By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
ONE FEATHER STAFF
November is Native American Heritage Month and many programs in and around Cherokee are having special events.
The Cherokee Central Schools have events planned all month. Each week is a different theme including: week of Nov. 1 – Celebrating Native Style, week of Nov. 7 – Celebrating our People, week of Nov. 14 – Celebrating our Lifestyle, week of Nov. 21 – Celebrating the Harvest, and week of Nov. 28 – Celebrating our Survival.
Events planned throughout the month include:
– Thursday, Nov. 3 – Period Dress Day
– Friday, Nov. 4 – Pendleton exhibit in CHS Library
– Tuesday Nov. 8 – Tribal and Community Leader day
– Wednesday, Nov. 9 – Local speaker day
– Thursday, Nov. 10 at 1pm – Veterans Celebration in the Cultural Arts Center
– Monday, Nov. 14 at 2:30pm – Indian Car Paradein front of the school
– Tuesday, Nov. 15 – Food and Music Day
– Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 2:30pm – Games and Skills on the stickball field
– Thursday, Nov. 17 – Archeology presentations in the Gathering Place
– Friday, Nov. 18 – Indian Stickball on the stickball field
– Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 2:30pm – Indian Market at the Courtyard
– Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 9:30am – Cherokee Warriors and Intertribal pow wow
The Qualla Boundary Library has several events celebrating the month including:
– Monday, Nov. 14 at 5pm, Native American movie night featuring a showing of The Only Good Indian starting Wes Studi
– Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 9am, storyteller Marie Junaluska, Library kids room
– Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 9am, storyteller Dawn Arneach, Library kids room
Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc. has an exhibit at the WCU Mountain Heritage Center entitled “Qualla Arts and Crafts: Tradition and Innovation”. The free exhibit will be up until February 2012.
“The exhibit features interviews with several Cherokee tradition bearers,” said Tonya Carroll, Qualla and Crafts. “They are Davy Arch, Darrin Bark, Karen George, John Walkingstick, Geraldine Walkingstick, Fred Wilnoty, Joel Queen, Kim Bottchenbaugh, Sylvester Crowe, Jerry Wolfe and Kathi Littlejohn. Tom Belt was also interviewed about Cherokee language.”
“The exhibit has artwork items made by the interviewees and some other Cherokee artisans along with enlarged photos of prominent Cherokee artists from the 20th Century,” she said.
An open house for the exhibit is scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 10 from 6-8pm. Carroll related, “The open house for the exhibit is part of the Native American Expo at Western Carolina University. Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual partnered with the Mountain Heritage Center on this project and it was funded by the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area.”
The 3rd Annual Native American Expo is scheduled at WCU from Nov. 7-10 and features numerous activities and events. The Expo will kick off with a special luncheon in the third floor of the U.C. Grand Room on Monday, Nov. 7 at 12:20pm. The luncheon will feature dances by Cherokee youth and EBCI flutist Tawodi Brown.
All events listed will take place in the U.C. Grand Room third floor unless otherwise noted.
Monday, Nov. 7
– Cherokee Language Revitalization, 1:25-2:15pm
– Traditional Cherokee Stories, 2:30-3:20pm
– The First People: An Enduring Presence (photographs by Anna Fariello), 3:30-4:30pm
– Native Health Panel: Cherokee Women’s Health, 6-7:30pm
Tuesday, Nov. 8
– Sustaining Tradition: A Cherokee Cooperative, 11am – 12:10pm
– Cherokee Letterpress, 12:30-1:50pm
– Du-Yu Dv-l: The Right Path Adult Leadership, 3:30-4:30pm
– The Struggle for Freedom of the Press in Indian Country, Will Chavez (Cherokee Nation), 6-7:30pm
Wednesday, Nov. 9
– Cherokee Boarding School Experience, 12:20-1:20pm
– Indian Identity Panel, 3:30-5pm
– Musical performance by Arigon Starr, 6-7:30pm
For more information on the Expo, email to ygonell@wcu.edu.
The Oconaluftee Institute for Cultural Arts (OICA) has the following events planned:
– Nov. 1-30 – OICA student work will be featured in the Balsam Building Gallery on SCC’s Sylva Campus.
– Nov. 14 – An Introduction to Printmaking class will be held where students can learn to make prints in the Cherokee syllabary. 6-8:30pm
– Nov. 17 – A reception will be held for a basket display from the Clay County Historical Society featuring Qualla Arts and Crafts members, 4-6pm
The N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh is planning its 16th Annual American Indian Heritage Celebration on Saturday, Nov. 19 from 11am – 4pm. Several EBCI tribal members will perform at the free event including storytellers Lloyd Arneach, Sr. and his daughter Dawn Arneach. The Warriors of Anikituwah are slated to perform traditional Cherokee dances such as the Cherokee War Dance and the Eagle Tail Dance.
Pow wow style dancing will also be held with a grand entry scheduled at noon. For more information on this event, visit ncmuseumofhistory.org or (919) 807-7900.
