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Che Summerville News
Jim Marbutt Creates Intricate Indians, Totems
Local History, Respect For Native Americans Inspires Berryton Artist
By LAURIE PERRY
Feature Writer
“You can't argue with
wood. You need to let it say
something to you, to let it be
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BERRYTON SCULPTOR JIM MARBUTT CARVES INDIANS FROM CEDAR
Focuses On Detail, History, Respect For Native Americans
Southern Ghosts Revealed At Friends Meeting
By LAURIE PERRY
Feature Writer
Ghost stories and folk tales
of the South are the specialty
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Special Photo
NOTED AUTHOR NANCY ROBERTS
Shares Folktales At Friends Of Library Meeting
what it is going to be,”” accor
ding to local sculptor Jim
Marbutt.
When he sees a tree trunk
or piece of driftwood, he usual
lly sees the ‘‘personality’’ of an
ndian or snakes and lizards.
From cedar, oak or hackberry
trees evolve Indian forms that
fascinate Marbutt, each he
of North Carolina author Nan
cy Roberts, who will be the
guest speaker for the Chat
tooga County Friends of the
Library annual meeting at 7:30
p.m. next Thursday, March 21,
at the Chattooga County
Courthouse.
Ms. Roberts has traveled
Thursday, March 14,1991 . . . . .
says “‘with their own personali
ty."
TOOLS
The tools he uses are a
chisel, R‘ocket knife and chain
saw. ‘“The chainsaw gets all
that big wood out of your way
in a hurry,” he said. His
parents, Karl and Jackie Mar-
throughout the United States
for the past 30 years, talking to
ordinary people who have seen
extraordinarzlthings, visitin%
houses with histories of ghos
legends, and telling ghost
stories.
20 BOOKS
Ms. Roberts has written 20
books, 10 with ghostly themes.
Many are illustrated by her
former husband, Southern Liv
in% photographer Bruce
Roberts.
She will present a
biographical sketch and a
ghost story on March 21 at the
courthouse. On Friday, March
22, at 10 a.m., Ms. Rof‘;erts will
present a creative writing
workshop for selected middle
school students.
: dThere willlht:llso bea folkl(f>re
and. storytelli ogram for
adults a?t,;he libgarp; fgm noon
until 1 p.m. March 22. Par
ticipants in the noon event are
asked to bring a brown bag
lunch.
Ms. Roberts graduated
from the University of North
Carolina at Chapel ¥lill with a
mzfl'or in comparative literature
and a minor in journalism. For
a short time she was publisher
of the Scottish Chief
news Paper in Maxton, N.C,,
the oldest weekly in that state.
She started writing free
lance articles on North
Carolina ghosts for the
Charlotte %)bserver in the
19505. One of her readers was
goet and historian Carl Sand
urg, who wrote her a letter
saying how much he enjoyed
1-B
butt, own a hardware store,
Marbutt’s Supply Co., and Jim
said he has been around hard
ryfare stores and tools all his
ife.
His interest in carving
developed when he was a very
young boy, too young to use
sharp knives. “I have been
whittling and piddling with
wood all my life. My granddad
dy didn’t let me have a knife so
I used a nail and scratched on
bark.”
FACES
Marbutt says the intricate
faces are the most challenging
part of the sculpture. ‘“The
‘face’ tells you what to do with
the rest of the body. If you get
the face done, you can at least
cut the piece off and have a
bust, throw the rest in your
woodstove, and stay warm.”
Though he has no formal
art training, he seems to in
tuitively know the process of
sh%)ixfi wood. ‘lt has been
said before, but basically all I
do is remove what doesn't look
like an Indian. It isn't what
you leave, but what you take
off that makes the figure,”” he
explained.
MISUNDERSTOOD
Marbutt is also committed
to studying Native Americans
and thinks they have been
%reatly misunderstood.
hrough books, documentaries
and talking with other
residents of C%lattooga County
who have stories and legends
to tell, he has learned much
about the Indians, particular
ly the eastern wooc&men.
“They changed their way of
life and became warfaring after
the influx of the English. They
saw it as a matter of life or
death and became fierce
fighters. They used the same
techni(ilues in fighting as they
did in hunting the buffalo.
