Collections Spotlight with Lydia Louise Goings and Tonya E. Carroll

During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown and through the reopening afterward, the Coe Center partnered with First American Art Magazine to present an interactive Zoom series in which Native artists discussed artworks in the Coe Collections. Collections Spotlight brought deep dives into objects from the Coe collection to the public from the artist’s perspective. These events were free and open to the public.

Lydia Louise Goings, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, is a third-generation basket maker. Goings prefers white oak for her baskets and learned her art form from her mother, the famous Cherokee basket maker Emma Taylor. She is a master basket maker who gathers all her materials, including native dyes, to create beautiful works of art.

Goings earned her Associate of Science Degree from Southwestern Community College and served as a teacher’s assistant in the Cherokee Central School system for over thirty years. She continues to help teach basket making every summer for the Cherokee Cultural Summer School. Louise has participated in numerous cultural demonstrations over the years and has earned many honors and awards for her baskets and community service. Most recently she and her husband were recipients of the First Peoples Fund Jennifer Easton Community Spirit Award in 2016.

In her free time, she enjoys learning and teaching Cherokee language, participating in cultural events and ceremonies, traveling, and spending quality time with family and friends. Goings resides in the Birdtown Community on the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina with her husband of over fifty years, Butch. They have one son, three grandchildren, and many close family and friends.

Tonya E. Carroll, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, was born and raised in Cherokee, North Carolina. She studied American History and Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University where she earned her master’s degree in Public History. In 2011, she graduated from the Duyukdvi Right Path Adult Leadership Program.

In 2016, Carroll’s passion for her community and Cherokee history and culture resulted in her becoming the Department Manager of the Ray Kinsland Leadership Institute—a natural fit. There, she works with several leadership programs and specialists to create a generation of selfless leaders deeply rooted in Cherokee history and culture.

In 2019, she graduated from the North Carolina Native Leadership Institute. She serves on various boards, including Cherokee Talents, Inc., and Sequoyah Fund. In her spare time, she is a co-organizer for the Kananesgi Art Market events which include an annual art market and fashion show featuring Cherokee artists and their work. She resides in the Birdtown Community on the Qualla Boundary in Cherokee, North Carolina, with Bear Allison and their dog, Prince.

They first discuss is a double-weave basket made from river cane. Carroll and Goings explain that river cane is typically harvested when it is three to four years old. In a double-weave basket, two layers are woven together: the glossy side forms the exterior, while the finished seam appears at the bottom. Carroll notes that such baskets could be waterproofed by applying resin between the layers and were sometimes used to store ceremonial items.

The basket’s design is known as “Snake Eyes,” though it is also referred to as “Bird Eye.” Goings explains that this pattern dates back to the late 1800s. The natural orange-copper color comes from bloodroot, which varies in tone depending on how long it is boiled. While river cane begins as green, it turns yellow as it dries. The yellow-orange hue is likely from butternut dye, and Goings shares that her family adds baking soda during the boiling process to help set the color. The bark of the black walnut tree can also be used to produce a dark brown dye, which Goings notes is suitable for both basketry and cloth.

Goings adds a personal connection to the piece, sharing that she knew the artist, Helen Bradley Smith, who attended boarding school with her mother.

This basket dates to the 1930s, prior to the rise of tourism and the establishment of the national park. Goings and Carroll discuss the possibility that it was made by a member of the Youngbird family, perhaps Lizzie Youngbird. Goings explains that the family often created their own designs, which typically did not have formal names. She references Cherokee Basketry by Anis Areliá, which features a similar basket by Edmund Youngbird in the Qualla Arts and Crafts collection.

Goings is a member of Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc., the oldest Native American arts cooperative. Carroll notes that while the Coe Center’s database refers to this piece as a “burden basket”—traditionally tied to the back—it is more accurately known within the Cherokee community as a “waste basket.” They point to similar examples in the books Weaving New Worlds and Cherokee Basketry.

Carroll refers to this piece as a purse or market basket with drop handles, noting that the handles are integrated just below the rim. The pattern is known as a “pipe design,” which remains significant today.

The basket’s orange hue depends on how long the slats are soaked and dyed. Carroll and Goings explain that large dye batches are typically used to ensure color consistency, as recreating the exact shade in a separate batch can lead to subtle variations. They suggest this is an older basket, based on the presence of a ribbon-like wrapping at the top—a technique no longer in use. The purse basket style became especially popular during the rise of tourism.

The group discusses that Goings’ family on her father’s side—relatives including Julie, Sadie, and Rachel—made similar rib baskets. Goings explains that creating this style requires the artist to carefully gauge the basket’s ribs for proper form and structure.

She notes that oak splints began to be used around the 1820s for their practicality. In this basket, the handle is fully integrated into the structure, meaning that if it broke, the entire basket would need to be dismantled. An interlock panel is used to join the handle, and some makers used tacks to secure both the handle and the interlock to the base.

Goings clarifies that rib basket designs are not originally Cherokee but were shared with and adopted by Cherokee basket makers. She adds that cradle baskets were not traditionally used by the Cherokee and were likely produced for the tourist market.