By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
WHITTIER, N.C. – River cane is used by traditional basket makers of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). For years, it has been in short supply, but a new grant could help with that situation.
On a site in Whittier, N.C., which is EBCI deeded property known as the Thomas Valley property, a new greenhouse will soon be in operation that will propagate river cane. The EBCI Natural Resources Dept. operated a functional horticultural facility at Kituwah – the Mother Town of the Cherokee – for almost five years but had to pause due to a lack of space at that site. They have teamed with EBCI Cooperative Extension on the new site.
“We had a bit of funding to re-establish those greenhouses,” said Josh Parris, EBCI Natural Resources forestry manager. “So, we have started that process and that’s what’s happening right now. It’ll be one greenhouse, a shed, and a couple of hoop houses.”
He added, “We got $100,000 funding from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) to fund another greenhouse, specifically this time to propagate river cane. That’s a big deal. It’s coming at a good time because of the need for river cane due to Hurricane Helene, and multiple different agencies looking for river cane. Nobody is really producing river cane in any big capacity. So, if we can show that we can produce river cane, then that will coincide well with their need for river cane and our new facility. Not to mention, we’re going to grow vegetables and stuff for families, too. That’s always been the case.”
The funding came from CDP following a $21 million grant from the Truist Foundation.
Parris said, “Realistically, and also hopefully, both greenhouses are functional by springtime. What we would be doing would be growing from rhizomes up, then taking it out and starting new rhizomes, and letting it grow up. Effectively, we would be providing some stock for people to put in the ground.”
He went on to state, “We just want to augment river cane generally. If that turns into basket quality or craft quality, whatever it may be, that’s great. But, we need more of it, first and foremost.”
Several other funding sources have also helped. Parris noted, “With the Natural Resource Soil Conservation Service, we have about $50,000 through them to do some targeted management sites of identified river cane and also try to test propagation. So, we’ve got that little chunk of money which has helped us sort of start. And, we have EPA Gap Funds, along with Tribal funds that have helped us build the facility.”
River cane has many ecological benefits. “The presence of river cane is reduced to somewhere between two and five percent of its regional coverage,” said Parris. “River cane, generally, is very, very low in where it should be. It grows on rivering systems. There’s not a lot of huge, good evidence that absolutely shows that river cane presence reduces erosion. They haven’t done a lot of that stuff. But, anecdotally, in observations by everybody who noticed, particularly with Helene, is that those areas that had river cane are more stable than everywhere else and they were able to subsist. So, it has a huge impact in the ecological value around the streams and holds stream banks together. Not to mention, a diversity of habitat in bottomlands that perpetuate low canopy bird habitat, deer…that habitat variability that it offers is far and above what we have on our rivering systems now.”
In addition to the river cane, they plan to grow squash, beans, corn, and tomatoes at the site – all of which will be distributed to the EBCI community.
Jeff Gibby, EBCI Natural Resources lead horticulture technician, commented, “There is a lot of room. But, I think where it’s an historical site, they’re going to try to keep it as close to the natural state as they can. But, it’s farmland so you can grow corn. There’s a whole giant field below, and you could grow whatever you wanted.”
He also has other plans once everything is up and running. “I think it’s great…once we’ve got our horticulture facility set up, working with Cooperative Extension, having classes like how to propagate a blueberry bush – turn one blueberry bush into a hundred blueberry bushes.”
Parris said that this is just one part of the program’s foray into helping river cane thrive once again. “We do want to bring it back here, but we also want to influence having more in the Tennessee Valley, and having more in the Valley River Valley, and other places. So, we’re working toward co-stewardship with the U.S. Forest Service, which is exerting the sovereignty and the rights to those lands beyond normal access…there’s this ecological connection between what Mainspring possesses over there, and the State of North Carolina possesses in the Tennessee Valley, and the Forest service. So, quite literally, we’re trying to push for EBCI rights on traditional homelands across western North Carolina with emphasis on this million acres on the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests, and river cane is just one aspect of that.”
He added, “Ideally, we’d like to have a land management kind of crossover crew that’s working on Boundary lands for sure, but across traditional homelands as well because we know that need exists.”
