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Catawba
Pottery
Legacy of Survival: 7 Master Potters
The Catawba Nation,
located 8 miles east of Rock Hill,
South Carolina, is the home to
a highly creative group of Native
American potters. Scholars tell
us the Catawba Indians are aboriginal
to the Carolinas and that the
Catawba pottery tradition has
survived for over 4,500 years,
long before the craft made its
debut in the Southwest. The tradition
has been passed on within the
Nation and has survived contact
with Europeans, wars, centuries
of economic and cultural stresses
and contact with modern technology
including glazes, paints and the
potter's wheel. In spite of these
outside influences, the pottery
tradition has remained as one
of the purest art forms of its
kind.
The Catawba tribal roll contains
approximately 2,200 names. About
50 adult Indians make and sell
pottery on a regular basis. Another
150 people support the potters
by digging clay and firing the
wares. Approximately 50 Catawba
children also make pottery and
pottery classes are taught within
the Reservation with hopes of
keeping the tradition alive. Catawba
pottery is hand-built, burnished,
and fired using primitive techniques.
In 1995, the South Carolina
Arts Commission in cooperation
with the Catawba Cultural Preservation
Project organized an exhibition
at NationsBank Plaza in Columbia,
SC to honor the 7 Master Potters
of the Catawba Nation. The images
and information on the following
pages were taken from the catalog
for the 7 Master Potters exhibition.
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