CHARLOTTE, NC (PNAN) – “The Language of Clay: Catawba Indian Pottery & Oral Traditions” is a traveling exhibition organized by the University of South Carolina Lancaster. It is currently on view at the Charlotte Museum of History with various showings through December 31, 2022.
Pottery making is the single most unbroken material tradition of the Catawba Nation’s long history and is still done with methods handed down through generations. The exhibit features dozens of clay pottery pieces created by Catawba artisans from the 19th century to the present that represent various Catawba traditions and legends, including highlights the oral histories and stories from those who are preserving pottery-making traditions.
The Catawba do not use a wheel and all their vessels are built by the coil or morsel methods. The tools consist of skilled hands, sticks, shells, knives, spoons and rocks. For a large vessel, the potter makes a flat base and then adds rolls (coils) until the desired height is reached. The exterior is then smoothed with a shell or a corncob. As the interior is worked, the potter gives the vessel its graceful shape.
For more on the Catawba see https://www.catawba.com/about-the-nation.