- Collection:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Title:
- Ernie Mills: Decoy Maker
- Creator:
- Mills, Ernie
- Contributor to Resource:
- Video by Darby Carl Sanders and Josh Borger, New Georgia Encyclopedia
- Date of Original:
- 2002/2006
- Subject:
- Arts--Georgia
Culture - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Houston County, Perry, 32.45821, -83.73157
- Type:
- Moving Image
- Format:
- video/mp4
- Description:
- Ernie Mills, who moved to Perry, Georgia, in 1978, is one of the few working decoy makers who still use a hatchet to hand-chop each decoy. Mills talks about decoy making.
Video of Ernie Mills, a decoy maker living in Perry, Georgia, speaking about and demonstrating the craft of making decoys. The video begins with a view of a duck decoy painted with the words "Mills Decoys" hanging on a wall. Shelves holding several other decoys sit below it. Mills notes that few decoy makers are now making decoys by hand. The view then shifts to Mills' workshop, where a partially carved piece of wood sits with several woodworking tools. Mills is shown carving a decoy with a hatchet. He notes that he makes a style of decoy known as the Lower Chesapeake decoy, which is a wide, flat-bottomed decoy used for stability. The video shows Mills filing down the rough edges of the decoy. He states that decoy making was one of the only folk arts native to America. He explains that the Native Americans were using decoys when the European settlers were not. He finishes by stating that he enjoys making decoys the longer he works on them.
Mills is one of the few working decoy makers who still use a hatchet to hand-chop each decoy. - Metadata URL:
- https://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/folk-arts-and-crafts-overview/ernie_mills_t1/
- Holding Institution:
- New Georgia Encyclopedia (Project)
- Rights:
-
