NOTES
This basket features split rivercane, or i-bya in the Cherokee language. A relative to bamboo that is endemic to the Americas, this grass grows along riverbanks through the Southeast. Nearly indestructible with a glossy, waterproof outer surface, cane offers ideal qualities for weaving durable vessels.
Eva Wolfe was one of the most celebrated 20th-century weavers on the Qualla Boundary, land in western North Carolina that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians purchased in the 1870s. Wolfe traveled 80 miles from her home each spring to harvest material from dense stands of the plant, which became endangered as a result of colonial land uses.
