Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Basket: rivercane, storage

  • wcu_craft_revival-5558.jpg
  • This storage basket was made by Rowena Bradley, a Cherokee basket weaver of western North Carolina. Baskets such as these were made to store domestic goods, from dry foodstuffs to clothing. The natural aeration of the single weave allows the stored goods to remain dry. This basket was woven from rivercane that was dyed using walnut for the brown color and bloodroot for the orange. Rivercane, walnut, and bloodroot are native plants of the region. A single weave basket, the rivercane was woven upward from a square base. The design is an example of the traditional Cherokee pattern known as Double Peace Pipe, with the "pipes" interlocking on the diagonal. Rowena Bradley (1922-2003) was the third generation of known basket makers in her family. Both her grandmother, Mary Dobson (b. circa 1857) and her mother, Nancy George Bradley (1881-1963) were accomplished basket weavers. Basket making was a family tradition; her father, Henry Bradley gathered rivercane and dug roots for dye materials.