Catawba Indian Pottery
The Survival of a Folk Tradition
THOMAS JOHN BLUMER
WITH A FOREWORD BY WILLIAM HARRIS
A comprehensive study that traces the craft
of pottery making among the Catawba Indians of North Carolina from the late l8th
century to the present.
When Europeans encountered them, the Catawba Indians were living along the
river and throughout the valley that carries their name near the present North
Carolina-South Carolina border. Archaeologists later collected and identified
categories of pottery types belonging to the historic Catawba and extrapolated
an association with their protohistoric and prehistoric predecessors.
In this volume, Thomas Blumer traces the construction techniques of those
documented ceramics to the lineage of theirprobable present-day master potters
– or, in other words, he traces the Catawba pottery traditions. By mining
data from archives and the oral traditions of contemporary potters, B1umer
reconstructs sales circuits regularly traveled by Catawba peddlers and thereby
illuminates unresolved questions regarding trade routes in the protohistoric
period. In addition, the author details particular techniques of the representative
potters – factors such as clay selection, tool use, decoration, and firing
techniques – which influence their styles.
In assessing the work, David G. Moore, of Warren Wilson College, states,
“This book represents an enormous body of work concerned with a significant
topic – the persistence of the Catawba Indian pottery tradition. Using his
extensive fieldwork and a narrative presentation, the author juxtaposes the evolving
ceramic technology with a fascinating discussiun of the role of pottery in changing
Catawba economy from the l8th and continuing into the 2lst century.”
Thomas John Blumer is a retired
ethnohistorian and author of Bibliography of the Catawba. William Harris is a
respected leader of the Catawba Indian Nation. | |
Georgia H. Harris holding one of her Indian head bowls
PHOTO BY THOMAS JOHN BLUMER
Contemporary American
Indian Studies
J. Anthony Paredes, Series Editor
“A very useful volume for those interested in one
of the few Native American pottery traditions of the eastern United States that
survives from protohistoric times.”
| — |
J. Alan May, the Schiele Museum of Natural History |
353 pages, 64 illustrations
6 1/8 × 9 1/4
ISBN 0-8173-1383-4
$65.00s unjacketed cloth
ISBN 0-8173-5601-6
$34.95s paper |