Foxfire 4 (Foxfire (Paperback))

Citation preview

~2 I

I

= d

o*

J

* ,

MICROFICHE REFERENCE LIBRARY of Volunte .Asia+:

R' T

'

ox fire

*

.

.

'

.

,~

,

4

ifL

4 ,.--

-

,,

E d i t e d by: E l i o t ,Wig:gint.on

.

0

P u b l i s h e d by : D o u b l e d a y , a n 4 Company, I n c . 501 Franklin-Avenue Garden C i t y , I NY 1 1 5 3 0 USA ,

I

\,i

~

Ptiper c o p k e s a r e i, 4 5.:95.

d

I

!pi

--'

. - ~ A v a i l a b l efrom: ,. . . Doubleday 'and cbmpany; In,s. 5 0 1 F r a n k l i n Avenue Garden C i t y , NY 1153-0 ~ S A

-.~-

I

~

.

- $ .

Reproduced by p e r m . i s s i o n of Doubleday and .Company, I n c . . . ..

1

' R e p r o d u c t i o n of t h i s m i c r o f i c h e 'document i I any i s s u b j e c t t o t h e same r e s t r i c t i . o n s a s t h o s e of t h e o r i g i n p l document. ,:.

.

'

germ I

1 . -

.

.. -;. **~.

.

.,

(

I_

,

.

I; 3

.

.

.

"

,

,

., .a

a ,

8

%

I

.

,

_

.

0

"

. ~ -. ~

,,

8 *

-

.

1

.

-

..~

.

I %

i

.

,

fire dagnzine with his rlilrth- and tenthEliot IVigginton, who s grade Enslish classes in . teacihes high school in the -4,ppalachian hlouiitrCins df Xorth Georgia and, witll his students, guides the activities of I he foifire Firnd, 1nc:His Ptudents now are expanding their efforts to include iror only the production of the Fo.x/ire rliagz~irleand books, but also the creation of televisiori shows for sheir comrnllnity cal~leTV statiorr, a 1 music, a11d n fur~liture-makin5h i seriis of record alhunis o ?. ness. Eliot M ~ggintonis ,

s

-'

..

TYILD R.ACCOOI.

+ -.~+#

ti

\

F

-.

3.:.

,,

..+

,

-.

.! i

d:

I of , onzrrss Cntalo Slaiii cntry u n d ~ rt i t l ~ :

.i

..

,

\

-

~p

Foxfirt, i .

, ,

.,~

"Portions of thii; hook first nppcared in'Fosfirr maqazine." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ p.0 4CIO. ~ r ; l ~ ) ~ l ~ : . . Rahun Gw. 2 . Handicraft-Georgia-Rahun xinton, Eliot\:, 11. Foxfire.

,.~..~. . . ... . .:

.

~~p

Sjzi.~.G+Fti+~ 9j5.8'1'23 ,\\ r s n s : 0-3>j5-12087.7 , Library of Congreis Catalog Q r d Number 76-50803

.

.

..,

A

i . .

The :Inci~orPress edition is the fir% publication, of F o s f i It is puhlishL,d ji~nultaneouslyin hard and covers. ;Inchor Rooks edition: 197j

v

,

fcci:it /'ho!o courtisy of John IIill Jnri;et and C O ; P T D ~ s i ~ bn yi ]in1 .tfrIl'i!!in~ns ,

-

IJnitions of t l ~ i sIjook, first Appcarrd in F i n j r i . r n i q 7 i n ~ . Copyriqht 1973, 1974, y 7 5 , ~ q i G ,rq77 11y T h e Foxfirc Fund, Inc. Ail R i ~ h t sR e s ~ n , e d . Printed in the United States of America

,c

.

.

Gap. --

~~

~

l'biu -1;ooL

is drtiicatrd to osjianizntions liKe Patch in the C:ahl,agetown Iici,rrhl,ol-hood of Atl;u~tn,rrin I)? rnrn ancl wornen w h o have consis;ently put thr wt-lf;irr of their ncig1il)or-hoods ;~hencl of personal 9ninLa'nd to those ijlcsscd foundations that support them, !car after )-ear.?

