Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Basket: honeysuckle, handled

  • wcu_craft_revival-6003.jpg
  • This undated basket was made by Cherokee basket weaver Lucy George. The basket is honeysuckle woven over white oak splints with two carved drop handles attached to the base. A small handled basket such as this one can be used as a purse; some are called shoppers. The honeysuckle was dyed with butternut and walnut. Both plants, used by Cherokee basket weavers to make dye, are native to the region. Lucy Nola George (1897-1978) was raised in the Birdtown community on the Qualla Boundary. In a departure from traditional Cherokee ways of learning, Lucy George did not learn basket making from mother. In the 1930s, as a grown woman, she learned the craft from Julia Taylor. She developed her own methods, weaving baskets from honeysuckle. She also taught others and demonstrated her craft.