Mary Thompson (Eastern Band Cherokee) is a second-generation, award-winning rivercane and white oak basket weaver and potter. For over thirty years, Thompson has engaged with her artform at every level, including harvesting of the raw materials, gathering of natural dyes and carving handles and rims. She makes traditional-style Cherokee pottery by molding and firing various clays and carves wooden stamp paddles to use for embellishment. Many of her designs have carried over to contemporary art forms such as clothing and upholstery fabric patterns. Her rivercane double woven baskets with lids have been commissioned and are on display at the University of S. Alabama. Thompson’s work has been published in the National Basketry Organization’s Tradition & Innovation in Basketry Today and WNC Mountain Living Magazine. She has taught basketry at various museums and arts institutes across the nation and is often commissioned as a consultant on the artform. A veteran of the USAF, Thompson also served four terms as a Tribal Council Representative for her Big Cove Community where she currently resides in Cherokee, NC.
Mary Thompson
