CULLOWHEE – The fifth annual Native American Expo at Western Carolina University is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 11, through Wednesday, Nov. 13, with a series of events and presentations centered on Native American values, traditions and culture.
All events, which will be held in the Grandroom of A.K. Hinds University Center, are free and open to the public.
Chris Teuton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will discuss his book “Cherokee Stories of Turtle Island Liars’ Club,” which is a collection of 40 interwoven stories, conversations and teachings about Western Cherokee life, beliefs and the art of storytelling, at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 11. Students from WCU Cherokee language and experimental archaeology classes will make presentations at 2:30 p.m. that day.
Students from Cherokee Elementary School will perform native songs from 11:30 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Nov. 12. Later, DiGali’I, the Native American student organization, will show the film “Smoke Signals” at 6:30 p.m., with a panel discussion to follow.
Western Carolina University alumna Dr. Frances Owl-Smith, the first woman physician from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and Dr. Jerri McLemore, associate professor of pathology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and a member of the Creek Nation of Oklahoma, will be honored at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 13, with a closing reception to follow.
The expo, which includes a walkthrough exhibit displaying Native American artifacts and information, is sponsored by the Department of Intercultural Affairs, the Cherokee Studies Program, the Cherokee Heritage Center and the DiGali’I student organization.
Info: Department of Intercultural Affairs (828) 227-2276 or ica@wcu.edu.
– WCU
