Museum of the Cherokee People

Member Appreciation Night
2024-05-23 17:30 - 19:30 (America/Kentucky/Monticello) | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Join us for an evening celebrating you: our members! Enjoy behind-the-scenes tours, refreshments, and conversation at this exclusive after-hours event.
Past members are invited to renew their memberships, ensuring they continue to be a part of our vibrant community, and current members can learn more about how to upgrade their memberships, tailoring their support to match their evolving interests and engagement. Not a member of the Museum of the Cherokee People? Join today.
RSVP to Development Specialist Jeremy Hyatt (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) at Jeremy.hyatt@motcp.org, by May 16.

Community Listening Session
2024-05-16 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
The Museum of the Cherokee People actively seeks input from the community for the update of its main exhibition. In the early phases of reimagining the exhibit, last renovated in 1998, Museum leadership will hold a listening session at the Museum, encouraging members of Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to share their visions for a community-centered, community-voiced exhibit.
The main exhibit update is part of the Museum’s ambitious plans to prioritize self-representation in its exhibits and offerings, create an accessible space for all Cherokee people, and increase the safety of the objects in its care using museum best practices and Cherokee cultural protocols.
Attendees will be able to view and share feedback on conceptual drawings for the Museum’s future offsite collections housing and public facility. Complimentary dinner will be served.

Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives Archiving Event
2024-05-02 09:00 - 17:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People – Education Wing
Museum of the Cherokee People seeks to provide a safe place to house copies of community materials for its Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Collection. Community members are invited to bring items to be archived, including but not limited to photos, archival materials, newspaper clippings, video recordings, voice recordings, and any other materials (both physical and digital) that show images or provide information about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Museum of the Cherokee People Collections staff will be available to make digital scans on the spot and return the original material to its keeper. Requests to place access restrictions on relatives’ photos will be honored. Lunch will be provided during these sessions.
Qualla Boundary MMIW is a group of community members from the Qualla Boundary focused on honoring our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives, protecting our relatives, using traditional practices, and educating ourselves and the community. Qualla Boundary MMIW is supported by the Center for Native Health.

Museum Store Spring Cleaning Sale
2024-03-19 09:00 - 2024-03-31 17:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Sale applies to select merchandise only. All sale items are final sale and are not eligible for returns or exchanges. Items included in the sale are not eligible for additional discounts.

The Museum Store is open daily from 9am-5pm.

Gadugi Pottery Workshop with Tara McCoy (EBCI)
2024-03-16 09:00 - 16:00, 2024-03-15 09:00 - 16:00, 2024-02-17 09:00 - 16:00, 2024-02-16 09:00 - 16:00, 2024-01-13 09:00 - 16:00, 2024-01-12 09:00 - 16:00, 2024-01-11 09:00 - 16:00
The Gadugi Pottery Workshop, led by Tara McCoy (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) is a community learning opportunity designed to increase and improve traditional pottery-making in the tribal community. Registration is now open for the 2024 workshop to enrolled members of federally recognized tribes. Participants must commit to attending each day of the workshop:
January 11, 12, 13, 2024, 9am-4pm
February 16 & 17, 2024, 9am-4pm
March 15 & 16, 2024, 9am-4pm
Space is limited and this opportunity is offered at no charge. Interested participants should email their name and contact information to programs@motcp.org.

sov·er·eign·ty: Expressions in Sovereignty of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Opens at MotCP
2024-03-15 09:00 - 17:00
sov·er·eign·ty: Expressions in Sovereignty of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, an exhibition that illuminates the complexities of tribal sovereignty and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ continuing legacy of resilience, opens March 15, 2024 in the Museum of the Cherokee People’s changing exhibition space. Entry is included in general admission.

Books on the Boundary: A Museum of the Cherokee People Reading Circle - 'Even As We Breathe'
2024-02-28 18:00 - 20:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Books on the Boundary: A Museum of the Cherokee People Reading Circle is a quarterly book club that discusses the best fiction, nonfiction, and poetry written by Indigenous authors. Join us quarterly at the Museum of the Cherokee People Store. Our Winter 2024 read is Even As We Breathe, a suspenseful historical fiction novel by Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians). Bring your thoughts and questions to our meeting as we enjoy a Q&A with the author herself!

“Nineteen-year-old Cowney Sequoyah yearns to escape his hometown of Cherokee, North Carolina, in the heart of the Smoky Mountains. When a summer job at Asheville’s luxurious Grove Park Inn and Resort brings him one step closer to escaping the hills that both cradle and suffocate him, he sees it as an opportunity. With World War II raging in Europe, the inn is the temporary home of Axis diplomats and their families, who are being held as prisoners of war. Soon, Cowney’s refuge becomes a cage when the daughter of one of the residents goes missing and he finds himself accused of abduction and murder.

