yep, now we're gonna take the other one and fold it over.

Keeping the stem moving at all times, fold and turn.

Keep on turning that stem away from you.

Yep, you got it, Dev.

Check that out.

We'll fold all the material out.

You must have did this before.

You're doing good!

You're doing great!

What are you doing in Columbia?

- My crafty mom is gonna be so excited.

- Yeah, I think you making roses on the side.

- She calls herself a freaking craft genius.

I'm like, "But you don't know how to make a rose, though!"

- This looks good.

All right, so I'm gonna catch up with you because you're almost done.

So you can't really see it yet, but the next couple steps is gonna turn into the rose and it's gonna be real cool.

- You can already see a little bit of, like, the pedals though.

- All right, so let's hold the stem outward.

- Okay.

- Yep.

This tail, remember the hole that we left in that rose?

We wanna now stick this tail through the hole.

Just like that.

- Okay.

- You wanna kind of pull it, you'll hear a click.

All right, stop.

You're gonna take your hand, your right hand, and open it like a V. You're gonna stick that in there, that rose.

Everything like that.

Set it on in there.

What we're gonna do, we're gonna take this stem and now counterclockwise twist it.

We're gonna twist it to your left.

- Okay.

- And as we twist it I want you to squeeze your hand like I'm pumping it.

- Like a stress ball?

- Correct, correct.

So we're gonna pull and squeeze, pull and squeeze.

As you're doing that, you're gonna see it start to shape.

Look at it, it's coming together!

You see it?

- Mine's not nearly as pretty as yours.

- Well, I've been doing this for a long time.

- Come on, come on!

(Corey laughing) - Now we're gonna lock it in by using these little fingers that was draping around.

And we're gonna find a hole to stick it through.

Some people, yeah, yeah.

- I'm gonna cheat and look and see what you're doing.

- Lets find it.

Okay, see, I found my hole.

So some people use a rubber band.

The rubber band locks it in permanently.

We're locking it in just temporarily to secure it permanently like I did on mine.

Let me show you.

So, like on mine here, I use a rubber band to lock it in.

So when it dries it stays together.

You have a palmetto rose.

- I have a Palmetto Rose.

- People first mistake it to be a sweetgrass rose.

It's not that it's a sweetgrass rose, it's a rose made by a sweetgrass weaver.

This is a Palmetto Rose that was more known as a love token, a Confederate artifact.

You'll find it pretty much in any Confederate cities made by families of those soldiers that went to war.

So as the mom, wife, girlfriend, grandmother made the rose for that soldier that went to war, he wore it as a lapel, he wore it as a a keepsake.

And then when he came back he gave it to her as a gift or as a love token.

If you think of that time of the 16, 17, 1800s, they didn't have shopping malls, so everything was handmade.

And so this was made by her, given back to her as a gift when he returned safely.

So today you'll find sweetgrass basket weavers making it.

You'll find some of the boys of Charleston making the Palmetto Roses.

- A little love token straight from Charleston.

- Yes, well- - And my sweet friend, Corey Alston.

- I want you to have this one.

- Oh, thank you.

- So this is the story on the back that's gonna tell you everything I just told you about.

- Thank you.

- Yes, yes.

- This is so special and so significant to you to know the difference between what you do as a sweetgrass weaver and that what you can teach others about the Palmetto Rose.

- Yes, yes.

- The difference.

(mellow music) I'm so grateful to Corey for sharing his time and talent with me today.

Just getting a glimpse of his story, his culture and craftsmanship.

I'll never come to Charleston and look at sweetgrass basket weaving in the same way.

That is the beautiful power of travel.

When you dig a little bit deeper and you try or learn something new it's gonna change you for the better.

So plan a new visit to South Carolina.

Maybe support a local artist and take the time to hear their story.

Just go for it.

(mellow music)