River Cane Chronicles IV: Important Invitation

The WATR River Cane Mapping & Education Project is gearing up for the summer, and WE NEED YOU and other volunteers.   The purposes of the project are

• to educate ourselves and the public about the ecological and the cultural benefits of native river cane,
• to snoop around creeks and rivers and locate river cane brakes that we can map, and
• to work with the landowner to get permission so that artisans can sustainably harvest stalks on his/her property.

So click here to find out the details of the workshop — must RSVP by Friday, May 18,  for a free lunch.  NOW THAT’S AN INCENTIVE!!!

Jim Long strips a stalk of cane as WATR member Judy Knight watches

Board Meetings

Tuesday May 22, 5:30pm at the Bryson City Library. (Directions)
Tuesday June 17, 5:30pm in Sylva.
Tuesday September 18, 5:30pm Bryson City.
Tuesday November 13, 5:30pm Sylva.

Summer Picnic

Friday June,15.
We are outdoor enthusiasts and what better way to celebrate the great outdoors than having a picnic? Bring your friends, family, and anyone that enjoys the great outdoors. Good food, good friends, and a good community. Location TBA, so stay tuned.

WATR Public Meetings

Monday May 21, 6:30pm

We urge everyone to come out and participate. Our theme will be “Adopt a Creek”. WATR committees will meet and report our progress. Bring a friend and come have some fun!

Monday July 16, 6:30pm Sylva
Second meeting location is TBA, but be ready to have some fun and learn about our wonderful organization.

The Must-See Conservation Film, Thurs. April 19

On Thursday, April 19, at 7:00 – 8:30 PM, there will be a must-see documentary movie at the Smoky Mountain Community Theater (130 Main Street, Bryson City).  It recalls the life of perhaps the most influential U.S. conservationists of the 20th century, Aldo Leopold.  The movie is more than dry history — it is a contemporary summons to challenge us to take care of the natural resources around us.

You should put his name up there in your pantheon of great American conservationists, along with Henry David Thoreau and John Muir.  Leopold is the author of the Sand County Almanac and the writer of “a land ethic” — a brief essay calling for a redefinition our relationship with the very land that we live on.  He is the instigator of “watershed restoration.”

If you do one thing for WATR or for your green-minded growth this year, come and see this film.  At least 25 students from Swain High should attend, and they should be bring their parents.  Friends should bring friends.  WATR’s contacts in the world of building and excavating are especially invited.  If you can help to usher or staff the WATR table — call the office.

Roger Clapp

River Cane Chronicles Part III

Morning comes and with it the question: Did the dye take? Sometimes it doesn’t. But today, Jim Long is in luck. The brown-dyed cane can be seen as soon as he removes the cover. He lifts out the cane and spreads it on the concrete of his driveway.

He will hose down the cane thoroughly to get rid of any grit that accumulates during the dyeing, then leaves it to dry. Long will then have some beautifully finished trips to cut into shorter pieces for his students’ weaving kits.

River Cane Chronicles part II

With the cane bundled into the tub, Jim Long fills his cut-off oil drum with water and brings it to a boil with a propane burner.

He begins cutting and mixing in walnut roots from a tree that blew down near his home.The walnut will produce deep-brown strips of cane for his students’ weaving projects. For other shades, he uses bloodroot and yellow root that he gathers.

Under a plywood cover, the stew cooks overnight with occasional tending to add more roots and to stir. The water turns a deep brown and, with luck, will stain the cane strips with the same shade.

River Cane Chronicles Part I

To prepare the harvested river cane for dyeing, Jim Long – Cherokee weaver and basketmaker – cuts a six-foot long stalk in half, then expertly wields his knife to peel off strips. He gets an average of six strips for a piece of cane this thick. He then uses his knife to smooth over the high spots of the cane’s joints.He’s then ready to bundle the cane and tie it so that he can curl it into his dyeing drum. He’s preparing this cane for a class he teaches on weaving. WATR has been awarded a grant from a Cherokee arts agency to find rivercane along the Tuckaseigee for Cherokee artisans to harvest and use.

Harvesting Rivercane

Harvesting group moves toward an impressive river canebrake near Murphy

Five WATR members traveled with Cherokee artisans to harvest the perfect canes that are suitable for traditional weaving projects: mats and baskets.
We joined two Cherokee artisans, Jim Long and Lucille Lossiah, and their six assistants who are learning the craft as we headed down to the Murphy area.

