Imagine a mystery plant that could protect riverbanks from flooding and erosion, that was an important habitat for wildlife and was an essential staple for Southeastern native tribes including the Cherokee. Now imagine what the consequences would be if 98% of that magic plant was gone?
David Weintraub and the Center for Cultural Preservation will premiere its newest documentary, “RAISING CANE- The Cherokee and Rivercane” on September 19 in Flat Rock. According to Weintraub, the film’s director, “William Bartram, the naturalist, explorer and author encountered such vast, dense forests of cane so massive along streambanks in his travels in the 1770s that he said they were impenetrable. Southeastern tribes relied on cane as a food source, they built their houses out of it, carved blowguns for hunting and made cane mats and baskets with it. But today, rivercane, America’s native bamboo is disappearing.”
Mary Welch Thompson is an acclaimed Cherokee basketmaker who uses white oak, honeysuckle and rivercane to make her baskets. “Historically, rivercane was the most important resource for making baskets, mats and many other things. However, rivercane loves waterfront property and so does man. The Cherokee launched a basketry revival campaign more than twenty years ago to revitalize a tradition that goes back tens of thousands of years. The biggest issue for us is the lack of rivercane to continue making them.
Fortunately, a number of conservation groups throughout the region are working in partnership with the Eastern Band of Cherokee to restore rivercane as a critical protector or streambanks, habitat and as an essential resource for basketry. Weintraub adds, “Raising Cane looks at this magic plant through the eyes of the natural world, native tribes and stewardship so that we all can become the heroes nature is asking us to be.”
Raising Cane will have its world premiere on Saturday, September 19 at 7:00 PM at the Thomas Auditorium at Blue Ridge Community College. In addition to the film screening, Cherokee elders and conservationists will discuss the future of rivercane and basketry and take questions from the audience. Additionally, the Center will be celebrating its 15th birthday, so the event will be followed by music and food and drinks for ticketholders.
Advance tickets to this event, which are expected to sellout, can be ordered online at https://saveculture.org/shop/raising-cane/. This film is made possible by the North Carolina Humanities, the Community Foundation of Henderson County, Asset Marketing Brokers, Wild Birds Unlimited Hendersonville and the supports of the Center for Cultural Preservation. The Center for Cultural Preservation is a cultural nonprofit organization dedicated to working for mountain heritage continuity through oral history, documentary film, education and public programs. For more information about the Center contact them at (828) 692-8062 or www.saveculture.org