ᎯᎠ  ᏣᎳᎩ  ᎦᏙᎯ
This is Cherokee Land

ᏙᎩᏯᏍᏗ, known today as Asheville, is the ancestral homeland of the Cherokee. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians maintain an exceedingly small portion of their homelands in Western North Carolina today. Learn more about how the relationship between the Eastern Band and homelands continue to be paramount to their way of life.

Listen to
ᎯᎠ  ᏣᎳᎩ  ᎦᏙᎯ
This is Cherokee Land

ᎠᏂᎩᏚᏩᎩ,  ᏣᎳᎩ  ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ  ᏥᏚᎾᏙ  ᎪᎢᏳ,  ᎯᏍᎦᏚ  ᎢᏯᎦᏴᎵ  ᏧᏕᏘᏴᏓ  ᎾᏁᎰ  ᎤᎦᎾᏮ  ᎢᏗᏣ  ᏚᏅᏓᏒ. ᎤᎾᏕᏂᏙᎸ  ᏣᎳᎩᏱ  ᎾᎿ  ᎨᏒ  ᎢᎦᏛ  ᏗᏐᏯᏍᏔᏅ  ᎤᏴᏨ  ᎦᏯᎴᎾ, ᏅᎦᎾᏮ  ᏌᎧᎳᏂ,  ᏔᎾᏏ,  ᎠᎳᏆᎹ, ᏣᏥᏱ,  ᏩᏥᏂ,  ᏃᎴ  ᎬᎾᏓᎩᏱ.  ᎠᎹᏳᎶᏗ  ᏚᎨᏓᎵᏴ  ᏕᎦᏚᎮ  ᏃᎴ  ᏓᎵᎪᏕ  ᎯᎸ ᎢᎦ  ᎢᏯᏛᏁᎵᏓᏍᏗ  ᏧᏍᏗ  ᏕᎦᏅᏅᎢ.  ᎦᎵᏆᏚ ᏁᎵᏍᎪ ᎯᏍᎩ ᎤᏕᏘᏴᏌᏗᏒ  ᎧᏃᎮᏛ  ᏓᏦᎯᏍᏛ  ᎬᏗ  ᏃᎴ  ᏧᏓᏕᏫᏛ  ᏗᏍᎦᏚᎩ  ᎤᏂᎩᏒ  ᎦᏙ  ᏥᏙᎦ.

The Anikituwahgi, now known as the Cherokee people, have lived in the southern Appalachian Mountains for more than 15,000 years. The ancestral Cherokee territory included parts of present-day North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, and Kentucky. Towns were built along the river valleys and were connected by a vast system of walking paths. The land under your feet was taken by a Treaty with the United States in 1785.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee maintain an exceedingly small portion of their homelands in Western North Carolina today. The relationship between the Eastern Band and homelands continue to be paramount to their way of life.

For more information on the history of Cherokee land cessions and the formation of Buncombe County, check out the Buncombe County Register of Deeds digital exhibit “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow" below:

ᎯᎠ  ᏣᎳᎩ  ᏗᎬᏅ  ᏔᎷᏣ
This is Cherokee Basketry

Learning from mothers, grandmothers, and mentors, Cherokee artists sustainably harvest, prepare, and dye materials found throughout Western North Carolina, and weave them into exquisite baskets. ᏔᎷᏣ The Basket was inspired by Cherokee basket making in its materials, forms, color, and patterns.

