Elzina Tramper Bradley

Elzina Tramper Bradley

Cherokee baskets

Cherokee women

Handicraft

Manners and customs

This 1950 photograph by Vivienne Roberts shows Elzina Tramper Bradley (1917-2007) in front of a large display of Cherokee baskets. She is holding her son Henry James on her back in a manner typical for Cherokee mothers. Most of the baskets behind her look to be white oak and are made in a wide assortment of styles, sizes, and patterns. Traditionally, large market baskets were used to gather vegetables from the field or garden, or to transport dry foodstuffs to or from market. Smaller handled baskets were used as purses or ""shoppers,"" and large baskets with tall sides were used to store domestic goods, from dry foodstuffs to clothing. The variation of dyes used to create the patterns on these baskets were produced using native plants like black walnut root (brown), butternut (black or dark brown), bloodroot (orange or reddish brown), or yellowroot (yellow). In the 1950s, baskets were the main craft products sold to tourists visiting the Qualla Boundary.

Roberts, Vivienne

Photograph Collection

Hunter Library Digital Collections, Western Carolina University, Cullowhee, NC 28723

1950

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/

jpg

photographs

StillImage

10983

https://southernappalachiandigitalcollections.org/object/10983

2009-01-15

All rights reserved. For permissions and use, contact Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Cherokee, NC 28719;

Qualla Boundary

Appalachian Region, Southern

7" x 5"(dimension)

Cherokee Traditions