The Cherokee are Native Americans originally from the Southeastern United States, in states such as Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. The Cherokee were proud craftspeople who took pride in their artistry, which dated back to their ancestors some 10,000 years before the Cherokee roamed the Southeast. Cherokee crafts ranged from paintings to wood carvings. You can make Cherokee Indian crafts for your own home.
Tools and Materials
Most Cherokee crafts can be made using carving knives, acrylic paint, basket-weaving materials you can purchase in a hobby shop and wood purchased from the lumberyard or gathered yourself. If you want to make authentic Cherokee crafts, you can make your own dyes from walnut or elderberry. You can use river cane to weave baskets rather than purchase basket weave from the store. You might even use a combination of natural and store-bought materials. Poplar, buckeye and pine are some of the woods you might want to keep on hand.
Tribal Masks
Cherokee tribal masks were made of soft woods such as poplar and buckeye. Tribal masks are ideal for decorating any room of your house. You'll need a little carving experience to fashion one of these tribal masks. Traditionally, these masks were carved with flint knives and decorated with animal fur and feathers. Many hobby shops carry fake animal fur and feathers you can use in your crafts, and unless you want to be completely authentic and do it the way the early Cherokee did, you can sharpen a carving knife and go from there. Add a touch of acrylic paint to your finished mask and you'll have a Cherokee craft suitable for giving as a gift or hanging in your own home.
Basket-Weaving
The Cherokee people made beautiful baskets of all shapes and sizes from river cane. You can purchase weave for basket-making in hobby and craft stores. Cherokee baskets are great decoration ideas. They can be functional as well. The Cherokee used natural dyes to color the river cane, then used a variety of over and under weaving patterns to add diamonds and zigzags.
Pottery
Cherokee pottery was both decorative and functional. Some of the pottery the Cherokee made included water jugs, bowls and tribal ceremonial items. They used a variety of techniques such as pressing peach pits or other natural items into the wet clay for design. You can purchase polymer clay from a craft or hobby shop to create your Cherokee pottery.
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