Vivian Garner Cottrell

Cherokee NationalTreasure

Basketry - 1995

 

I was 13 years old when my mother, Betty Scraper Garner taught me to weave Cherokee double-wall baskets. I was in eighth grade at Briggs at the time. We used commercial reeds and dyes to weave our baskets at first. The material was purchased and it was easier to handle for me as a youth. As my weaving abilities grew, I would sell them to area gifts shops in the surrounding counties. One day, my mother told me to take my baskets to a gift shop located across from the tribal complex. The owner would buy my baskets at ten cents an ounce. I watched him as he placed each basket on a scale, mark down the weight. He did this for each one and when he finished, he calculated the price he would write a check to me for my baskets. When my mother asked how I received, she was not pleased. When I was ready to take more baskets to the shop owner, Mom told me to wet the baskets first and let them air dry a little while before taking them to sell. When I returned, she asked how much did the owner pay, and was happy at the amount of the check that day. Mom didn’t like to see anyone being taken advantage of. She thought the work it takes to weave baskets is more than ten cents an ounce. Most shops would purchase each basket by size and whether the basket had a lid or not. At that time, I was paid $ 5.00 to $ 20.00 for each basket. I tried to weave and sell as many baskets as I could during high school. I was trying to save to buy my first car. Over the following years, from the 70’s through the mid-90’s, Mom and I would begin weaving honeysuckle and buck brush. We gathered, prepared the runners and gathered the natural dye materials together to weave traditional baskets and stopped using commercial materials. My dad had closed in our garage. We displayed our baskets in the den. During the summer season, Mom would get calls from gift shops in town to see if it was ok that they could send tourists to our home. Mom and I would sell our baskets from our home for many years. I was honored as a Living Treasure in Basketry in September 1995. My mother was in attendance to see me receive this acknowledgement from our peers. We learned from each other. She and other weavers had encouraged me to develop my own weaving style. I weave a buckeye in the knobs of my lids. I begin baskets with the traditional start 12 ribs (6 over 6), but I also begin baskets with a multiple of 4; either a 16 or 24 rib start (4 over 4 over 4 over 4 & 6 over 6 over 6 over 6) Mom and I would weave together for twenty-five years, until her death in June 1997. I pay much tribute to her for her teachings. We not only shared a common interest, but we also shared a mother/daughter bond. My mother was my mentor.