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About the Header Image: Idlebrook Wendy Darling Evensen "Wendy" one of our four Labrador Retrievers.

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Monday, February 28, 2011

Bearmeat's Indian Den - Cherokee, North Carolina

Good morning,

We've driven past Bearmeat's Indian Den several times over the past few years.  This time we made a point to stop in and do some shopping.

Owner David Smith and his wife began 16 years ago and have built their business selling only items made locally by local artists.

He began with a small building with a dirt floor.

There are so many wonderful hand made items that are fabulous to see and can also be purchased.

There are candles, soaps, bead work, baskets, pottery, wood and stone carvings and so much more!

We were both having a grand time here looking at the beautiful workmanship.

I made sure to take pictures of the quilts and other items items that some of you blog friends out there will enjoy seeing.

Attn Nedra, Tanya, and Marty:  Check out the quilts!

Not only are finished products here, there are supplies for making your own soap, bead work, etc.


My Honey found something he really liked so we bought it.

The peace pipe to the right is truly a work of art that will grace our mantel in our sitting room.   

He will build a glass display case to protect this investment.

Although you can order most items on the Internet and have them shipped, some items are quite large and must be picked up at the store.

The leather dress to the right is so soft to the touch.

The bead work  and detail are gorgeous.

Sadly, it was just a little too small for me.

There are also hand woven items available.

Both scarves and blankets are quite affordable and come in a wide range of colors.

We were so impressed by the quality of all of the items in the store.

 The owner made a point to remind us that all items are locally made and that there is nothing at all for sale in the store that is from China.

The bead work to the left had to have taken hours to create.

We were impressed by how beautifully merchandise is displayed.

We didn't have any problems finding things to buy.

Although I don't have a picture of them, we purchased some wood furniture for dolls.

We were restricted by the space available in our car from buying much more.

Of course, there were plenty of post cards.

I'm sorry I didn't pick up some of them.

There was a vast selection of oils for soap making as well as beautiful finished soaps.


Attn: Granny!  Look at that over there on the left!


There is a large selection of herbal teas.

I'll surely pick up some of those next time.Is this a fun place or what!

Now that I am working on these pictures I realize we should have picked up a few more things while we were there.   ;)

Oh, I think we should run back down to Cherokee and pick up a ham for Easter dinner.


Attn Wendy:  Check out all the jars of juices, jellies, and veggies.

I hope you've enjoyed my image tour of Bearmeat's Indian Den.

This is not your average tourist shop, that's for sure!

Very best,
Lois

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13 comments:

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Lois, how refreshing to go into a place with no "made in China" labels on anything. If we get to this part of North Carolina on our travels, we will be sure to stop into Bearmat's.

Marit Johanne said...

Wow! what a wonderful store - I could have spent hours there....and all my money

Anonymous said...

What a great store! One that I'd love to poke around in for about an hour. Probably takes that long just to see everything. Like your honey's PeacePipe and hope he doesn't need it!! lol...debbie

Montanagirl said...

It looks like a terrific little place to stop and spend money!

Nedra said...

Just the name alone makes it sound like a fun place. Thanks for the photos.

grammie g said...

Hi Lois ..what a great place to stop by...looks like something I sure would enjoy!!
Seems everything is going well!!
Stay safe

Michaela said...

Wow! What a cool shop. Exactly the kind I love to spend hours in. When we were in the US we would always try and find shops like this one and buy real local artwork. Or at least look at it in awe...

Thank you for sharing!

:)

Anonymous said...

I like the photos. I have been in Cherokee. I always considered Cherokee to be a kind of "tourist" trap. Let me explain...

I found out in 1952, in and around Tucson, Arizona, if you wanted to buy squaw boots with elk hide soles you had to go find an Indian that made them.

Otherwise you bought what was then called, "Squaw Boots" at the local shoe store.

So while the latter looked great with shiny chrome buttons, the original had silver buttons and real elk hide soles.

I have seen peace pipes made in China for sale in shops but never bought any.

I would be dumbfounded if a real peace pipe had nothing but ordinary turkey tail feathers on it.

They used pretty big birds for that and caught them by hand and risked serious injury in doing it.

There is a whole story about how they caught eagles by hand and it was not an overnight job but often required many days in a hole in the ground with a place large enough for your hand to stick out to grab the eagle by one leg.

Christine said...

What a great little shop. I'm definitely going to check it out when I go to the Smokies and that won't be very long from now.

Elaine said...

What a great shop! I always check out where things were made because I definitely want to buy locally made items. Carrying only local products can be very difficult for a store to do and these guys deserve a lot of credit for what they have accomplished.

Sherry said...

Oh, my gosh! I could spend a lot of time and money in a place like that!

Lois Evensen said...

Good morning,

I just knew you would love this place. There is so much hand made art here that it is hard to absorb it all in just one visit. I am most confident that it is truly locally made. There were many displays of pictures and stories about the artists.

We'll surely go back the next time we are in the area.

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by.

Very best,
Lois

2sweetnsaxy said...

I LOVE stores like this!