Recognizing Rural Cultural
Traditions as Assets

These following programs each recently received a grant for $15,000 from the Partnerships in Local Culture: Building Assets through Cultural Traditions. The competitive grant program helps NADO members engage in efforts aimed at incorporating cultural programs within their economic strategies. The partnership award is a program of the Fund for Folk Culture supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation.

Quilting Apprentices
The Mississippi Cultural Cross Roads organization in rural Port Gibson, Mississippi developed a training program for apprentice quilters. Apprentices learn from experienced quilters about local traditional quilting and business operations.

The business and management aspects of the program are being developed in cooperation with the Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi. Apprentices are given the opportunity to sell quilts at exhibits, shows, galleries and an annual contest and to take custom orders.

Patricia Crosby, the Crossroad’s Executive Director, explained, “The program is designed to bring income opportunities to local women with little or no income, while at the same time promoting the heritage of the region.”

The program celebrates the region’s traditional African-American quilters known for their string quilting, using stripes rather than square material pieces, a tradition dating back to the mid-1800s. The practice of memory quilting is also being taught, as it tells stories about the way of life, regional history and market. It has created five new quilting jobs.

Cherokee Arts and Pottery Center

Pottery artisan in the Cherokee Heritage Pottery initiative

The Cherokee Heritage Pottery and Cherokee Heritage Arts, earned income initiatives based in Native American tradition, have partnered with the Eastern Oklahoma Development District (Eastern Oklahoma DD), an Economic Development Administration (EDA) funded district. Bruce Mahaffey, Executive Director of the Eastern Oklahoma DD, commented, “We are supporting the initiatives by promoting the programs and helping them find development resources.”

Pat Stewart, Director of the Cherokee Heritage Pottery initiative, outlined the program goals, “Our mission is to document, teach, preserve and produce pottery using native southeast designs and motifs from the mound builder era.” Cherokee Heritage Pottery employs over 15 Cherokee tribal members and assists others with marketing and promotions.

The Cherokee Heritage Arts program focuses on business training and marketing assistance for rural Cherokee traditional artisans. Cherokee Heritage Arts, although it does not employ many people, just four core staff, represents almost 200 traditional Cherokee artists. Aaron LeMaster, the Cherokee Heritage Arts Program Director, explained, “We’re showing the artisans the benefits of marketing outlets, like going to shows, newsletters, the center’s museum shop display, and website marketing.”

In step with the Cherokee’s culturally strong sense of family, many of the 150 and more contributing artisans involve entire families. The Heritage Center, in the five county region served by Eastern Oklahoma DD, is located on the original site of the Cherokee Female Seminary, near Tahlequah, Oklahoma. l

For more information, contact Patricia Crosby of Mississippi Cultural Crossroads at (601) 437-8905; Bruce Mahaffey of Eastern Oklahoma DD at (918) 682-7891 or mahaf@azalea.net; Pat Stewart or Aaron LeMaster of the Cherokee Heritage Center at (888) 999-6007; Betsy Peterson of the Fund for Folk Culture at (505) 984-2534 or folkfund@aol.com.

October Index | Back Page| Next Page