Mavis Doering (1929 – 2007) was a Cherokee Nation

basketmaker Basket weaving (also basketry or basket making) is the process of weaving or sewing pliable materials into three-dimensional artifacts, such as baskets, mats, mesh bags or even furniture. Craftspeople and artists specialized in making baskets ...

from Oklahoma.

Early life

Doering was born in

Hominy, Oklahoma Hominy ( Osage: ''Hą́mąðį'' "night-walker") is a city in Osage County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,565 at the 2010 census, a 38 percent increase over the figure of 2,584 recorded in 2000. The town was the home of an all-Na ...

and was the third generation of a family of basketmakers. She was mostly self-taught. Beginning in the 1970s, she researched weaving techniques from books in libraries and museums.

Career

Art

Doering's baskets were of post- removal

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

basket patterns and materials, but with her own personal element such as painted elements and attached elements such as feathers and beads, baskets that honored legends, and baskets in the shape of clay pots. Most were double-walled. She gathered her own materials and learned to make her own dyes from nut hulls, berries, and leaves, mostly obtained from her mother's allotment land near Tahlequah in Eastern Oklahoma. Basket materials she used included buckbrush,

reed Reed or Reeds may refer to: Science, technology, biology, and medicine * Reed bird (disambiguation) * Reed pen, writing implement in use since ancient times * Reed (plant), one of several tall, grass-like wetland plants of the order Poales * ...

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both conti ...

runners,

white oak The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''C ...

splits,

ash Ash or ashes are the solid remnants of fires. Specifically, ''ash'' refers to all non-aqueous, non- gaseous residues that remain after something burns. In analytical chemistry, to analyse the mineral and metal content of chemical samples, ash ...

splits, rivercane, and

cattail ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrush or reedmace, in American English as reed, cattail, or punks, in ...

leaves. In addition to a wide range of

natural dye Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi. Archa ...

s, Doering also experimented with brilliant

aniline dyes Aniline is an organic compound with the formula C6 H5 NH2. Consisting of a phenyl group attached to an amino group, aniline is the simplest aromatic amine. It is an industrially significant commodity chemical, as well as a versatile startin ...

."Mavis Doering."
''Mittie Cooper Gallery.'' (retrieved 17 Jan 2009)

Exhibits, honors, and legacy

Doering exhibited her baskets widely, including at such venues as the

Southern Plains Indian Museum Southern Plains Indian Museum is a Native American museum located in Anadarko, Oklahoma. It was opened in 1948 under a cooperative governing effort by the United States Department of the Interior and the Oklahoma state government. The museum feat ...

, Coulter Bay Indian Art Museum, Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian,

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is an art museum on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Overview The University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art holds over 20,000 objects in its permanent collection. The museum c ...

Oklahoma Historical Society The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is an agency of the government of Oklahoma dedicated to promotion and preservation of Oklahoma's history and its people by collecting, interpreting, and disseminating knowledge and artifacts of Oklahoma. ...

, the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

in Washington DC, and the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Folklife Festival. In 1982 and 1983, she received majors commissions from the Oklahoma State Arts Council for over 50 baskets. Mavis Doering taught several contemporary Cherokee basketmakers, including Peggy Brennan, how to weave double-walled baskets.Krol, Debra Utacia
"The Art of Basketry: Weaving New Life into Ancient Forms."
''Native Peoples.'' (retrieved 17 Jan 2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doering, Mavis Native American basket weavers 1929 births 2007 deaths Cherokee Nation artists People from Hominy, Oklahoma Artists from Oklahoma 20th-century American women artists Native American women artists Women basketweavers 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century Native Americans 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women