By ROBERT JUMPER
Tutiyi (Snowbird) and Clyde, N.C.
A debate between the tribal business committee and the tribal museum has left the community without a roadside sign to alert those traveling on Tsali Blvd that there is a valuable source of education and information about our tribe since May 2024.
Ken Blankenship (1943-2021), former long-time executive director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian (now known as the Museum of the Cherokee People) made a profound and significant comment at one of the meetings of the Greater Cherokee Tourism Committee (GCTC) many years ago. The GCTC was established and organized while Mary Jane Ferguson (1950-2024) was director of EBCI (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) Travel and Tourism to bring together the major attractions and tribal programs to unify the marketing efforts of Cherokee under a common branding message, including a unified imaging campaign. The Cherokee Preservation Foundation (CPF), under the direction of Susan Jenkins at the time, provided a large grant to the entities of the GCTC to enhance their effort. It was important to CPF that the Eastern Band culture was promoted and preserved as a result of the efforts of that grant.
Luke Swimmer, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, takes down a sign from the Museum of the Cherokee People on the afternoon of Wednesday, May 29. The sign, designed and painted by Swimmer, was deemed to be not in compliance with the EBCI sign ordinance. (Photos courtesy of Anna Chandler/Museum of the Cherokee People)
Ken understood that to further the goals of public education and understanding for the history and culture of our tribe, that not only did there need to be revenue generated to fund the projects of the museum, but also foot traffic in the museum, from the feet of members of our community to the feet of the tourists coming into our community. Ken also knew that revenue generation depended on the tourists coming in, because tribal members do not pay to visit the museum exhibit.
So, during one of the GCTC meetings, one of the marketing agencies touted the fact that the Great Smoky National Park dumped much of its traffic, at the time estimated 11 million visitors, right onto Tsali Blvd every season. The agency representative congratulated Cherokee on having that traffic moving through the town, saying that Cherokee was the true gateway to the Smokies.
If any of you knew Ken, you know that he did not have any issues stating his position bluntly. Ken responded directly to the agency representative. He told the representative that Cherokee had never had any trouble getting the traveling public to “pass through” Cherokee. Ken stated, “I don’t need to know how to get people to go through Cherokee. They do that naturally. I need for you to figure out how to get them to pull into my parking lot”.
During that same time frame, one of the initiatives implemented to achieve the goal that Ken has articulated was to revamp the signage for the cultural district. And it was not a “do your own thing” project. The GCTC planned on how that could incorporate the brand strategy into the signage, a plan that would bring all of its member entities into a uniform promotional effort with similar looks. So those oval signs of various sizes that became familiar throughout the cultural district were created to promote the district, right down to the maroon and gold paint jobs. All signs even had the same font for their lettering. The theme was cultural unity and the purpose was to provide both community members and tourists an identifying marker so that they knew which parking lot to pull into so as to experience the history and culture of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
But times and people change. You don’t hear a lot from the GCTC these days. My understanding is that it still exists along with the large grant that precipitated its creation, but it seems to be a much less vocal organization and its influence is unclear. New museum leadership brought fresh ideas for exhibits and the marketing of the museum. More importantly, from the start, the leadership’s new direction targeted a merging of historical pieces of remembrance and the modern art of local artisans. As a part of that new strategic initiative. Younger minds and artists were tapped to create new exhibits and to create a new identity for the museum, including the marketing elements and signage.
In an article written by Scott McKie Brings Plenty titled “Museum of the Cherokee People made to remove sign” (published May 31, 2024), the artist tasked with expressing the new direction of the MOTCP in signage explained his vision for the museum’s signage. “Drawing inspiration from my culture, community, and my own experiences, I aimed to create something that makes a statement about us as Cherokee people, inviting viewers to think about the piece, and it’s message, to create emotions and have them think. Ultimately, my art is a testament to the power of creativity, expression, when given the opportunity to do so.”
Clearly a departure from the “uniform” ideas of the past. Luke is a talented artist. I know from working with artists over the years, they put much of themselves into their creations, even when they are expressing a communal idea.
In the same article, the current executive director of the MOTCP, Shana Bushyhead Condill, further explained rationale for the sign remodel. “When we were initially talking about artist interventions at the Museum. Luke’s work immediately came to mind. As we work to cultivate Cherokee traditional knowledge in our community. Luke has an amazing way of incorporating traditional elements into art that can speak to multiple generations. We each, as Cherokee people, have our ways that we continue to protect, and learn, and share with each other. I love that my kids, our kids, are able to be inspired by Luke’s work and designs.”
So, new ideas and strategies. Young minds are not necessarily reinventing the Eastern Band culture but sharing a unique interpretation. And I applaud that effort. We need more of that in our other cultural elements, including the strategies to improve the acknowledgement and use of the Cherokee language.
But, as the title of the article inferred old Cherokee law clashed with new museum marketing during the last week of May. A letter sent to the MOTCP leadership read, “The Tribal Business Committee expressed concern over the proposed sign renderings for the Museum sign.” The TBC said in the letter that the new museum sign did not “promote economic and social activities that are consistent with the Cherokee Indian Reservation’s history and environment.”
They added, per Cherokee Code, “Signs shall be limited to three colors not including logos, provided none of the colors or materials are florescent, earth tones are preferred.” The museum was given ten days to “immediately cover and cure the violations within ten days” or be directed to remove the sign.
The MOTCP leadership were sent a subsequent letter documenting that the museum was choosing not to address the Business Committee on the sign issue, would not make adjustments to the sign and so would take it down.
And since that day in May, there has been a large oval metal frame at the roadside of the museum that once beaconed community members and tourists to visit our museum to learn about us. During the most active months for our people and for outside travelers, that empty metal frame had been our representation of our cultural district.
We are now into our eighth month of this sign debacle. And here is my message and my ask. Tribal government, even if the sign did not meet current signage regulations, it would have been better than leaving our museum without roadside signage. It would have been better to have that presence than for our tribe to get a black eye in the community and visiting public. Embedded in the Code is a caveat that allows the Business Committee to override regulations if they feel it is in the best interest of the tribe. Maybe this is one time that leave to suspend the rules should have been invoked until a compromised could be reached.
To MOTCP leadership, I don’t know if the decision to not immediately put up a sign that would be in compliance was a fiduciary decision or just a way to make a statement to tribal government, but the end result is that the community suffered the decision not to have a sign at roadside in a prominent intersection of the cultural district. For going on eight months, the people of our community have endured that empty frame. Pride shouldn’t prevent us from making good decisions. Choosing not to come to the table to try to find common ground may not have been the best solution. A temporary sign that would have met compliance to existing law could have been placed while negotiating a sign with the government that would have also met the vision of the MOTCP leadership.
I love much of what the MOTCP is doing to modernize the exhibits and involve our artist community. I also appreciate the structure and unity that our tribal government is attempting to enforce. But there is common ground to be had regarding this sign issue, I ask both entities to come together for the sake of the community and resolve this before the next tourism season begins. And please, put the sign back up.
