By SHANA BUSHYHEAD CONDILL (EBCI)
Executive Director, Museum of the Cherokee People
In 2021 I was blessed to be selected as the new director of our Museum, and reflecting now, I am so proud of the work the Museum has accomplished. The foundation had been set before my arrival, though, to allow the Museum to begin to focus on our community more fully, and to tell more stories about who we are as Cherokee people today.
We have faced uncertain times in museums – COVID, Hurricane Helene, and major cuts in federal funding. I’m grateful for steady and thoughtful board leadership as we navigate this terrain not only as a 501c3, but one of the oldest tribal museums in the country. Special gratitude to Marie Junaluska who has served on the board of the Museum for many years. She recently rolled off the board, and we will miss her calm and steady leadership, and incredible expertise in Cherokee culture.
As we look to the future, we are realizing a dream 30 years in the making by building a Collections Facility that will be a home for our most precious items and information. The first call for this important project was a Resolution to Tribal Council that passed unanimously in 1994, and many, many community members have put in so much work to make it a reality. We are blessed to have partners who believe in the importance of this project, and I am especially grateful to our EBCI Tribal government for their financial commitment to finally push this project forward.
We have ambitious plans – to protect our most important objects and enable our people to tell our own stories in our own way. We know that we are of this place. We have been in these mountains since time immemorial, and our most important asset is our knowledge. We are partners with you in making this mission happen every day.
In this new year, come be inspired during a tour of collections, learn or share a skill, trace your Cherokee ancestry, tell us stories we may not know. We work for you and with you to protect and cultivate who we are as ᎢᏗᏴᏫᏯᎯ (idiyvwiyahi) Cherokee people.