INTRODUC s

:ces in the o f these ' forcrs, despite a i r ~ t h i.,~ iwe q can do to counteract i ~ sees'to , it that certain stnde~rts\r.ill remain inll)edtfrd in our nlenlories. I've llati niy share, so far, ikttuderrts like that. Thry are inde1il)le. One of ~ h r ~ rs.i kid , ri;inied ~ r & s t , . i sone of those extraordinary hurnan I>eings who, while he \-one of his weekends to help me 1)uild my logr.hopse. He raised logs into place, cut out the windo\\. id duos hbles with . :*-~niv'. chain s ; ~ , set rafters--he was everywhere on that strurtul-e, laughin~>%*id talking. Despite the fact that we were 'cfose rhen, I loz.~ .~ erythins to?~h.;tI,t'.'~ . ~ a s ~ l e ~ agairl.qt r r i i i ~the side of my green pickup truck t a l k i n * i ~ 6 i ~ + i o " Brooks , when I gradually I>ec;lrnc'aware of another presover the tailgate and saw t h e r e . a skinny littlk ence. I .~la~ried,l)ackwards four411d-a-half-foot-high kid l o o k i ~ ~u gp at me, srinning out through I>~.;rces . . * ailif frony u l ~ d e rishock of blovd hair, and wearins one of those yellow ,/ . fodt!ja~i jexseys with ljlark stripes around the slrrves, jeans, a n d , ? pair of., teniris shoes'that must have l~eenrescued from the trash at least twice. H e heritated for a secqnd, and then said, ".4re you Wig? I'm Ernest's Iitile lirorher. H e rold me to firid i o u when I got hkl'e: 1'm David r\nd-instantly a wave crashed through me, and I looked into &at appse-' hensive little face and salt., one after t h e other, each. fare replaced by another, an e ~ i d l e s p a r - a d ein whi(11 eacli student I had succeeded with, or failed with. \%.as~ - e ~ l i c . 1,y e d another in a never-endi~rgline-each with new hopes and new neecls and new expectations. ;\nd I felt things snrhhing ,arotlnd inside'of me that I car1 never remer111)er feelins hefore. I t was important that that happen then,, for d u r i ~ gthe same summer, we ~

~

~-

-

-

lanaia an."

-

.

,.

,

.

=

:.r

.\.

.

at Foxfire cclel~mtedour tenth ijirthday ~vhilL'"'tllcniltion celehr;lted ifs twci2 hundredth. And I spent a lot of time doing-in regard to our organizatio~i --what I nssilrned othel-s were supposcd to 12.e doins in regard to the na- : tion: looking- backward iri ordcr to see f o r ~ s n r d .I saw we had come a long .\v.lv. and i noted, with gratitude, that we had passed through some choppysince I wrote the introductio~ito Fnvjire ~ 7 ,ant1 w c had come out on the othe side relatively unscafhcd--str-en,qhe~~edinstend of ~veakcned. :\t t1ie"tirne I wrote that introduction, quite fr;i~rkly.9 wa.s frightened. T h e outsi \vorld had descended on u s ~ v i t hw c h lot-cc that, from our per. specti\-e, .r{r saw that ~ v o f l das thc greatest sinfile tKt-cit to our sumival-a fbrce that could consume us, and cause us to lose sight of our per-spectivc, t our main goals, a n d 0111- main purposes. .4nd so I\-r huilt a w a l l &ound oulscl\-r*-;lllcl orlr kids. 1.111 convinced that, that was a n appropriate--'even iit;ll -1-c;~ction to-:ill the stran,T fists-beatirlg on our door: It g:rve us time to l>re;rthe, tinie to t-c::roup, tinlc to get o u r . priorities back in ordcc and figul-c out hn\v to keep them there. For scvel-al .yrars wc WCI-c inore introspective th;tli \\:e'h;id been in the past, and,we ex- . . p ~ + i m ' ~ n t ewit11 c i o u r o\vn edltc;~tio~~;ll f o r n ~ u l aill rcl;itivc peace. 1,al-se portions of that defense. still s t ; ~ ~.a1141 ~ d ,;~ppropriately.w. l'hcy will be there for as lorig as our or~;iniz;ition su~-\.ivcs.But fro111 where I stand " no\v. I can Fer that other portions have been broken down, not from without iji:t,f~-on1within, 5 s we've gonc throt~glithe same kind of rnatt~ring process as i i i org;lnizatio~i that we c c I ~ b r ; ~;LY k we 01)serve it in our kids. T h a t matllrii~ghapprned, nlld is I~apprtring,I tliirlh, for tavo re;tsons. ,~-d 'I P-irrt \ ~ ; I Sthc gro\\-i11,qrrnliz;rtion of h o y ni~l(.hour success had depeided . ',. I on that vel-y outside ~vo~-l;l,\ve fc;ired >o gre;rtly. When Foxfire ~ r i a ~ ; l i l n e was yoliii?. most of the si,qiiificant e\.erits a f f e c t i ~ ~our g little project were initiated in our I.)ehalf l?.'othcr-s. Junius Eddy. for es;~mple,who was with the OPiice of Eduratio11 when I hit \\';rshington oltc day I~eggingfor money. H e picked u p a phpne, c;alled Her11 RlcArthul. at the National Endowment for e ;esulted in our i first the Humanities, a n d set u p an appointnlcr~tfor i > ~that ci:nificanlL grant: ,

