Qualla Arts & Crafts Celebrates Its 65th Birthday

Tonya Carroll (left) and Phyl Reed of the Qualla Arts & Craft staff at the artist cooperative’s 65th anniversary party.With the opening of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in 1940 and the post-war growth of highways and family travel, members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians connected with the outside world more than it ever had before.  Mass-produced goods could have swept away tribal traditions, but visionary Cherokee craftspeople and leaders saw that Cherokee crafts – if preserved and promoted – could strengthen tribal values and provide livelihoods for tribal members while offering unique beauty to those who visited the Qualla Boundary.

Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual, the oldest and leading Native Americans arts cooperative in the United States was founded in 1946 to preserve and advance Cherokee Arts & Crafts.  The cooperative formed after a series of meetings brought together Eastern Band craftsmen with Cherokee Agency Superintendent Joe Jennings, Principal Chief Jarrett Blythe, and teachers Gertrude Flanagan, Goingback Chiltoskie, and Lottie Stamper.  Later, others attended, including Lizzy Youngbird, Lucy George, Caroline Wolfe, and Watty Chiltoskie.

From the start, the group focused on the economic value of forming a cooperative organization that would give artisans a “place for ready sale.”  The group discussed holding “buying days” for craftwork, a practice that was adopted and is still in use today. Also like today, there were many discussions about the availability of artisan resources and the growing scarcity of some materials.

Finally, at a meeting held on August 23, 1946, everyone signed a constitution and by-laws.  The group elected its first officers.  McKinley Ross was voted in as President, William Crowe as Vice President, and Bertha Craig as Secretary/Treasurer.  A list recorded the names of 59 charter members.

Today, 300 artists are members of Qualla Arts & Crafts.  They are basket makers, potters, carvers, weavers, bead artists, silversmith, doll makers and more, and they are still in touch with traditions that go back over 10,000 years.  Every craftwork for sale in Qualla’s beautiful gallery is handmade by a gifted, knowledgeable artist who blends timeless tribal traditions with their own individual expressions.  Each piece includes a card with the name of the artist, the month and year the object was made, an item description or name, the material used and the types of dyes, if the piece is a basket.

Over the past ten years, Cherokee Preservation Foundation has made a series of grants that have enabled Qualla to upgrade its space; expand the capabilities of its staff and board; enhance its business practices; develop a community outreach program that has helped teach a new generation of artists who are now continuing tribal traditions; revive nearly lost artistic traditions such as hammered copper; document the work of 20th Century tribal artists; organize an artist exchange with tribes in New England; and mount a marketing campaign with other principal cultural attractions in Cherokee. 

The Foundation has also provided support for the “From the Hands of Our Elders” book series, a collaborative effort of Western Carolina University’s Hunter Library, Qualla Arts & Crafts and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.  The first two books in the series are about Cherokee basket makers and potters and were written by Anna Fariello, associate research professor at Western Carolina University.

Qualla’s 65th birthday observance began with an open house on August 13 that included demonstrations and a new, permanent exhibit on its history.  The anniversary celebration will continue into the fall, with a gathering of elders who remember events and people who made up the co-op in its early days.  Through recorded oral interviews, the co-op plans to harvest stories that will be later shared with the public on its web site (www.quallaartsandcrafts.org). Artists’ work is for sale on the site.