our cherokee weekend

This past weekend Chuck and I ran away from home.   Now, being foster parents, running away is not as easy as it sounds...but we did it!  Once we decided to take some time for ourselves, and had the kid weekend arrangements all made, the question became...where to go?  We thought of the beach, we really love the Outer Banks of North Carolina, in fact Amanda and Brandon got married on the beach at Nags Head.  But with the temperature here in the foothills already hitting the lower 90's, the beach was just going to be waaaaay too hot, so we opted for the mountains, to Cherokee North Carolina.  What a wonderful time we had there...I highly recommend this to everyone.  We went thru the museum, and then thru the Oconaluftee Indian Village.  This is a guided tour thru a recreated Indian village, and amazing.  No matter how old you get, there is always something new to learn :)

Our tour guide, (the one with the pony tail) was so very knowledgeable, and passionate, about his people.  And this tour really got my mind in a whirl of ideas for our shop.  So today I decided to do a little window shopping on Etsy and would like to share what I found.  First, some art...

 I picked this first one because of the vibrant colors and theme.  The Cherokee were a peaceful tribe, and preferred to stay home then go to war.  They had several festivals during the year which included the corn dance.  You can find this Feather, Gourds, and Indian Corn in oil in the Etsy shop of JoEllenArt.

And what is an Indian without a horse?  Just look into the eyes of this painted pony.  He's staring at you, lol.  This is an ACEO card OOAK original by Rosalie Rushing.  You can find this Indian Horse named Cherokee in the Etsy shop of biggirl4664.

Then there is the pottery.  Watching how the woman in the village made her pots was very interesting.  Did you know that the Cherokee did not spin their clay?  It was all done slowly with nothing but their hands shaping the clay.

 The colors of this Cherokee Pottery Mug are very vibrant and bright.  This is in the Etsy shop Purplevelvet711.

This vase is hand painted with a beautiful Indian maiden and her wolf.  This vase measures 11" high.  You can find Cherokee Indian Woman with Wolf at the Etsy shop TheMichelleK.

And last, but certainly not least, my latest favorite craft, beads and jewelry.

 Nothing says Indian like the color turquoise and beads.  These Beaded Native American white buffalo earrings were designed and hand crafted by a registered Native American, and you'll find them in the Etsy shop Tribalimpressions.

Now this bracelet is name "The Digusdi" which means cousins in Cherokee.  Our tour guide tried to teach us a few phrases in Cherokee, but boy was that difficult.  You can find this at the Etsy shop jstinson.

I hope you enjoyed my trip, and that you find something Indian to get for yourself.

Debbi