CATAWBA POTTERS AND THEIR WORK

Abstract

Among the stony hills near the river that bears their name in York county, South Carolina, a remnant of the once numerous Catawba tribe of Indians may still be found. In this region hunting and fishing as a means of livelihood are things of the past, and the rocky soil of the little reservation can hardly support the population; while the labor markets round about are glutted with negroes who will work for almost nothing. These and other factors, notably the excellence of the ware itself, may help to explain the remarkable survival of the potters' craft among the Catawba, an industry which to-day forms the chief support of the tribe and the main occupation of nearly every household. Using implements and methods that from their simplicity seem to have changed but little since prehistoric times, these Indians manufacture vessels and pipes which, on account of their beauty and oddity, find a ready sale at Rockhill and other neighboring towns. Alone among eastern Indians the Catawba have made their ceramic art an industry which has survived the years and the competition of machine-made wares. It is my purpose in this article to describe the process of pottery-making, as practised by the Catawba, but before doing so it might be well to say a few words about the people themselves as I found them. When I visited the reservation in June, 19o8, while collecting ethnological specimens for George G. Heye, Esq., of New York City, I was informed that there are now nineteen houses occupied by the Catawba, fourteen of which are on the reservation, the others scattered about within a few miles. Living in these houses are ninety-eight Indians who might be called Catawba, and besides these one or two Cherokee. There are also several Catawba living with the Eastern Cherokee in North Carolina, and others, it is claimed, isolated individuals and families scattered in Utah, Colorado, Oklahoma, 'Texas, and Mexico.