CIVILIZED VALUES
“I've tried to live by their
values. I think on average they
had a better way of loofifng at
things and were actually one of
the most civilized races. They
could live their lives content
and happy without even digg
ing a big hole in the ground.
They were here for hundreds of
years, and except for a few
trails or lodges, they did not
leave a mark. Our own race has
been here only a little over 200
years and we have all sorts of
problems. Modern society
could learn from the Indians. I
have chosen that side of my
ancestry to go to."”
CIGAR STORES
Marbutt’'s most Eopular
item is the replica of the cigar
store Indian popular at the
her articles and suggested she
publish them in book form.
Roberts took his advice.
She has also written books and
articles on subjects as varied as
travel, folklore, American
history, mental retardation and
politics.
DOCUMENTOR
Even when writing ghost
stories, Ms. Roberts considers
herself more a documentor
than a ‘“‘psychic.”” An avid
historian, Ms. Roberts has
earned recognition for her
historic nonfiction, including a
certificate of commendation
from the American Association
of State and Regional History
and complimentary reviews
from “The New York Times”
and ‘“The Wall Street Journal.”
However, she is best known
for her folklore books, in
cluding “‘An Illustrated Guide
to Ghosts,” ‘“Ghosts of the
Carolinas” and ‘‘America’s
Most Haunted Places.”
Ms. Roberts’ journalistic
experience and her love for
literature, particularly Greek
drama, may be seen in her
writing. *‘l think Greek drama
enhanced my sense of stor
themes and motifs,” she sai(i:
adding that ‘‘ghost stories are
similar to myths."”
NO GORE
““I don’t specialize in blood
and gore,” she said. “I am
much more interested in the in
explicable, or any phenomena
that are so mysterious that
they cause us to question our
basic perceptions of reality, of
' Features/News l
turn of the century which was
used in advertising. ‘“That was
the first good pubficity the In
dians had,” he said. He read
that those who had worked
craftin%l wooden figureheads on
large ships began working for
the cigar industry when shi
techncfiogy and styles change(f
Other pieces ot his work are
more abstract and include
totem faces carved in tree
trunks. “The totems are not
authentic,” he said. “‘I didn't
want to be disgraceful, so I put
a human face on the totems.
Totems are religious artifacts,
and many are personal, from an
individual's d}r)-eams.
DREAMS
*The Indians lived off their
dreams. They would listen to
their dreams before they would
anythin% else.”” In those
dreéams, if a young boy saw a
particular creature such as an
owl or a bear, that creature
would be a sacred or important
symbol in his life. ‘““He would
consider it his medicine, magic,
or spiritual power.” The In
dians took the French settlers
use of the word, medicine to
mean spiritual or dream-like,
rather than pills or merely
physiological remedies.
He explained that he has
liarned from his reading that
the Indians did not con:fier an
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SOLEMN INDIAN CHIEF
Emerges From Wood
what is real and what is not
real.”’
She believes people are
fascinated by ghostly tales for
many reasons. ‘‘People are
drawn to searching for the
meaning of life after death,”
she observed. ‘‘Stories about
ghosts may be comforting to
them, may give them affirma
tion that there is indeed a
spiritual plane of existence
besides our own.”
Two of Ms. Roberts’ books
are available for check-out at
the Chattooga Library,
‘“‘America’'s Most Haunted
Places’”’ and ‘‘Haunted Houses:
Tales from 30 American
Homes.”” Her books will be
available for purchase and
autograph after each program.
OFFICERS
Prior to Ms. Roberts’ talk
on March 21, a brief business
meeting of the Friends of the
Library will be conducted. This
will include election of new of
ficers for the coming year. The
nommatin§ committee has ;n'o
gosed the following slate of of
cers: president, Roger Jones;
vice president, Suzann Lanier;
secretary, Judy Summerlin;
treasurer, Becky Lively; and
board member representative,
Cheryl Farrar.
The Friends of the Library
is currently sponsoring a
membership renewal cam
paign. Student membership in
the library support organiza
tion is $2, individual member
ship, $5, family, $lO, and cor
porate sponsorship, SSO.
animal to be just a rabbit or
bear. Rather, each animal “is
an aspect of one larger force
and selected to teacfi the In
dians’ lessons.”’ The Crowe In
d"lans. for example, would cover
themselves with furs when
hunting. ‘“This disguised them,
but it also would give them the
strength of the animal. They
respected the animals they
hunted.”
