Cherokee River Cane Baskets: Arundinaria gigantea Double Weave Unique Designs

Summary: Cherokee river cane baskets are prized for traditional symbols and unusual features such as double weave and different patterns for lid and container.

Natural dyed, river cane basket in "Noonday Sun" pattern by Peggy Brennan, now known as Peggy Sanders Shelden: image by Uyvsdi, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

River cane (Arundinaria gigantea) is one of only three species of bamboo native to North America. Its homelands encompass 23 states, ranging from the south central United States eastward to the Atlantic coast and, excluding Pennsylvania, northward to New York.

Colonial and pioneer south central and southeastern America abounded in vast thickets of river cane, forming canebrakes, colonies of individual plants growing in interminably close proximity.

Discerning the versatility of river cane, Native Americans, especially southeastern tribes of Cherokee, Choctaw and Seminole, used the flexible, strong plant for an array of necessities.

Native Americans crafted river cane into barrels, baskets and granaries for agricultural storage. They used the New World bamboo for building materials, especially as exterior and interior walls. Domestic products, such as beds, chairs and mats, were made from river cane. Fishing equipment, such as nets, were devised from river cane. River cane provided food, such as flour, from its seeds. Fortifications, such as palisades (defensive enclosures), were constructed of river cane. River cane yielded hunting and military paraphernalia and weaponry.

The Cherokee especially prized and finessed the art of river cane baskets.

James Adair (ca. 1709-1783) of County Antrim, in the northeast of today's Northern Ireland, published The History of the American Indians in London in 1775 as an account of his residence for four decades mainly among the Cherokee and Chickasaw tribes. He commended the Cherokee for the artistry, skill and utility of their double weave river cane baskets. Also known as double wall, the Cherokee river cane basketry essentially created two baskets in one, woven in one sturdy piece as a basket within a basket.

After serving as Royal Governor of the Province of South Carolina (May 30, 1721-May 7, 1725), colonial administrator Francis Nicholson (Nov. 12, 1655-March 16, 1728) returned to London with a lidded, double weave, river cane basket as a gift for physician and collector Sir Hans Sloane (April 16, 1660-Jan. 11, 1753). Sir Sloane's collection formed the basis for the British Museum, established in 1753 and opened to the public on Jan. 15, 1759.

As the oldest known double weave Cherokee basket in a museum collection, the Carolina basket, dyed with American pokeweed (Phytolacca americana) berries and black walnut (Juglans nigra) hulls, presents two different patterns in the basket, a practice attesting to the creativity and skill of traditional Cherokee basket weavers. The lid is woven in the Casket design, and the basket exemplifies the Pine Tree design.

Peggy Sanders Shelden, a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, numbers among modern weavers of Cherokee baskets, including river cane basketry. Peggy learned double-walled weaving from legendary third-generation basket maker Mavis Doering (1929-2007). Dedicated to preserving the craft, Peggy creates and designs baskets. She incorporates and recasts traditional symbols, such as "Four Directions" and "Noonday Sun."

River cane baskets made by modern and traditional Cherokee weavers spotlight the New World floral native's uniqueness.

River cane (Arundinaria gigantea) is one of only three known species of bamboo native to North America.

River cane is the medium that singles out Cherokee weavers as unique Native American designers of double weave baskets.

River cane is the inspiration for traditional patterns distinctly and exclusively designed for river cane baskets by Cherokee weavers.

closeup of Arundinaria gigantea: Melissa McMasters (cricketsblog), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Natural dyed, river cane basket in "Noonday Sun" pattern by Peggy Brennan, now known as Peggy Sanders Shelden: image by Uyvsdi, Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rivercane_basket_peggy_brennan.jpg

closeup of Arundinaria gigantea: Melissa McMasters (cricketsblog), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/cricketsblog/24505585774/

For further information:

Marriner, Derdriu. "Arundinaria gigantea: Giant Cane as North American Native Bamboo." Earth and Space News. Tuesday, March 31, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/03/arundinaria-gigantea-giant-cane-as.html

Meredith, Ted Jordan. Bamboo for Gardens. Portland OR: Timber Press, Inc., 2001. Reprinted 2002.