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Class Description:

Students will learn the history of Cherokee basket making materials from pre-European contact through to contemporary Oklahoma Cherokee basket weaving. Following Sarah H. Hill in her book, Weaving New Worlds: Southeastern Cherokee Women and Their Basketry, we will meet some notable weavers and touch on different material traditions. The DAM Indigenous Arts of North America has a small selection of basketry from the Original Peoples of the Southeastern US and their descendants, and this class will both expose students to more examples of these traditions and give them an opportunity to weave their own round reed Oklahoma style Cherokee basket.

What to Expect:

Students will be given a presentation providing a close look at Cherokee basket weaving traditions and weavers, students are welcome to move around as needed during lecture and discussion. The instructor will spend 20-30 minutes providing a demo of starting, shaping/forming, and finishing a basket, and will begin work on single-walled baskets with students. The instructor will provide step-by-step instruction to the group, followed with one-on-one support. Each student will be able to finish at least one single-walled basket and begin work on a double-walled basket during the course of this class.

Timeline:

Week 1

• Lecture contextualizing this class within Denver’s American Indian history and what has happened on this land, to its ancestral caretakers, the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Ute. The lecture will include Cherokee basket weaving cultural history, as well as contemporary Cherokee weavers, and Q&A as time allows. Instructor will discuss materials, demo beginning of process, and begin baskets as time allows.

Week 2

• Continue weaving demo to include forming/shaping basket, and finishing. Begin/continue step-by-step and individual instruction. Demo double-walled baskets technique, and students ready can start double-walled basket.

Week 3

• Finish single-walled baskets, demo double-walled technique, ongoing individual support.

Week 4

• Finish all baskets.

Class Cancellation Policy:

If a class or workshop needs to be cancelled due to inclement weather or teacher illness, a “make-up” day will be scheduled on a FRIDAY or SATURDAY as the educator’s schedule allows.

Materials:

Students will purchase their own materials and should expect to spend $30-50.

We partner with Meininger’s for local shopping, purchase a kit of your required materials online for in-store pickup, or purchase the items individually.

Educator:

Salix is a 35-year-old two-spirit, multiracial creator and educator of Muscogee/Cherokee descent. Salix has had baskets on display at the Evergreen Center for the Arts, and they teach basket weaving for Colorado Native Org's Native cultural night. You can also find them at events such as the Harvest of All First Nations Corn Festival, and áyA Con Denver.

https://www.instagram.com/salix.weaves/