Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Martha Ross

  • wcu_cherokee_traditions-629.jp2
  • In this photograph, which is part of a series of four, Cherokee basket weaver Martha Ross demonstrates how to prepare white oak for making a basket. After cutting and curing, the oak tree is quartered before the maker begins the process of making splits. In this photograph Ross is shown pulling apart a length of white oak repeatedly to make subsequently thinner strips. Martha Lossiah Ross (b. 1931) was born and raised in Big Cove, a remote section of the Qualla Boundary near Cherokee, North Carolina. Her mother, Charlotte Lottie Welch Lossiah made and sold baskets. Ross specialized in white oak baskets and joined the Qualla Arts and Crafts cooperative in 1956. In 1975, she began working there and remained for 23 years. The last photograph of the series is stamped with the mark of Asheville-basked photographer Ron Ruehl; he most likely took the entire series of pictures.