Museum of the Cherokee People

Quallatown Makers
2025-09-30 16:30 - 18:30 (America/Kentucky/Monticello) | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Quallatown Makers is a free community opportunity for fellowship and artmaking. With the goal of perpetuating Cherokee art and knowledge-sharing, the Museum of the Cherokee People Art Studio will be open from 4:30-6:30pm biweekly on Wednesdays beginning June 18. Bring your own craft (all artforms welcome!), sip coffee (bring your own snacks if you like), and work on your project with like-minded makers. This opportunity is open our Qualla Boundary community. No registration required: just show up.

Corn Husk Doll Workshop with Laura Walkingstick (EBCI)
2025-11-14 15:00 - 17:00
On November 14 from 3pm-5pm, join Laura Walkingstick (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) in the Museum Art Studio for a step-by-step workshop and learn to make your very own corn husk doll.

All materials and a doll stand are included with registration price of $50. This workshop is open to enrolled members of federally recognized tribes, and registration is required.

Laura Walkingstick (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) is a multidisciplinary artist and art therapist based in the Appalachian Mountains. Her narrative-driven work explores themes of healing, memory, and intergenerational trauma, with a strong emphasis on Cherokee cultural identity and women’s roles across time.

Laura holds a B.A. in Ceramics from the Institute of American Indian Arts (2014) and an M.A. in Art Therapy from Southwestern College (2018). She integrates her training in therapeutic arts into her creative practice and community outreach, offering workshops and healing-based programs in collaboration with tribal organizations, local museums, and cultural institutions.
Working across a wide range of media—including clay sculpture, marionettes, traditional and contemporary dolls, and mixed media installations—Laura also creates beaded and handcrafted jewelry, continuing the legacy of wearable storytelling and cultural expression. Her jewelry pieces, like her other works, reflect a deep connection to her Cherokee heritage and a commitment to preserving and evolving Indigenous artistry.

Through her studio, Rez Dog Art Studio, she produces handmade dolls, ceremonial figures, narrative artworks, and jewelry that reflect the evolving stories of Cherokee people—past, present, and future.
Her work is in museum collections at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM., The Museum of the Southeast American Indian, Pembroke, NC., Mountain Heritage Center Museum, Cullowhee, NC., The Museum of the Cherokee People, Cherokee, NC.

Buffalotown Pop-Up Shop
2025-12-05 11:00 - 17:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Find apparel for everyone on your list at Buffalotown’s pop-up!

Unrelenting Art Market
2026-03-17 12:00 - 18:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Shop art, handmade goods, and more from Native vendors at the Unrelenting Art Market!

Interested in vending? Apply here: weblink.donorperfect.com/unrelenting

On Tuesday, March 17, Museum of the Cherokee People (MotCP) opens ‘ᏧᏂᏲᏍᎩ ᏂᎨᏒᎾ: ᏣᎳᎩ ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎯ ᏃᎴ ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏁᎦ ᏓᏂᎦᏘᎴᎬ ᎠᏰᎵ ᎤᏙᏒᎲᎢ Unrelenting: Cherokee People and the American Revolution,’ a first-of-its-kind exhibition centering Native voices, perspectives, and creativity in response to the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
On view through December 30, 2026, the exhibition features historic objects in conversation with works by Cherokee artists, merging cultural heritage, military history, and contemporary art for a nuanced examination of a pivotal moment in Cherokee and American history.

RESCHEDULED: 2026 James A. Cooper Memorial Lecture in Cherokee Studies
2026-03-20 17:00 - 20:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People – Education Wing
The James A. Cooper Memorial Lecture in Cherokee Studies is pleased to present ‘The Future of Tribal Sovereignty, Powered by the Past‘ by Stacy Leeds (Cherokee Nation), Willard H. Pedrick Dean, Regents Professor and Foundation Professor of Law at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University on March 20 at 5pm in the TJ Holland Education Room of Museum of the Cherokee People. A reception will follow.
Dean Leeds is leading scholar of Indigenous law and policy, with extensive experience in law, higher education, economic development, and conflict resolution. Leeds holds law degrees from the University of Wisconsin (LL.M.) and the University of Tulsa (J.D.), an M.B.A. from the University of Tennessee, and a B.A. in history from Washington University in St. Louis.
As the first Indigenous woman to serve as a law school dean, Leeds led the University of Arkansas School of Law (2011–2018) and later became the university’s inaugural Vice Chancellor for Economic Development (2017–2020). She has held faculty and leadership roles at the University of Kansas, the University of North Dakota, and the University of Wisconsin. She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and the American Philosophical Society. She is a past recipient of the ABA’s Spirit of Excellence Award and the Cherokee National Statesmanship Award.
Leeds is a former Cherokee Nation Supreme Court Justice. She has served as a trial and appellate court judge in many jurisdictions and as a commercial arbitrator.
The James A. Cooper Memorial Lecture is free and open to all. Registration is not required.

Artist Talk with Karen Sixkiller (Cherokee Nation)
2026-04-24 16:30 - 17:30 | Museum of the Cherokee People – Education Wing
Karen Sixkiller (Cherokee Nation) explores the aspects of magical realism and symbolism that combine her larger-than-life water beetle with the faceted geometric “mud” he perches on. Follow the technical journey of Karen Sixkiller’s simple clay maquette through the process of becoming a large bronze piece of public art.

Karen Sixkiller is a contemporary sculptor residing on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. Sixkiller creates sculptures using metal, ceramic, glass beads, leather/suede and fabric. As a Cherokee Nation citizen much of her work is informed by Native American understandings or stories. Cherokee Nation has purchased many of Karen Sixkiller’s ceramic and mixed media sculptural pieces for display in official buildings. She has permanent public art installations in Tahlequah OK, Olympia and Port Angeles WA, and now Asheville NC; as well as several temporary installations in Coeur d’Alene ID, Olympia WA and Lake Oswego OR. Her work has been featured at multiple Indigenous and non-Indigenous art shows.

Cherokee Language Workshop with Ogadudala
2026-05-04 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-05-06 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-05-11 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-05-13 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-05-18 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-05-20 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-05-25 17:00 - 18:00, 2026-05-27 17:00 - 18:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People – Education Wing
Every Monday and Wednesday in the month of May, come practice your Cherokee with Ogadudala, with Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program (CLMAP) graduates Dreyton Long, Madison Hye Long, Elvia Walkingstick, and Meshay Long and Dadiwonisi graduate Jack Cooper.No registration is required, and language workshops at MotCP are free of charge.
