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Arts And Crafts: Chief's Daughter with Double Peace Pipe

Chief's Daughter with Double Peace Pipe pattern
Chief's Daughter with
Double Peace Pipe pattern

This large storage basket was made by Rowena Bradley, who was born in the Swimmer Branch Community of the Qualla Indian Boundary, near Cherokee, N.C. Baskets such as these were used to store foodstuffs and household goods. The 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 weave design is an example of the traditional Cherokee pattern known as Double Peace Pipe, with the pipes interlocking on the diagonal. Rowena Bradley is the daughter of Henry and Nancy Bradley, also an accomplished basket maker. Basketmaking was a family tradition; her father gathered rivercane and dug roots for dye materials. Rowena learned to weave baskets as a child by watching her mother. Later, her mother taught her the complex double weave technique.


 

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