Cherokee Artisans

FREE Programming and Demonstrations at the Orchard at Altapass:

Ramona Lossie, a Cherokee artisan, demonstrates double-weave rivercane, white oak, and basketmaking. She teaches hands-on workshops to groups of any age, but particularly enjoys working with young people. Her knowledge of the rivercane basket weaving tradition became crucial several years ago when she and her sister Lucille became the only living practitioners of that art among the Eastern Band.

Ramona grew up in the Painttown community in Cherokee and learned basket weaving from watching her mother and grandmother. After graduating from high school, she continued her education at Western Carolina University and the University of Tennessee. In her early twenties, Ramona began to see basket weaving as something she could do as an artist.  She now supports herself through basket weaving so she can continue her family traditions and stay at home with her two girls.  Her work has won blue ribbons at festivals in Chicago, Albuquerque, Wisconsin, and Cherokee North Carolina. Her baskets are on display at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and in museums in Albuquerque, Chicago, Atlanta, and in Florida.