Basket: honeysuckle, storage

This undated basket was made by Cherokee basket weaver Lucy George. The tray was a common basket form among the Cherokee. Trays were traditionally used for gaming or to serve food. In this tray, the honeysuckle was woven over wide white oak splints. The rim appears to be honeysuckle wrapped with white oak as well. The honeysuckle was dyed with walnut to produce the brown color that appears on the side and on the rim of the basket. Bloodroot makes an orange color and yellowroot makes a brighter yellow. All three plants, used by Cherokee basket weavers to make dye, are native to the region. Lucy Nola George 1897-1978) was raised in the Birdtown community on the Qualla Boundary. In a departure from traditional Cherokee ways of learning, Lucy George did not learn basket making from mother. In the 1930s, as a grown woman, she learned the craft from Julia Taylor. She developed her own methods, weaving baskets from honeysuckle. She also taught others and demonstrated her craft