My ancestors began making pottery around 3000 years ago. More than 100 generations of Choctaws have dug clay, shaped it into vessels, and fired in an open pit.
The story of how Choctaws discovered pottery has been passed down through oral history and it goes like this:
A Choctaw basket weaver was experimenting one day in an attempt to make the baskets water proof. The artisan placed some wet clay inside one of the baskets and set it to dry.
Another artisan came by and saw the mud in the basket and threw the basket with the wet clay into the hot fire. Obviously, the basket burned and turned into ashes, but the clay that apparently had taken the shape of a bowl had been fired by the hot coal and ashes. That is how the Choctaws learned how to make and fire pottery and pots (York 2012:108).Ref: Iti Fabvssa 2013.6 Chahta Amptoba
