Ed and Christina Goings

Ed and Christina Goings are a young Cherokee couple who demonstrate a variety of Cherokee crafts and talk about Cherokee culture. Ed makes white oak baskets, and Christina finger-weaves the distinctive Cherokee sashes and does beadwork. While Christina demonstrates beadwork, Ed discusses the different styles and stitches she uses.

Ed Goings grew up in Cherokee, learning crafts from both sides of his family. His mother, Louise Goings, and grandmother, Emma Taylor, are both outstanding basket makers. His father, George Goings helped him learn to carve. When Ed was twenty-three, his mother showed him how to make two baskets, and he made a third himself. “Now comes the hard part of it,” she told him, and took him to the woods to learn how to hunt the white oak tree, cut it down, split it into sections, scrape the splints, gather plants for dyes, and dye the splints—all in preparation for making the basket. While working as a tour guide at the Oconaluftee Indian Village, Ed Goings learned how to make blowguns and darts, nap arrowheads, and make flutes out of rivercane. He served three years in the U.S. Army where he worked as a diesel mechanic. Currently he works as a mechanic for the Cherokee Department of Transportation.

Christina Goings was born in Bryson City and raised in Birdtown on the Qualla Boundary. She learned finger-weaving, beadwork, and pottery making from Alyne Stamper at the Cherokee High School, and she further developed these crafts while working at Oconaluftee Indian Village. There she began working with beads, and used them to decorate fans and belts. Her work is sold at the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual.

Ed and Christina Goings have demonstrated Cherokee arts and crafts at the Kituwah Festival in Asheville, at Mountain Heritage Day at Western Carolina University, and at the Oconaluftee Indian Village. Their work has been exhibited at galleries in Wise, Virginia, and in Greensboro, North Carolina, as well as at the Cherokee Fall Fair.

Availability:

The Goings can demonstrate or teach hands on classes. They will travel within a day’s drive of Cherokee. They have children at home and must consider them in their travel plans. The amount of their fee is negotiable and must include travel expenses.