O-si-yo!
My name is Mike Dart, and I am a tribal citizen of the Cherokee Nation. I reside in the Fairfied community, which is a large Cherokee community located just northeast of the town of Stilwell, Oklahoma right in the heart of the Cherokee Nation. I am also a contemporary Cherokee Double Wall basket weaver.
I guess my interest in weaving began when I was a real little boy. My paternal grandmother, that is my dad's mother used to weave baskets and even built woven furniture out of willow and other natural materials native to the land around her home. She passed away when I was a young boy, but I can still remember sitting and watching in amazement as she would weave, bend, twist and pull the branches and other materials she was using, to create the most unimaginable shapes, all without ever breaking it.
It wasn't until I was 16 years old that I learned the Art of Cherokee Double Wall basketry when I attended high school in Stilwell, Oklahoma. There was a class called "Multi-Cultural Activities" that was taught by Shawna Morton-Cain. In this class she taught us to weave Cherokee double wall baskets, among other Native American and non-Native crafts. She was a wonderful teacher in so many ways. She sparked in me a passion for basket weaving, especially the basket weaving of our tribe. Her influence on my life was not only on my basket weaving. One of the most valuable lessons I ever learned was by her example. She taught me to be true to myself, and to not be afraid to be myself, even if "myself" was a little different from "normal people". She was fun, and was also easy to "myself" around. I feel blessed by the Creator to have the privilege of calling her "teacher".
I started weaving about 13 years ago, but my weaving lay dormant for a period of about 5 years. I started weaving again only about a year and a half ago, at the suggestion of a Medicine Man who is now deceased. He suggested that I take up a hobby to help relieve stress and also to help control my out of control blood pressure. I had forgotten how much I absolutely love weaving. I can start weaving, and I literally forget about everything. I feel at one with the Creator when I weave, and it has helped tremendously to keep my blood pressure regulated.
For almost a year I wove with no outlet for my baskets. My house literally looked like it was exploding with baskets. Eventually I ended up giving some away. I didn't feel like by work was good enough to sell, so I just wove, and gave them away to company who came by and said they liked them. Then in November of 2005, I met Kathryn Roasting ear, who is the General Manager of the museum store over at the Cherokee Heritage Center in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I mentioned to her that I made baskets, and casually asked if they would need anymore baskets for the "Holiday Rush". She asked me if I had a tribal membership card, and then said "Why don't you just bring some over let me see what you have." The next week I brought about 15 very small and medium sized baskets over thinking in my mind that she would buy maybe a few of them, if any. I was surprised that she bought every single one of them, and gave me a very fair price for them. That was a little over 6 months ago, and I have taken several more over 3 different times.
I entered two baskets this year in the Trail of Tears Art Show and Sale that was held in May at the Cherokee Heritage Center. This was at the suggestion of my mother, and several friends. Once again, I didn't feel like my work was good enough to enter in a major Art Show, let alone that people who attended these things would want to buy something from a virtually unknown Artist. I didn't win any awards, but I was pleasantly surprised when I walked in to the show following the Awards Ceremony and saw the word "SOLD" in big letters on both of my entries. I was told later, that both entries sold within the first few hours of the show's opening. I feel like the show was very successful, and I also feel like the judges were fair in their decisions on the winners in in the Basketry Category.
The first place winner of the Basketry Category this year was, none other than Shawna Cain, with her basket entitled "Green Corn Basket" which was made out of natural river cane, honeysuckle and natural dyes. It was absolutely beautiful.
The mediums I use in my weaving are commercially manufactured rattan reed and rit fabric dyes, which is why I consider my basketry "contemporary". But I feel like the Creator is leading me to start using natural materials that I harvest and process myself. Even more so after seeing Shawna's winning basket along with her other entry "Wild Onion basket" and the entries of a few other Artists that wove with natural materials.
I began to think about it, and one day I woke up, and the first thought that hit me was that I need to start learning everything I can about the process so that I can be somewhat familiar with it when I find someone to teach me how to do it. I enrolled myself in a one day class on flat reed basketry that was taught by one of the most wonderful ladies I have ever met. Her name is Pauline hampton, a Cherokee from the Westville/Chewey area. She is a fantastic teacher. Her class was very laid back, and I did not feel intimidated in any way. She is very knowledgeable, and I hope that I have the privilege of sitting through one of her classes again in the future.
I also ordered a book from Peggy Sanders Brennan about harvesting natural materials to weave and make dyes with. With the flat reed class and the book, I am hoping that I will be familiar enough with the process that I will be able to learn quickly. I am hoping that I can reconnect with Shawna Cain, so that I can learn the "hands on" process from her and her husband, Roger. From everything I have been told, they are the best ones in Oklahoma to learn from, and they also live right here in the Cherokee Nation. I also feel like they are the ones I am supposed to learn from.
I love flat reed weaving, and plan on weaving with it more and more, but I do not want to get too far away from the double wall style. I love it as well. I feel like my work is "unique" in the sense that most double wall weavers are women. Traditionally, it was the women of our tribe who wove the baskets, however it has developed into an art today instead of a necessity, and also the roles of Cherokee men and women have changed, and are not the same as they were. There are a few men I know of who actively weave, and I can see more starting to do it in the future.
I give Thanks and Honor to my Creator for blessing me with the gift of Creativity, and also for allowing me to be a part of two wonderful Nations: The USA and The Cherokee Nation. I am proud to be descended from such hardy people, able to adapt and survive no matter what came their way.
I have built a web site fro my basketry. It also shares tidbits of my Cherokee Heritage, of which I am extremely proud of. The web address is www.gat lida.org. I can be contacted in the following ways: Mike Dart Rt 2 Box 720 Stilwell, OK 74960 phone: 1-918-696-6451
e-mail: mike@gatlida.org (best way to get a hold of me)web address: www.gatlida.org