Lucille Lossiah brings out cane she has cut

At the Marble Springs Outdoor Education Area we were shown what makes acceptable cane material.  The cane must be straight, dark green indicating sufficient age, and no signs of branching for the bottom portion of the culm (the technical name for the stalk).  Even a bit of residual branching renders the derived cane split unusable.  The crafts people cut the cane and we pulled them out of the brakes and helped collected them for the trip home.
Special thanks go to Beth Johnson for gathering the Cherokee foraging partners.  Beth works with the RTCAR (or fully spelled out: Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources).  Tony Ward, a staff member of the Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition, served as host by showing us which canebrakes were available for harvesting.  Thanks, Tony!
The WATR group included Shirley Veenstra, Judy Knight, Bill Lee, Ken Brown, and Roger Clapp. Also in the Cherokee artisan group were Fidel Raya, Weylon Long, Jane Wolfe, Nancy Wolfe, and Dorothy Wood – an extension-service intern.  We ended up with a warm meal  and lively conversation at the Blue Mountain Café.

Jim Long strips a stalk of cane as WATR member Judy Knight watches

We will plan more events with Cherokee artisans in the new year, and we will launch the main activity – finding and getting permission for harvesting new river cane brakes in our watershed.
We will be dividing the roads and creeks in Swain and Jackson, where volunteers will look for more cane brakes.  When we find them we will encourage landowners to sign simple agreements allowing artisans to occasionally harvest (sustainably!) cane for use in traditional crafts.  How cool to be part of this age-old practice!  How better to build friendships within the tribe and the watershed community?  Call the office if you would like to join in!
Several years ago this effort was started by Adam Griffith, then a student and now a WCU staff member.  He mapped cane sources, mostly near Cullowhee, and he generated an online map.  Interested?  Follow this link.
– Roger Clapp

WATR gets $9,500 river cane grant from Cherokee

As clay is to the potter and stone is to the sculptor, river cane is the vital raw
material to the Cherokee basket maker. But it’s in short supply.
A Cherokee artisans group has provided a grant to WATR to locate cane stands along the river to provide a local supply for basketmakers.
With a revival of basketmaking in Cherokee, artisans are having to travel farther and farther from home to find cane suitable for their use, said David Cozzo,  director of RTCAR, for Revitalization of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources.

David Cozzo talks about river cane

It wasn’t long ago, said Cozzo, that the art of basketmaking had gone into decline to the point that there were only two Cherokee artisans making double-weave baskets. Supply of cane wasn’t a problem.
Then the Chrokee Preservation Foundation stepped in and started basketweaving classes. A revival ensued. Now, the craft is even taught in the Cherokee High School.
“With the cultural revival, the need for river cane has increased,” said Cozzo. His group is planning a trip soon to Barbourville, Ky., to harvest cane from a “really nice stand” there. And it is working with Sumter National Forest in South Carolina to find cane there for harvesting.
Cozzo is convinced that there is river cane enough in Jackson and Swain counties to provide an adequate local source –it just needs to be located and the owners persuaded to allow the harvesting.
That’s where the grant to WATR comes in. The grant is for $9,500 for the project, which will run through September, 2012.
Roger Clapp, WATR director, has issued a call for volunteers to help with the river cane hunt.
“This would be ideal for people who like to wander the mountain backroads, enjoying the scenery and plant life,” he said.
Volunteers or  owners of rivercane stands who are interested should contact  the WATR office in Bryson City at 488-8418.
Those interested in the project are invited to travel to Murphy to visit another water cane project on the Nantahala watershed. A caravan will leave from the WATR office in Bryson City at 9 a.m. Tuesday, No. 16. Bring a lunch.
Volunteers for the rivercane project will take part in a training program to learn how to recognize the plant and how to map the site using GPS coordinates. The training zsessions will also be used to set up the driving routes to prevent overlap and to make sure the area is covered. Once the stands are found, owners will be approached to see if they will allow harvesting of the cane.
Cozzo said a selective harvesting method would be employed. Cane must be of a certain size to be useful, and less mature cane will be left alone so that it can grow.
Clapp said that cane stands should be preserved and  broadened for the environmental benefits to the river. Cane provides excellent buffer for sediment runoff and improve riparian wildlife habitat.
Cozzo said his agency  likes to work with conservation groups, such as WATR, “because we’re all on the same page” – that the ecological and cultural benefits of the cane resources got hand-in-hand.
Both Clapp and Cozzo said that rivercane landowners who permit a harvest will know that they are playing a role in preserving the heritage and culture of the Cherokees and the mountains.