HOLMES] CHEROKEE AND CATAWBA POTTERY "SS 



Method.s of tiring observed in u»se were extremely simple and con- 

 sisted usually of devices for surroundinor the vessels somewhat evenly 

 with t)urning' fuel. By such means the paste was hardened, and, in 

 most cases discolored, taking a variety of hues depending on its min- 

 eral ingredients and on the manner of applying the fire and the degree 

 of heat attained. Some of the eti'ect.s of color observed are undoubt- 

 edly due to causes operating at a period subsequent to the original 

 firing. In cases where pigments were used in surface finish or in 

 ornamental designs it can not be determined whethei- or not changes in 

 hue produced by chemical reactions in baking were anticipated and 

 relied on to produce desired results. 



Processes of Manufactuke ix Present Use 



Authors from whom information derived from personal observa- 

 tions can be obtained are very few in number, and up to the present 

 time no detailed account of the manufacture of earthenware in the 

 great province covered by this paper has been published. The best 

 accounts are casual notes by writers who sought only to entertain, or 

 who had little conception of the subject with which they were dealing. 

 Perceiving this I sought means of securing detailed and accurate infor- 

 mation. In l.SSS, learning that Mr James Mooney, the indefatigable 

 student of aboriginal history, was about to pay a visit to the Cherokee 

 villages of western N'orth Carolina, I secured his aid. Armed with a 

 list of topics furnished liy me he made a careful study of the art as 

 practised among these peoples, and from his notes have been compiled 

 the two valuable accounts which follow: 



MANUFACTURE BY CATAWBA WOMEN 



Living with the Cherokees were (in 1890) two Catawba women, Sally 

 Wahuhu, an old woman of 80 years, who had come from the Catawba 

 reservation in South Carolina about fifty years before, and Susanna 

 Owl, about -iO years of age, who had been with the Cherokees four 

 years. These women, being skilled potters, were induced to make 

 some vessels, that Mr Moonej' might witness the operations. Their 

 methods were probabh' in the main Catawban, but the manner of 

 baking, by means of which a rich black color was given to the ware, 

 was said by the elder woman to have been acquired from the Chero- 

 kees. She also maintained that the Catawbas did not burn their wares 

 in the fire, but baked them before it. 



On the Cherokee reservation two kinds of cla}' are used. They are 

 found mainly on the north bank of the Soco creek, in Jackson county, 

 North Carolina, and are usually closely associated in theii' deposition. 

 One variety is fine-grained and of dark Ijrown color; this is used for 

 pipes, because it readily takes a high polish. The other variety is 

 light gray or whitish in color and contains sand so coarse as to give it 

 a gritty texture. For thi' mamifacture of ordinary earthenware these 