Marbutt enjoys watching
animals though he rearely
hunts. ““I like to get out in the
woods and just sit down and
watch the animals and see how
still I can become. I can get so
still they slip up on me and
don’t realize I am there. I like
to track and fish, but I track
animals only to watch them. I
don’t hunt unless I eat my
finds.
LYERLY SPRINGS
“I wish we could get a bet
ter grasp on our éherokee
history in this county,” he said.
The area is full of legends, such
as the ones involving Lyerly
Springs. ‘A lot of praying and
dancing went on there,” he
said. “It is a sacred place.”” One
legend he has hear(finvolved a
young Cherokee brave who
committed suicide by tying a
rock to his foot and jumging in
to the sgring. His body was
supposedly found in another
sprinfii a long distance away
and this is how they first realiz
ed the springs were connected
through a series of
underground caves. “It is an
amazing place. There is a
natural face in the rock of the
cave. Many pe(l)_{)le are scared
to go there.’ He said many
years ago a murder also took
place in that area.
ENVIRONMENT
“I never cut a tree down to
carve it. I guess I am very con
scientious of the environment.
The Indians had the
philosophy that you take what
f'ou need from the land and
eave it the way you found it.”
Much of the raw material
for his artwork is given by
friends or found on campin
trips. “‘Black gum is rare. %
hate to see it come in the
shop,” he said. “‘There isn’t
much birch left either."
He prefers to work with
hardwoods, but not as hard as
a 50-year-old post oak that he
once tried to carve. The tree
trunk had become petrified. ‘I
have to smell every piece of
wood that comes in the shop,”
he added. *'l can tell what they
are by smelling of them better
than by looking at them. Wet
poplar smells just like beer.”
Cedar is popular but he said
it makes him ‘‘cough for six
months.” Cedar is also ‘‘slow,”
and hard to work with because
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Soapbox Derby May 4
The cub scout soapbox derby will be
held at 9:30 a.m. M:K 4 at the First
Baptist Church, Marsh Avenue, Trion.
The event will be sg:lnsoned by the
Town of Trion and Trion Cub gcout
Pack 38. The soapbox derby is open to
all cub scouts in Chattooga County.
The contestants must follow specific
it is so soft. ‘lt is easy to cut
but hard to shape because it
splinters so badly. Pine is also
bad to splinter and ‘fuzz.’ I
prefer hardwood if it is half
g'reen. This allows for fine
etail.”’
‘A piece of wood means a
lot. Sometimes the most
unusual-looking log or limb can
make the most wonderful car
vings. People say they look as
if they were carve! in the
1800 s. They lose interest if
they are sanded; people always
tell me to leave them rough.”
Marbutt says “igeas
bounce around" in his head for
weeks before he gets the oppor
tunity or feels ready to use
them. He would like to make a
chair from a forked tree and
carve an eagle on the back. He
would also like to begin
sculpting dinosaurs, and even-
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Staff Photos By Laurie Perry
CHILDREN ENJOY INDIAN ARTWORK ON DISPLAY
At Chattooga County Library This Month
rules when buildinge their vehicles.
Wheels should not be over 10 inches
in diameter and only lawnmower
wheels are acceptable. One-eighth inch
should be allowed between the steer
ing blocks and the center frame. The
child must also wear a safety helmet
and seat belt. (Staff File Photo).
tually, he would like to com
plete busts of famous Indian
chiefs such as Sitting Bull or
Crazy Horse.
FOR SALE
His work is available at
Marbutt’s Supply Co., Keep
sakes, Frames and Stitches,
Summerville, and Howard
Finster's Paradise Gardens.
The Chattooga County Library
is currently exhibiting his
work. :
In addition, Marbutt tries
to appear at all art shows and
he has a few dealers who pur
chase his work for resale. “‘I
have sold a lot in Chattanooga,
Atlanta and up north. Some of
the Northern people like things
like two-headed snakes,” he
says smiling. “I don’t say
anything. I just make them.”