Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

Western Carolina University (20) View all

Basket Weaving

  • wcu_craft_revival-6171.jpg
  • This undated color drawing was reproduced as a postcard. It depicts a Cherokee craftswoman making a basket at a site on the Qualla Boundary, the area of land owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee. The card reads, "Basket Weaving. One of the Arts of the Cherokee Indians." The card is one of 20 images in a set of 10 cards, with a different image from the Qualla Boundary printed on the front and back of each card. The cards were printed attached to each other in a long chain and were wrapped in a paper package labelled, "In the Land of the Cherokees." Postcards that featured such images as these were a common way to promote tourism in the Cherokee area, particularly to encourage patronage of the work of Cherokee artisans who displayed and sold their work at craft shops and cultural events around Cherokee. The postcard series was produced by the Asheville Post Card Company.