2024

The year was defined by a deepening commitment to the utilitarian intelligence of Southeastern Indigenous traditions. My intensive study of Southeastern basketry included a research visit to the National Museum of the American Indian’s Cultural Resources Center, where I was able to physically handle and map out the geometric patterns of the last known Catawba rivercane and white oak baskets woven in the early 1900s. This foundational archival mapping, paired with learning traditional rivercane mat-making under the guidance of Eastern Band of Cherokee artists Waylon and Michelle Long, immediately translated into public practice. I concluded the year by completing my first commission—a traditional rivercane mat for Catawba Nation’s ISWA Head Start—and selling my work publicly at my first Yap Ye Iswą Festival.

Parallel to my basketry work, being named a South Carolina Arts Commission Emerging Artist provided the vital resources to launch an exploration into the functional boundaries of Catawba pottery. Guided by the central question—if our ancestors ate, drank, and stored food in their pots, why can’t we?—I invested in tools to experiment with creating a contemporary, functional Catawba pottery dinnerware set.

Stepping into the role of am emerging culture bearer, I also expanded my practice into community education. I designed and taught my first multi-session courses at the Catawba Cultural Center, guiding students through the demanding, holistic process of white oak basketry—from the physical harvest of the tree to the final woven baskets.