Edith Clayton, née Drummond (September 6, 1920–October 8, 1989) was a Canadian
basket maker.
Life and work
The daughter of James Alexander Drummond and Selena Irene Sparks, who were descendants of
Black Loyalist
Black Loyalists were people of African descent who sided with the Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War. In particular, the term refers to men who escaped enslavement by Patriot masters and served on the Loyalist side because of the C ...
s who left the United States in 1812-14, she was born Edith Drummond in Lake Loon,
Cherry Brook,
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
.
The basket weaving technique that she used originated in Africa and was passed along from mother to daughter over six generations. Clayton used natural dyes obtained from
Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...
women. She sold her baskets at craft fairs across Canada and also taught classes in basket making. Her baskets were exhibited at
Expo 86
The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...
.
She died in
East Preston at the age of 69.
Her daughters Althea Tolliver, Pam Drummond wall and Clara Clayton-Gough continue the family tradition of basket weaving.
Legacy
Clayton appeared in
Sylvia Hamilton's film ''Black Mother, Black Daughter''. Scholar Peggy Bristow (in a volume edited by Hamilton) Clayton's impact as "passing on a significant and uniquely African-Nova Scotian aspect of the province's heritage."
Further reading
* Edith Clayton's ''Market Basket: A Heritage of Splintwood Basketry in Nova Scotia''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clayton, Edith
1920 births
1989 deaths
Canadian basket weavers
Black Nova Scotians
People from the Halifax Regional Municipality
Canadian women basket weavers
20th-century Canadian women artists