By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – The WCU (Western Carolina University) Cherokee Center held their Indigenous People’s Day celebration on the morning of Monday, Oct. 9 at the Western Carolina University fountain area. WCU sits on the Cherokee village of Tali Tsisgwayahi, Two Sparrows Place. The event, led by WCU Cherokee Center Director Sky Sampson and Administrative Support Associate Elias Huskey, was a jampacked celebration of Indigenous people and culture from across the globe.
Cherokee Royalty participate in the Friendship Dance led by Johnny Postoak, the father of Teen Miss Cherokee Kyndra Postoak and Little Miss Cherokee Rhiannon Postoak. (BROOKLYN BROWN/One Feather photos)
The event began with performances from the Māori people visiting from New Zealand. Jarrett Wildcatt, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), played the flute and told Cherokee legends. Bryanna Weaver, WCU student from the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, told the Ioway Legend of the Bee King and the Snake’s Daughter. The celebration also featured appearances from Cherokee Royalty: Miss Cherokee Scarlett Guy, Teen Miss Cherokee Kyndra Postoak, Junior Miss Cherokee Kennedy Moore, and Little Miss Cherokee Rhiannon Postoak introduced themselves in Cherokee language. Guy also introduced herself along with other students from the Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program (CLMAP).
“We’re here to show off a little,” Dawnenna West Calhoun joked.
The Cherokee Elementary School dancers performed traditional dances, including the Beaver Dance, the Bear Dance and more. Sampson employed people from the crowd to perform the Friendship Dance led by Johnny Postoak. Postoak also performed the Grass Dance.
“It’s a good day to be Indigenous at WCU! We celebrated this special day with traditional Indigenous dances, songs, food, authentic handmade retail, traditional crafts, and much more,” Sampson said. “Please remember us on Indigenous People’s Day, but also each day after. We are living and thriving proof of resilience, strength and culture that is in the land and our hearts.”
The Cherokee Elementary School dancers perform the Bear Dance at Western Carolina University on Indigenous People’s Day.
Vendors for the event included Native Impressions, Qualla Creations from the Oconaluftee Indian Village, Twisters Sisters, and Brooklyn Brown Creations.
The event also held hide painting and beading stations, with WCU students, faculty and staff participating in the crafts. Huskey led a blowgun station where participants could shoot at targets. There were also samples of traditional food, including chestnut bread, bean bread, blueberry dumplings, and three sisters soup. Nikki’s Frybread also set up a food truck with a consistently packed line throughout the event.
“It’s an honor and privilege to help facilitate the Indigenous People’s Day festival on WCU’s campus. It’s incredibly important to remind everyone that we are still here, and are a thriving, contemporary, modern people,” Elias Huskey said. “WCU was built on our land utilizing our natural resources, so it is fitting that it would be the site of our annual Indigenous People’s Day festival. It sure is a wonderful day to be Indigenous at WCU.”
