Want to make a Cherokee basket or Cherokee pottery bowl for that special Christmas present?

Come to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian Dec. 11 and create your own white oak basket with plain and dyed splints, or your own stamped pottery bowl. Or give the workshop itself as a special gift to someone who would like to learn these traditional crafts.

Master artists Ramona Lossie and Bernadine George, members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, will be teaching hands-on workshops for a limited number of participants. Cost is $50 for each workshop, plus materials fee. Basket materials cost $25 and pottery materials $5, with an extra fee for firing if you choose.  (Discounts apply to museum members and members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.)

From 9 a.m. to noon, Ramona Lossie will instruct on making a small square white oak basket. Bring a sturdy knife and scissors to work with and a piece of leather to spread on your lap.  Participants will complete a basket by noon.

From 1 to 4 p.m., Bernadine George will instruct in making a cazuela pottery bowl with traditional stamped Cherokee patterns. This tradition dates back three thousand years in the southern Appalachians. Participants may take your bowl home and fire it yourself, or arrange with Bernadine to fire it at an additional cost.

The annual Cherokee Christmas Bazaar will be going on Dec. 11 at the Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds next door to the Museum, featuring hand-made items by dozens of Cherokee artists.

Museum workshops are limited to the first 20participants to register and pay their fee. Call the Museum Store at 828.497.3481 or visit at 589 Tsali Blvd. (Highway 441) in Cherokee. Credit cards and cash are accepted. For more information, contact the Museum Store.