Listen to
ᎯᎠ  ᏣᎳᎩ  ᏗᎬᏅ  ᏔᎷᏣ
This is Cherokee Basketry

ᏣᎳᎩ  ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯ  ᏂᏓᏅᏍᎪ  ᏰᎵ  ᎦᎵᏆᏚ  ᎢᏯᎦᏴᎵ  ᏧᏕᏘᏴᏓ.  ᎳᎵ  ᎢᎦ  ᏰᎵ  ᎠᎦᏛ  ᏗᎬᏓᏂᏓᏍᏗ  ᏔᎷᏣ  ᏗᎬᏗ  ᏔᎳ  ᏃᎴ  ᎢᏯ,  ᎢᏯᎠᎦᏛ  ᎪᏥᎩ  ᏥᏓᏅᏗᏍᎪ.  ᎯᏍᎦᏚᎢᏍᎪᎯᏥᏍᏈ  ᎤᏕᏘᏴᏌᏗᏒ  ᎣᏂ  ᎠᏂᏳᏁᎦ  ᎤᏂᎷᏨ,  ᏣᎳᎩ  ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎯ  ᎤᎾᎴᏅᎮ  ᎭᎿᎾ  ᎦᏅᎯᏓ  ᎧᏃᎮᎸ  ᏧᎾᏓᏍᏕᏓᎵᏴᎡᏗ  ᏧᏓᎴᏅᏓ  ᎤᎾᏓᏥᏍᎬ  ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏁᎦ  ᏄᎾᎳᏂᎬᎬ,  ᏔᎷᏣ  ᏓᏅᏍᎬ  ᎠᏕᎸ  ᎠᏃᏒᏍᎨ ᏁᎳᏚ ᏦᏍA ᏚᏕᏘᏴᏌᏗᏒᎢ.  ᎤᏁᏉᏨ  ᎾᏓᏍᏕᏓᎵᏴᎡᎲ  ᏗᏓᎴᏂᏍᎬ  ᏓᏛᏗᏍᎬ  ᎢᏧᎳ  ᏔᎳ  ᎠᎴ  ᎢᏯ  ᎪᏥᎩ  ᎤᏐᏱ  ᏄᎾᎵᏍᏓᏁ  ᎠᏂᏣᎳᎩ  ᏗᏅᏍᎩ. ᏐᏉᏉ   ᎤᎦᎭᎵ  b  RᎭ  TᏯ  ᏧᏛᎯᏍᏗ, DᏍᏕᎵ ᎤᏛᎯᏍᏗ  ᎣᏂ ᏣᏛᎾ ᎤᏅᏙᏗ.

Cherokee people have been practicing the artform of weaving for at least 17,000 years. The two most commonly used materials for basket making are white oak and rivercane and rivercane is considered the most traditional material by many basket makers. After European contact in the mid 1500’s, Cherokee people began what would be a long history of trade with various colonizing European powers, making basketry one of their main sources of income until the Removal Period in the 1830’s. Extensive trading caused the depletion of both white oak and rivercane, which still affects Cherokee weavers today. It is estimated that only 1% of the original rivercane patches remain, making sustainable harvesting essential to carrying on this intergenerational tradition.

Watch “Weaving Connections” to learn more about Cherokee basket making and meet five contemporary Eastern Band Cherokee basketmakers:

Bear Allison, Weaving Connections, 2022. Digital video; 17:48 minutes. Commissioned by the Center for Craft. Courtesy of the Artist.

Explore custom weavings by ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary Welch Thompson:

"Mary Thompson, Untitled, 2022. Commissioned by the Center for Craft. Photos: Black Box Photography."

"Mary Thompson, Untitled, 2022. Commissioned by the Center for Craft. Photos: Black Box Photography."

"Mary Thompson, Untitled, 2022. Commissioned by the Center for Craft. Photos: Black Box Photography."

Prominently featured in ᏔᎷᏣ The Basket is a mural based on a detail from a set of newly-commissioned woven, rivercane matt by Consulting Artist, ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary Welch Thompson. Thompson often replicates, iterates, combines, or invents new patterns through her weavings. The central design on this mural is “Noonday Sun,” sometimes called “Evening Star,” and is recognized as a traditional Cherokee pattern. It is surrounded by a "Peace Pipe" design. This artwork first began as rivercane, harvested by Thompson, a second generation Eastern Band Cherokee basket maker, and then processed into splints, dyed with bloodroot, walnut, and butternut, and woven into the intricate design seen here. The new commissions are on view inside the Center for Craft.

ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary W. Thompson is an esteemed second-generation basket weaver, veteran, entrepreneur, and enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI).
Since 2019, artist ᎺᎵ ᏔᎻᏏᏂ Mary Welch Thompson (Eastern Band Cherokee) has served as the consulting artist for “The Basket."  Working across media, including basket making and pottery, her forms and patterns embody a continuous lineage of Cherokee past and present.