Spreading the Word:
Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual
Native Cherokee have lived in the Appalachian Mountains for more than 2,000 years. Other tribes—Chickasaws, Natchez, and Catawba—bordered the region, but the Cherokee formed the major native population. In 1838 the Cherokee were forced to move from their traditional lands, walking west on what has become known as the Trail of Tears. About 1,000 Cherokee managed to evade the removal and their descendants form the core of the Eastern Band of Cherokee today. Even after their forced removal, native peoples continued to face methods of assimilation devised and implemented by American federal policy. Under the guise of education. schools eradicated native language and customs.
Recognizing the value of their culture, the Cherokee began hosting an annual fair starting in 1912. In 1933 their work was shown as part of the Mountain Handicrafts exhibition that toured the country after opening in Virginia. In this exhibition the Cherokee nation was represented by baskets and beadwork and by more culturally specific forms, such as bows, arrows, gourd rattles, and racquetball sticks. In the mid 1930s the Cherokee joined the Southern Highland Handicraft Guild.
The Cherokee had always produced fine crafts and were known for their baskets, pottery, and carved wood implements and toys. As the Craft Revival progressed, native forms were assimilated into the repertoire of regional crafts. In 1946 Cherokee craftsmen organized a cooperative called Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual. Today, Qualla Arts and Crafts operates a large sales shop and exhibition area in downtown Cherokee and maintains a collection of works representative of the period.
Goingback Chiltoskey (1907-2000) was a renowned master woodcarver. He began carving at age ten and found comfort in this pastime during his forced attendance at a Cherokee boarding school where only English was allowed. Working in native woods such as cherry, walnut, holly, apple, and buckeye, Chiltoskey-made carvings of animal and human subjects. He studied woodcarving at various schools before moving to Washington DC in 1942 to assist with the war effort as a model maker. He eventually returned to North Carolina where he taught carving and influenced subsequent generations of Cherokee craftsmen.