Another good find at the thrift store! I found the smaller one a couple of years ago, not labeled, recognized what it was, and brought it home for $1. Yesterday I gave it some company when I found the flat, tray basket at another thrift store, also unrecognized by the managers as Cherokee handcraft, and salvaged it from an ignominious fate -- for $2. A happy pair now that give me much pleasure.
Handmade Cherokee baskets are generally woven from white oak or river cane. The colors are achieved with dyes made from natural sources, such as bloodroot and butternut. Baskets like these have been made by Cherokee craftswomen for tourist sale since the late 19th century in western North Carolina, especially near Qualla, home of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee.
For more on Cherokee Baskets, see here (and elsewhere):
www.bing.com/images/search?q=cherokee+baskets&qpvt=ch...
visitcherokeenc.com/play/art/
Tags: basket baskets Cherokee vase tray handmade crafts historic NC Carolina indigenous tradition native natural dyes handymen weaving fiber split oak western North Carolina Qualla boundary handcraft
A keepsake from my life in North Carolina. 🙏
Tags: basket fiber dye natural Cherokee bottom pattern NC weaving
Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the maker of this basket. It is not old. Many baskets are still being produced by local Cherokee weavers. . . these are descendants of the Cherokee who hid out when President Andrew Jackson conducted his inhumane long march, or "Trail of Tears", in 1838, from western North Carolina to present-day Oklahoma in his forced relocation of the Cherokee people from their ancestral lands in these parts. He did this at the behest of white settlers who were demanding access to the rich lands the Native Americans had occupied for generations.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trail_of_Tears
More here on Cherokee basket weaving:
www.wcu.edu/library/DigitalCollections/CraftRevival/craft...
The dyes used here are clearly from natural sources--certain roots and plants--although I cannot say which--perhaps bloodroot and redbud, both used as dyestuff.
The basic weaving material is thin oak wood, split from the inner bark of a live tree (at least traditionally it was).
I paid $1.50 at my local thrift shop for this one last year!
Tags: basket Cherokee woven northcarolina folklife history craft vase nativeamerican american indian WNC
July 2009
Memory of the farm. It was a wonderful life.
Nasturtium flowers are edible, too!
Tags: tomatoes basket country garden harvest summer height rock lichen variety veg Tropaeolum nasturtium
March 2009. A flush of wonderful eggs from our nine layers as spring started back in '09. They were very much appreciated.
Laying hens respond to daylight. They go on vacation during the winter, and then re-start with enthusiasm come spring and the return of the sun.
Olympus SP500UZ.
Tags: eggs basket spring violets wildflowers stone wall stonewall rockwall NC browneggs country chickens hens layers