ks

~

2

-

'

+

~~.. O r l l i k c Kinney, a good friet~da n d collcge fr;ltcrnity I~rotherturned editor w-kg o t us to put ~ h c ' ~ o r f Book ik together and t a l c k d ~ n c h o rPress .. into. t a k i n ~n chance on it. . . O r this: Shor-tly after o u e ~ o i p o r i l t i o n\vas forn~cd,I \vasein iVashington :iqain t p i n g to reel-uit eome meri and, women t o s c t ~ e o'. tl our advisory 9 I ~ o a r d .Someone s ~ ~ g , < e s tSam r d Stanley of:thc Smithsonian s Center fop the Stlid\- of ll;i~r.-for-;rtfr-mt~iirne~ v ~ ye c l l rr l t e r t i r i n i r l ~ ~ h q ~ n o l that j o n other stucic~itsin other culturcs r~?ight. w ~ n r d a ywant to do the sanie sort of thing \vr were doins in ~ e o r i i a and . since Sam was a n expert in several Indian c i ~ l t u r e;ve ~ . thought he ]night l ~ c;rljlc to IIC hclplul. Sam was visited severai:

'

\

. " !

-

.

hours ;ifter1 lcfi hi? o h c e by B r i h Beun and .41m Vick of \DM$,a private foundation i l l IVashingtbn that was exploring ways of $ssisting various .. ,..- left with Indian groups. S;un shelved t,hem the copies of Foxfi7-e tbell for the curiosit? to see if I .could'liake rheni. .$ridold mati Hicks- told me hi.; po'ot- little l ~ o ylived on ash cakrs \%hen he first come to thii counct-v..%Butriow I)! the time I was it1 there, they had ;i'.qooti li\.ii!ic>. So\\- Fovlirc st;y-t4 i t with 1 I l i c l I o t . S thcy \\;is alkol~rtrl! T I ( , \v;~ihpot>;it ~ i i ykrro\vinx for quite ;I few ycit,. \Ve ~1.5cd;i hr;~ssk~,[tlc.I t ~ v o i ~ lIrolii. tl I \vorrI~ls;~):.a l ~ o r ~ t two l~u.;hels. Pretty i o o d sizeti one\. X(pv th;it kcttlc W;LS hirtig 011' t\co forked stake,. O n e iet u p on uric sidc ;rt~tltrrlr (11-cr tlirl-e. O n e was sort21 loose and 1o11\vot.rId pi;ir oti this i ~ i d;itid c;irry it ;trortridT I set it on the :round ii you wanted to, or rmpty.it. Ko\v that kettle^--with the whole ibriini~r~rity. that kettle 1v;x.s \vli;it thcy donc ;rll their wash-irig in. They cooked in it. T h e y d o n e c\.rrythirig the\ \v;intcd i t i ~ t h a tl)r;iss,kettlc. ., -411d thr \v;i.~lrirl:, r~o\v.they al\viiyi 11;itI'tc~ go to a I ~ ~ . ; t r l c .us l ~ ;I creekseen15 to me it \v;i, m r ~ c t ;Il ~ht-anch iinrc it h;itl more rv;iter at it. The)' gor ready to wash therl~tloti~c..~ :irrd thcy'ti l ~ ~ ttrrrtr ~ i l 0111. iri (hat kettlc with lye uo;ip. 'l'hat. ; ~ l l \ve,Lrir~prdi r i thrllr d;i\.,. I i ; r r i i cvrr r e r n r m l ~ r seeiri:' ~a c;ikr nf ~ t ~ ~ l c - l , o i r?;~;xp. yhr t i t l " -I thr (-lothcs to thc'l)ralich ,in ' . . I . I'hcrc 11ir15t h i I ;it t h ; i t t i I ~ I I I I ~n:ikers. 11%fact, 11iy d;tddy tould rn;xhc trcl~s.H e h.id ;ill rile tools: I l l i t I nr\.cr- ; i \ v hini makc 11i1t

,%

, i

\

-

..

