TAHLEQUAH, Oklahoma – Craft demonstrations designed to keep students occupied during Spring Break at four Cherokee Nation museums drew both kids and adults interested in tribal culture.
Callie Chunestudy, cultural program and events project manager, was stationed by the gallows behind the Cherokee National Prison Museum, sharing with visitors how traditional pinch and coil pots are made. Also on the menu were reed and paper baskets and mini booger masks.
“There are two methods of making pottery,” Chunestudy said. “We use an air dry clay so the kids can take it home, so it doesn’t have to be fired in a kiln; it will just dry in whatever shape they make it in.”
A pinch pot is started by rolling clay into a ball, and the crafter pushes a thumb into the middle to start the process.
“Traditional hand-building would have been the coil method,” Chunestudy said. “You start with a bowl that you pinched out. You then take coils of clay that are rolled out like snakes and keep adding until you have it as big as you want.”
Chunestudy demonstrated how the clay is rolled into long strands and then wrapped in a circle on top of other strips of clay. Traditionally, the pots were cured in a bonfire, and left for several hours to cool. Once the pot is fully formed, it is set at a distance from the fire and gradually moved closer to acclimate the clay to the heat.
“You had to let the clay completely dry and you start by warming it to the fire and moving it closer and closer to the fire as it heats,” Chunestudy said. “Then slowly you move it into the fire and build fire over it, and you let that fire go out so the temperature never changes drastically.”
Instead of a wheel – which was not introduced until Europeans arrived – all precontact pottery would have been handmade, Chunestudy said.
The clay can found at the edge of river banks or dry veins of clay in sides of hills. The clay was dried, ground to a fine dust and all of the impurities removed. It was then rewet and formed back into balls.
“They would use different things to temper it to make it more durable – ground-up muscle shell or pottery that didn’t survive the firing,” Chunestudy said.
If the right temper was added, it could be used to cook with and carry water, Chunestudy said.
“A firing usually takes about 12 hours for a big pot,” Chunestudy said. “Handles and decorations were put on them.”
Decoration was added by pressing designs into the clay with different objects before it was placed in the fire.
Katie Penland, cultural programs and events project manager, prepared for the reed basket-making class at the Cherokee National History Museum by fashioning the bottoms of the pots with reeds that had been soaked in water.
The reeds used in making the baskets are soaked to allow the materials to be easily woven. This helps prevent breakage, although breakage still happens, Penland said.
Stationed in front of the entrance to CNHM, a group of weavers took instruction from Penland on how to weave the reeds.
“This is commercial basket reed instead of the honeysuckle that you would traditionally gather,” Penland said.
Dylan Williamson, a visitor with his guardians, Joel and Sandy Johnson, quickly mastered the craft of building a reed basket. He is in sixth grade.
“We are from Elk City, Oklahoma,” Sandy said. “We became co-guardians of Dylan yesterday and we are here celebrating.”
Williamson was excited at the way the layers of colored reeds formed the beginning of a beautiful basket.
“I got three [layers] done,” Williamson said. “I’ve never woven a basket before.”