Fewkes, Vladimir (1944)

CATAWBA POTTERY-MAKING, WITH NOTES ON PAMUNKEY POTTERY-MAKING, CHEROKEE POTTERY-MAKING, AND COILING VLADIMIR J. FEWKES* University Museum, University of Pennsylvania (Read by title November 22, 1941) CONTENTS Introduction ................................... 69 Molding within a double form.............. 81 Methods and techniques of Catawba pottery-making. 72 Forms....................................... 83 Acquisition and treatment of raw material....... 72 Surface finish................................. 86 Natural conditions and supplies............... 72 Decoration ................................... 88 Clay pits................................... 73 Drying process ............................... 88 Preparation of paste......................... 73 Firing ........................................ 90 Process of manufacture ....................... 75 Post-firing treatment.......................... 93 General preparations........................ 75 Time duration of the potter's tasks................ 94 Building technique .......................... 77 Technological miscellanea ....................... 96 Modeling ................................ 77 Cherokee pottery-making ....................... 97 Segmental building ....................... 78 Pamunkey pottery-making....................... 103 The uninterrupted process............... 78 Some historical retrospects ....................... 105 The ring variant...................... 79 Concluding remarks and comments................ 107 The circuit variant.................... 79 Addendum: coiling .............................. 110 The sectional process.................... 81 Bibliography................................... 122 INTRODUCTION of view. The usefulness of such an inquiry may be increased the status THE descendants of the Catawba profitably by considering contemporary of the Cherokee of the a remnant of the Eastern pottery-making among Indians, Siouan-speak- Mountains in North and live on a state reservation near Rock Smoky Carolina, among ing stock, the of Tidewater These York South Carolina. The "na- Pamunkey Virginia. Hill, County, still the craft old traditional as the natives like to refer to the reserva- groups practice along tion," and both have been to Catawba tion several survivals lines, exposed group, preserves prominent influences and intercom- of culture. through intermarriage aboriginal Particularly noteworthy munication. among these is pottery-making. Since 1884, the The purpose of this publication is to examine date of the first written record of the craft by a contemporary Catawba pottery-making; to in- dependable observer (Palmer's notes, vide infra), vestigate its history by projecting retrospective Catawba women have been repeatedly mentioned inquiries as far back as positive evidence permits; as skillful potters. Collections of pottery repre- and to consider, and within senting the interim reveal unmistakable uniform- strictly objectively practical limits, and ity in style and in technical details. pertinent comparative sup- Moreover, data. The notes on became the modern product has close if plementary coiling very similarities, an inevitable addition with which to not full analogies, among archaeological remains approach the task of classifying construction in hand-made found at sites known to have been occupied by the Catawba in early contact times or even before pottery. In the United the of either arch- the whites appeared. This circumstance renders States, study or has been co- the study of the Catawba craft aeological ethnological pottery potter's particu- ordinated into a rational larly attractive from the culture historical discipline; currently, point several serious and * well-qualified investigators Owing to the death of Dr. Fewkes on December 11, are pursuing researches which promise further 1941, after the completion of this manuscript but before advancement. The efforts in the field the arrangement of the Mrs. Lucile Serrem Pater- pioneering figures must be credited to the late Dr. W. H. son, who had worked with Dr. Fewkes on the manuscript Holmes, shortly before his death, arranged the figures and inserted who over 50 years ago began to publish his references to them in the text. studies, of which several should ever enjoy the PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, VOL. 88, NO. 2, JULY, 1944 69 70 VLADIMIR J. FEWKES reputation of classics. It is in point to recall that his studies were continental in scope, that they embraced archaeological and ethnological evidence alike, and that they concerned themselves also with lithic, textile, and other domestic industries. Perhaps some of Dr. Holmes's short- comings may be attributed to the inevitable dangers inherent in such widely spread and diver- sified work. In any case, he covered several areas in considerable detail, and his contempora- ries or immediate successors carried on quite successfully. In the East, several accounts of surviving native pottery were prepared, and some attempt was made to connect certain modern wares with archaeological material. The Missis- sippi Valley received little attention from the time Holmes published his famous "Aboriginal Pottery" (1903) until Federal Government ap- propriations of recent years helped to develop extensive exploration programs. In the South- west, however, favorable circumstances stimu- lated pottery studies and attracted many spe- cialists. Dr. A. V. Kidder may well be called the Nestor of modern research in Southwestern pottery. His acumen, foresight, and profound schol- attitude, with rich field arly coupled experience, MAP 1. Catawba rendered him fitted for the mission. Approximate locations of Cherokee and eminently nations. Shaded areas: territories in eighteenth cen- This was to prepare the ground for, and to initiate tury. Dots: present locations of East Cherokee and the practice of research in, pottery technology. Catawba reservations. As a part of Dr. Kidder's program, Dr. C. E. Guthe published his splendid "Pueblo Pottery ject. Technological work pursues precise deter- Making " (1925), which is replete with minute minations by employing various means of investi- details of manufacturing steps. Then appeared gation proved dependable in other endeavors of Miss A. O. Shepard's "Technology of Pecos Pot- cognate aims. The analytical data are compiled tery" (1936), as part of Dr. Kidder's second vol- not necessarily for classificatory purposes; rather ume on Pecos pottery. Miss Shepard describes they provide indices of qualitative and quantita- the aims and methods of the research, examines tive properties of the analyzed specimens. The critically the glaring errors committed in subjec- usefulness of such data, as against the pitfalls of tive interpretation, and presents convincing proof subjective deductions, is quite obvious. There is of the practical and indisputable value of techno excuse for speculation in such matters as nological pottery analysis. Such work is entirely nature and sources of clays and temper, chemical scientific, devoid of personal reckoning, and forti- and physical composition, or optical properties; fied by standards derived from repeatedly de- and one can also be fully objective in dealing with monstrable principles. conquests, dates, diffusional trends, migrations, Thus the study of pottery is now facilitated by trade contacts, etc. If the positive evidence at excellent descriptive and detailed analytical re- hand is insufficient to yield the necessary data for ports based upon a thoroughly objective ap- answering these questions, no attempt is made to proach. It is this quality that distinguishes the substitute opinions. That pottery in itself, no modern work from so many earlier studies which, matter how well analyzed, has its own limitations however well intentioned, are not always free in culture historical investigations, is readily ad- from subjective treatment. mitted. The signal factor to stress is that studies The value of scrupulously observed objective of pottery in general, excepting aesthetic values, methods in pottery studies is the more pro- lend themselves to a full application of the princi- nounced in view of the technicalities of the sub- ples of scientific procedure; technological analysis, CATAWBA AND CHEROKEE POTTERY-MAKING 71 as convincingly demonstrated, operates with pre- tive studies extended the intermittent inquiries cise scientific methods. And yet, irrespective of into August, 1941, at which time I last visited the remarkable refinements reached in techno- the Catawba (and also the Cherokee). The sum logical pursuits, of the splendid body of factual total of the successive investigations corroborates data compiled, and of the standards established, the initial findings in principle. The most recent the laboratory work is only one part of the pic- field work, naturally, was directed toward a gen- ture. For it is equally interesting and important eral collation and especially toward an under- to know how a given pottery was actually manu- standing of the contemporary status of Catawba factured. In this regard, the scope of techno- and Cherokee pottery-making. logical endeavors may be most profitably en- The population of the Catawba reservation, as larged by specific detailed studies of contemporary estimated by Chief Sam Blue in the late summer pottery-making among aboriginal survivals. In of 1941, numbered about 260 souls, representing the United States a very fruitful field exists for some 60 families. With the aid of Mr. Irving such investigations, with

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