2023 North Carolina Heritage Award Honorees Butch and Louise Goings скачать в хорошем качестве

2023 North Carolina Heritage Award Honorees Butch and Louise Goings

Cherokee | Wood and Stone Carving (Butch), White-Oak Basketmaking (Louise) Butch and Louise Goings share a life of dedication to craft and community. Together they are known for their mastery and teaching of the carving and basketmaking traditions of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and for their steady, humble commitment to service in their community. Butch and Louise each learned their craft from among the most renowned artisans on the Qualla Boundary, the land of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains. Louise learned from her mother, Emma Taylor, how to harvest white oak, forage for plant dyes, and weave exquisite baskets. Butch learned to carve from Amanda Crowe alongside his friend and fellow sculptor Virgil Ledford, carrying their influence in his depictions of the animal world. Both Butch and Louise were raised in families in which generations of women had relied on basketmaking for a livelihood. When they married, they often accompanied Louise’s mother into the woods to hunt for her basket materials. She taught them how to harvest and prepare oak for weaving, and where to find dye plants and wild edibles. To be a basket maker rather than a basket weaver requires that one harvests and processes all of the materials. This entails a tremendous amount of work, so the Goingses use their efforts to support each other and share with other artists in the community. The Goingses’ contributions to Cherokee culture and community life extend beyond their own craftsmanship. Since the late 1950s, Butch has served on and been continually re-elected as president of the board of the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, an artist cooperative established in 1946 to promote and sustain Cherokee craftspeople. He has also served on the Eastern Band Tribal Council and the Birdtown Community Club, and he spent two decades as a member of the Birdtown Gadugi (Free Labor Group), providing free work for those in need. Louise is a central figure at ceremonial Stomp Dances and head cook for the Stomp grounds. For more than twenty years, the Goingses have taught basketmaking and wood and soapstone carving to grade-school students in the local Culture Summer School, to ensure that young people have access to their culture. Butch and Louise are known for their exemplary lives. They are esteemed for teaching Cherokee values not only as craftspeople and community leaders but also through their own daily demonstrations of compassion, good humor, and readiness to support and share with others.