TRADITION AND INNOVATION:
PRESERVING THE CATAWBA'S CULTURAL HERITAGE
By V. Ann Tippitt and Wenonah Haire
Many centuries ago, along the river that still bears
their name, the Catawba lived in a large expanse of land
that straddled both states of the Carolinas. Today their
tribal home, located outside Rock Hill, SC, is a one-mile-
square reservation.
Yet the size of their home has not constrained the size
of their spirit. During the 1970s, the Catawba revitalized
their cultural identity. They began compiling historical
accounts, holding pottery and language classes, and taking
action to reclaim their tribal lands and gain Federal
recognition.
In 1989 the Catawba Nation, a small community in north-
central South Carolina, formed the Catawba Cultural
Committee to protect and promote the tribe's history and
arts. Since then, the committee has carried out many
projects in cooperation with nearby universities and
museums, from renovating an old school building as a
cultural center to working with South Carolina's Winthrop
University on educational packets about the Catawba for
public schools.
One of the most mutually beneficial collaborations has
been with the Schiele Museum in Gastonia, NC. In 1975, the
museum initiated relationships with several Native American
groups in the Carolinas by adding southeastern ethnographic
materials to its collections, promoting local Native
American exhibits, providing school and public programs,
sharing research, and supplying meeting space and staff
assistance. During this time, a special relationship grew
between the Catawba Nation and the museum.
In 1984, under the direction of Dr. Alan May, the museum
began a county-wide archeological survey of the Carolina
Piedmont. A major focus of the survey has been the late
prehistoric occupation of the middle Catawba River Valley,
using archeological and ethnohistoric research to identify
and better understand prehistoric Catawba sites. Several
Catawba participated, and the findings have been presented
to the Nation. This year, a new survey will identify
historic and prehistoric sites on the reservation.
European expansion into the Piedmont brought many changes
to the tribe but one thing remains constant: the making of
pottery. The pottery making tradition is strong and
dynamic, says Catawba bibliographer Dr. Tom Blumer, because
it gracefully balances the contradictory themes of tradition
and innovation. At the museum, a permanent Catawba pottery
exhibit illustrates the continuity of surface treatment,
manufacturing techniques, and vessel forms that still
inspires Catawba potters.
On the museum grounds, a Catawba Indian village exhibit
was built as part of the 400th Anniversary Celebration of
the Roanoke Voyages. This "village" does not merely
replicate a prehistoric site, but rather features several
structures from different historic and prehistoric periods,
illustrating social and technological changes among the
Catawba specifically and among southeastern native groups
generally. A number of Catawba were involved in the
planning of the village including Chief Gilbert Blue,
Assistant Chief Fred Sanders, and Francis Wade of the
pottery committee. The North Carolina Indian Commission,
the Metrolina Native American Association, and Arnold
Richardson of the Haliwa-Saponi (a North Carolina tribe)
also provided assistance.
The exhibit further solidified the relationship between
the museum and the Catawba Nation, stimulating more
research. Steve Watts, director of the museum's
Southeastern Native American Studies Program, began a decade
of intensive study on the Catawba, focusing on aboriginal
technologies. This research, along with ethnographic
descriptions of hunters and gatherers, serves as background
for a series of adult and teachers' workshops at the
museum's Catawba village. The school program "Indians of
North Carolina" also draws heavily on this information,
combining the region's natural history with Native American
adaptations to it. The program, which mixes in elements of
the tribe's material culture, serves to introduce students
to their Catawba neighbors.
Each fall, at "Fap-Fe-Iswa"--a Catawba-hosted outdoor
festival on the reservation--the museum staff has a chance
to participate outside their normal setting, by setting up
exhibits, demonstrating crafts and skills like
flintknapping, providing transportation, and most
importantly, sharing the spirit of the Catawba.
Right now, the museum is renovating the pottery exhibit
and building another structure in its Catawba village. The
renovated exhibit will include interviews with potters and a
video of the pottery manufacturing process. The video will
also incorporate footage of noted potter Doris Blue, filmed
by the museum in 1975. And this June, participants in a
workshop on prehistoric house building constructed a bent-
pole, bark-covered house perhaps typical of those used by
the peoples of the lower Catawba River Valley.
For more information about the Schiele Museum, contact
curator Ann Tippitt or Steve Watts, Schiele Museum, 1500
East Garrison Blvd., P.O. Box 953, Gastonia, NC 28053.
Phone (704) 866-6900.
For more information about the Catawba, contact Dr.
Wenonah Haire, Chairwoman, Catawba Cultural Preservation
Project, 611 East Main, Rock Hill, SC 29730.