Duck Decoys

Season 5 • Episode 6

Chickasaw Culture Keepers

Carved sculptures are important to the Chickasaw people, both as an art form and as a way of connecting to their heritage. In this episode of Thrive: Traditions, Chickasaw linguist and artisan Joshua D. Hinson, called Lokosh in Chickasaw, carves duck decoys to connect his passion for duck hunting with his culture. "While it's not necessarily traditional in the sense that our Chickasaw ancestors hunted with decoys," says Joshua, "they were fantastic artists and they made sculptures of all sorts." To make his decoys, he starts by carving the piece from cedar, which then he then adorns with colors, symbols and patterns found in traditional Chickasaw art. The resulting sculpture is a carved effigy like his ancestors used to make that could also be used for duck hunting. Joshua encourages other Chickasaw artists to explore ways their culture can be incorporated in their work, encouraging them to branch out, grow and try something new.

EPISODES

3m 30s

Duck Decoys

EPISODES

Pottery

Stickball Sticks

Beading

Regalia

Metalsmithing

Shell Carving

Weaving

Horticulture

Baskets

Traditional Foods

Quilting

Flutes

Beaded Collars

Drum Making

Storytelling

Bow Making

Brent Greenwood Art

Beaded Jewelry

Flint Knapping

Stomp Dancing

Beadwork

Turkey Calls

Traditional Stories: How Day and Night Were Divided

Woodturning

Bead Artisan

Textile Art

Quilt Making

Jewelry

The Legacy of Bow Making

Bead Artistry

Painting

Woven Mats

Metalworking

Photography

Pashofa

Deer Toe Shakers

Stickball Sticks

Shell Carving

Medicine Bags

Natural Dyes

Twinning

Bladesmithing

Fish Nets

Porcupine Quillwork

Pottery Burnishing

Shell Carving

Duck Decoys

Traditional Arrows

Fine Gourd Art

Traditional Flutes

Turtle Pottery

Turtle Shell Shakers

Pucker Toe Moccasins

Chunkey

Tattoos and War Paint

Leggings and Breechcloths

Hide Brain Tanning

River Cane Harvesting, Splitting and Peeling

Stories of Kullihoma

History of Beads