Cherokee Basket Weaving

Over the summer, I took basket-weaving lessons from Cherokee elders and fiber artists where I learned techniques for the Cherokee double-wall basket. With their encouragement, I’m now teaching the Cherokee double-wall basket, weaving fibers while bringing my passions for human rights and Indigenous education.

Through relational practices, basket-weaving classes do more than imagine Indigenous wisdom in baskets; they invite participants to move beyond land acknowledgements and toward a deeper understanding of our shared humanity. Drawing from Cherokee culture and community, alongside lessons from social justice and human rights, participants connect with the aspirations of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Together, these sessions nurture our longing for justice with joy and kinship.

Basket-weaving classes foster perspectives in global citizenship, strengthening our relationship with our shared world. Beginning with the principles of gadugi—people helping people—our class becomes a space where we weave fibers guided by ancestral wisdom. With hopes carrying us forward, we shape baskets into containers that hold what is precious to us.

Classes are part of the Cherokee Nation’s Cultural Classes Program and include basket weaving and storytelling under the Cherokee Artist Recovery Act. I am also an artisan listed in the Indian Arts and Crafts Board’s Source Directory of Indian-Owned and Operated Arts and Crafts Businesses.

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Pothos plant with heart-shaped green leaves in a white woven basket on a multicolored wooden table.

Smiling man wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap, and a University of San Francisco hoodie, holding three colorful woven baskets outdoors on a sunny day.

A potted plant with dark red and black shamrock leaves in a multicolored woven basket.

Decorative plant with pink and orange flowers in a woven basket, placed on a black table against a beige wall.

A small woven basket with pink, blue, and tan colors sitting on a weathered wooden table outdoors.

An empty, woven basket with pink, blue, and natural colors, sitting on a weathered wooden surface.

A pink and beige woven basket on a wooden table in a room with houseplants and shelves in the background.

Pink and beige wicker basket on a wooden surface indoors, with a blurred background of a wall and a window.

A woven basket with pink and beige fibers, viewed from above, placed on a dark wooden surface near a window.

Colorful woven basket with shades of purple, blue, and black on a wooden table, with people sitting in a room in the background.

Colorful braided baskets in purple, blue, yellow, and white sit on a wooden table in a classroom setting with people seated in the background.

A potted green trailing plant with large heart-shaped leaves, placed in a white wicker basket on a colorful, textured table.

Stacked wicker baskets painted in pastel shades of green, blue, and red, resting on a wooden surface.

A potted pothos plant with trailing vines and green leaves in a white wicker basket on a colorful table runner.

Colorful woven basket with a lamp or light source inside, multicolored with shades of brown, red, blue, and beige, and a guitar partially visible in the background.

A woven bottle holder with a dark glass bottle inside, placed on a colorful fabric runner on a wooden table in a room with a large teal pot, a picture frame, and some shelves.

Stacked colorful woven baskets on a wooden table with a multicolored rug underneath.

A woven basket with pink peaches sits on a colorful woven tablecloth, with a teal planter, a black lamp, a brown container, and a picture frame in the background.

A wicker basket filled with several peaches sitting on a colorful wooden table.

Close-up of a woven, multi-colored wicker basket on a gray sofa in a living room with wall decorations and a painting.

A multicolored woven basket placed on a dark gray textured carpet.