7

,

1 0 1 1 1 1q =~

o ~ 'i . t , r l i ; ~ c l;i\\uoti Liuiket. Now % I I ; I ~ ' S \\.li;it \ i c h;id a t that time. You put you1 t r I I i t ~ 1irt.r now t to tlir 11ranc.h a n d . , I I!: !l;i,i . i 'Ljii~: 1 0 k lligl~ clrougli Sol. i~attliilg.1';itty-(.;ike with r h c I i I I I 1 i 1 1t i x c l l , l guess I've sern a ~.~ i;ls tiii~(Ic*of r c ~ jI ~ I ; I ~ I L , .KO\\; y o [ ~iliiglit \vo~~(lt-r why ,, . rccl I ~ I ; I G I \\-c!l> & ? red I I I ; ~ ~ , isI ~ ;I I I I I ~ ,$ I . ~ I ~ I ; I L~I > ~ill Igciti1~gCIII tIlc111 clothes, th. NO\< y h ~ it;ikr o;iL, popjiir ;>I. cl~csr~~ut-it'ss o i a u rzniriiiI)cr, If yorl Ilci~t~ r i t hthat kir~di'itgcts so that t t - ~ ~ h rhrrc .: ;old bciits youl- clothrs ;ill to pieces: , S o \ \ tli:ir \~;irex.yc1u (;111't riilsc ):our, i-lotlles in a punti. You've got to i i r x . '$1~ .il\v;~ys11-ictito c;itcll ;I p!atc \).hrre-the water \\:IS f < ~ ~ i h ii,:er i u ~ t h e sho;ils or winethiiig h o l d \-our cleihes y n d e r that. t i r e I I I I ~ I ~ if I y . o i 1 1 t I t i I 1 1 I I : get yoii I I k I r o l l 1 1 1 1 i11to tllr 1 1 c 1 i I W ~ C I I the w;itcr canie rl~zhii~:o\-c.r i t . \ U L I rilisc t21e1-c. ~ e to r t h e - p l l ~ iilcxt \ \ l i e ~ - ryou 11;1\-c\\,;~terr111111ingthrougli 'I'lic!i notchrd II-OI~I the top t o tlic l1c;ir.t of :I loq. S o w the first lug that I cvrl. ~ 3 1 . 1 - Y~ \ ; i t c r I. 111adcit.1 'e qot to ;I place tIi;rt \ v : h too Irvc.1 to wash in, a n d nu I'icr for watrl:. S I \ tilother, shc \valked u p to this say almut eight inches ill d i a ~ i i c t r r and she. said, ~'C:h:iilir,i l,iiie\,c you call c111 this d o i i n nnci Iir*\i m e out :I lox to r u n Iny .. \ir?rrr thr,ouqli so l i e call poul. i t olf." . ,a* .. I s i i c i . ".~lIl. S 1 0 t h r r ~I ~ ; t i l ' t . Shc'c! scen one some\vhe~-es,of course: "Yeah. C h o p it down, f l u a r e it .. 1 i ; ~ n dI'll show you horn it's tior~e. . . I , sc~~1.1ttx1 hiiii off, antlJ just ht~~.tecl chopijinp nl&g ? tile ;we. (:hopped ;I lkilc notch dowii into it-what.; ...* .. 111;1t's111cfir.~to11c 1 cv$:. S'I\\,, : I I I L ~ I tii:iclc 'it l i i ~ ~ s e l f . ~ . r yccn l ~ r ~ r ~ t l tofr ~Irct';i!~C;,i ls thcni. ". Kc,\,- th;ir l;e;itini, c l o t l i ~ stm tile r[ltk, i t dries wc:ii. t h r m ; I I L I ~tiiem oldtimers hab to do ~ ( i l ~ l r t l ~ i\ltil~h. c, ~\