Press release:
Come to Homestead Retreat July 7th-8th to Build a Giant Nest Made for People
Nest Building with Nancy Basket: Wouldn’t it be great to change places with a bird? To fly freely, to perch on the highest branch – even to share the joys of building a nest! Join us for a fun filled, creative weekend with Cherokee elder, Nancy Basket, a renowned basket weaver, storyteller, and craftswoman. Nancy will guide us in the experimental building of one or two giant baskets – each large enough for a person to nestle into. In the green heart of the natural world we will create the Nesting Grounds. Once completed, people will be able to have a womb like experience, cradled in the freeform vessels that have been woven. During the course of the weekend Nancy will offer storytelling, share a Cherokee water ceremony and lead us in a blessing of the vines that we use. No previous basket weaving experience is needed.
For the last 15 years, Nancy has researched and shared her basketry and storytelling skills at Primitive Skills gatherings, Powwows, through the National Indian Education Association NIEA as a presenter of traditional and contemporary baskets. The Schiele Museum in Gastonia, NC purchased Nancy’s miniature baskets representing many American indigenous cultures to display in one of their dioramas. The Barnwell Museum purchased her pine needle Cradleboard after it toured the US in the Wyoming Western Show. Nancy shares basketry and storytelling through the Pickens County Museum and Hagood Mill. The McKissick Museum recognized Nancy as a master basket maker in an apprenticeship program to a Catawba woman.
Registration
Cost for the weekend is $135, plus food to potluck. A non-refundable deposit of $80 is required. Please reserve your space early – only 16 spots are available. Day trip participants are welcome, but must pre-register. Be sure and bring a pair of gloves and pruning shears.
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