About catawba pottery

Catawba pottery has been the life blood of the Catawba Nation for many years, and it helped sustain our tribe during difficult times in our history. During the Great Depression, Catawba women made and sold pottery to help our people survive. In modern times, Catawba pottery has become a well-regarded form of Native American art. Pieces of Catawba pottery have been featured in art museums in South Carolina, across the United States in the Smithsonian and other prestigious museums, and in the Louvre in Paris as well as other European museums. Bill's grandmother, Georgia Harris, was a master potter. She developed her craft over her entire lifetime, culminating with winning the National Heritage Fellowship through the National Endowment of the Arts in 1997, the highest of honor awarded in the folk and traditional arts in the United States. 

The Catawba people have made our traditional pottery for at least the past 6000 years. There has not been one generation that stopped making pottery. Simply put, Catawba pottery reaches to the very heart of who we are as Catawba people. The loss of our language and significant portions of our culture has been devastating to the tribe, but the loss of our pottery tradition would be even more devastating since it is one of the few traditions we have today. This is why the artists at Blue Heron Clay are keeping this tradition alive.

Working on details for Kent's bear bowl.

Bill and Elizabeth building a snake pot at the same time.