Even As We Breathe invokes the elements of bone, blood, and flesh as Cowney navigates difficult social, cultural, and ethnic divides. After leaving the seclusion of the Cherokee reservation, he is able to explore a future free from the consequences of his family’s choices and to construct a new worldview, for a time. However, prejudice and persecution in the white world of the resort eventually compel Cowney to free himself from larger forces that hold him back as he struggles to unearth evidence of his innocence and clear his name.”

Even As We Breathe is available for purchase at the Museum Store and in our webstore.

Keep up with book club happenings by joining our Books on the Boundary Facebook group.

Rivercane Processing Workshop
2024-02-23 09:00 - 2024-02-24 16:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Join Waylon Long (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) and Museum of the Cherokee People Atsila Anotasgi Cultural Specialist Dylan Morgan (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) to learn how to process (bust, peel, and shave) rivercane. This community learning opportunity is open exclusively to enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Space is limited, and online registration is required. If you are unable to register using the link, that means that this workshop is full. If you would like to be put on the waitlist please email programs@motcp.org with subject line “Rivercane Processing Workshop Waitlist.”

Buffalotown Pop-Up Shop
2024-01-27 12:00 - 16:30 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Buffalotown Clothing Co. returns to the Museum of the Cherokee People for a pop-up shop from 12-4:30pm on Saturday, January 27. The Cherokee-owned design and apparel company will have new designs of shorts, shirts, hoodies, and stickers for sale.
Buffalotown Clothing Co. is an Indigenous-owned company that embraces our Cherokee identity, culture, and language through our products and designs. Most of our designs have a story behind them and may resonate with you in your own way, and that’s osda (good)! Learn more at thebuffalotown.com.

Museum & Store Closed for Staff Training
2024-01-06 - 2024-01-10 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
The Museum and Store will be closed for staff training January 6-10, reopening to the public January 11.

Museum & Store Closed For Inventory
2024-01-02 - 2024-01-05
The Museum and Store will be closed December 30-31 and January 1-2, 2024 for the New Year’s holiday. Both will remain closed for inventory January 2-5 and staff training January 6-10, reopening to the public January 11. Guests are welcome to visit the Store during lobby renovations, and general admission tickets are not required for store entry. The Museum Store is open from 9am-5pm daily.

Museum & Store Closed for New Year's Holiday
2023-12-30 - 2024-01-02
The Museum and Store will be closed December 30-31 and January 1-2, 2024 for the New Year’s holiday. Both will remain closed for inventory January 2-5 and staff training January 6-10, reopening to the public January 11.

Party Like It’s 1998: A New Year for the Museum of the Cherokee People
2023-12-29 18:00 - 20:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Join the Museum of the Cherokee People for a final look at its current main exhibit, first opened in 1998, and Disruption before we take the first steps toward a renovated museum! Enjoy conversations with Disruption and Gadugi Pottery Exhibit artists, live entertainment, a cash bar, food trucks, and opportunities to learn more about the Museum’s work in 2023 and beyond. Dress to impress in your 1998 best for a chance to win a prize! Admission is free for Museum members and members of federally recognized tribes.
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Holiday Pop-Up Market
2023-12-14 17:00 - 20:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
On December 14 from 5-8pm, shop small, shop local, and shop Indigenous with us at MotCP’s Holiday Pop-Up Market. Interested artists and vendors can apply to participate here: bit.ly/3Roqigh

Community Listening Session: Wolftown
2023-12-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Wolftown Community Club Building
The Museum of the Cherokee People seeks feedback, thoughts, and ideas from tribal citizens as it prepares to update its main exhibit and public facility. Join Museum leadership for complimentary dinner and conversation to share the history, culture, stories, and themes that you’d like to see at your tribal museum.

Conversation & Tintype Photography Demonstration with Will Wilson (Diné)
2023-12-03 16:00 - 17:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People – Education Wing
Join photographer Will Wilson (Diné) in conversation, followed by a live tintype photography demonstration. Wilson’s visit to Cherokee follows his December 2 artist talk at McClung Museum of Natural History in support of the exhibition In Conversation: Will Wilson. This community learning opportunity, open to members of federally recognized tribes, is presented in partnership with McClung Museum of Natural History and Culture. In Conversation: Will Wilson, is organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Community Listening Session: Big Y
2023-11-30 18:00 - 20:00 | Big Y Community Building
