Museum of the Cherokee People

Genealogy Workshop
2024-10-28 17:30 - 18:30 (America/Kentucky/Monticello) | Wolftown Community Club Building
Museum of the Cherokee People’s genealogy staff invites the Wolftown community to learn how to conduct research into your own family tree. This event is open to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians community.
To learn more about genealogy services at Museum of the Cherokee People, please visit the Genealogy page of our website.

Family Connections: Where Do I Begin? Wolftown Community Genealogy Workshop
2024-10-28 17:30 - 19:30 | Wolftown Community Club Building
On October 28 from 5:30pm-7:30pm at Wolftown Community Club, join Museum of the Cherokee People Genealogist Robin Swayney (EBCI) to learn about how to trace your family’s personal history. In a workshop crafted especially for the Wolftown community, Robin will share techniques and tools for starting your own genealogical research.
This workshop is for members of Cherokee’s Wolftown community—stay tuned for more community-specific research workshops, coming soon!

Kuwohi Talk
2024-11-07 17:00 - 19:30 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Museum of the Cherokee People is honored to welcome Mary Crowe (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) and Lavita Hill (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), advocates who successfully led the effort to restore the name of Kuwohi (formerly known as Clingman’s Dome) in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
In this conversation, held on November 7 at 5pm in the Museum’s Multipurpose Room, Crowe and Hill will share their experience in restoring the name of this sacred place, from their initial inspiration to that day in September 2024 when the U.S. Board of Geographic Names officially made the historic change. This event is free of charge and open to all.

Charlie Soap (Cherokee Nation) Biography Book Signing with Author Greg Shaw
2024-11-08 15:00 - 17:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
You probably know the story of the late Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to serve as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. However, you might not recognize her husband, Charlie Soap (Cherokee Nation), whose role as a Native community organizer is no less significant. Combining memoir, history, and current affairs, this book charts for the first time the life and work of this influential Cherokee. In managing public infrastructure projects, housing assistance, and water development in the Cherokee Nation, Soap exemplifies ga-du-gi, the Cherokee word for community members working together for the collective good.

Oklahoma native Greg Shaw has reported for the Cherokee Advocate and served as an executive for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In telling this stories, he gives voice to his sources. As a longtime colleague and friend of the family, Greg draws on his many travels and interviews with Soap as well as previously unpublished writings.

Museum Closed
2024-11-27 - 2024-11-28

Assemblage/Collaging Workshop
2024-11-30 14:00 - 16:30 | Museum of the Cherokee People – Education Wing
On Saturday, November 30 from 2pm-4:30pm, explore the freedom and collaborative nature of art using a myriad of materials and methods.

Participants should bring materials they are willing to share (old magazines, a piece of cardboard, recycled or found paper, leaves, bubble wrap, newspaper, etc.) and materials for their own use only (a photo, specific text, etc.).

Workshop leader Isabella Saunooke grew up in Sylva and now lives in New York. She believes in art as a spiritual practice—a way to connect with the inner and outer world.
“I believe that by using provided and shared materials to create a collage, we are allowing ourselves to freely create, with no expectation of what the final product should be,” she shares. “We allow ourselves to capture a specific feeling or desire for the moment in time because that alone is enough to create something.”
This workshop, held in MotCP’s Multipurpose Room in the Education Wing, is free and open to the public. Registration is not required.

Museum Closed - Winter Hours
2024-12-02, 2024-12-09, 2024-12-16, 2024-12-23, 2024-12-30, 2025-01-06, 2025-01-13, 2025-01-20 and 2 more dates | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Through winter, Museum of the Cherokee People and the Museum Store will be closed on Mondays. MotCP’s administrative offices remain open.

Polymer Clay Mask Making Workshop
2024-12-13 14:00 - 17:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
Learn the process of using polymer clay to create a mask. Participants will learn Michelle’s techniques for forming clay and the tools she uses to best help her process. Every participant will leave with their own handcrafted polymer mask.
This class is ideal for folks who are interested in mask creating using non-traditional mediums.
Museum-provided materials and instruction are included with a $30 fee, payable online during time of registration.
Students should purchase before class begins on December 13th:

Apron, or clothes that can get messy
Clay tools
1 Polymer Clay block per person (Museum will provide one block of white polymer clay, feel free to purchase more if you want specific colors)
1 Exacto knife per person
Clay tools
Something egg-shaped like a rock, egg foam ball per person
(Optional) Notetaking materials.
(Optional) A snack and/or water bottle. Filtered water is available in the building.

Closed For Holiday
2024-12-24 - 2024-12-25, 2024-12-31 08:00 - 2025-01-01 17:00

Closed For Inventory
2025-01-02 - 2025-01-09

Cherokee History & Stories Workshop Series
2025-01-05 15:00 - 16:30, 2025-02-02 15:00 - 16:30 | Museum of the Cherokee People – Education Wing
Kathi Littlejohn, an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, has been telling Cherokee stories for more than 40 years at events, festivals, and schools. She has been leading Cherokee history tours for five years to historically and culturally significant places in Western North Carolina. She has produced four CDs of Cherokee stories: ‘Cherokee Legends,’ Volume I, II, and III and ‘Cherokee Stories of the Supernatural,’ available at select gift shops. She also completed a series of YouTube videos named “Cherokee History and Stories, “What Happened Here?”

William Holland Thomas: A New Perspective and a History Retold
2025-01-09 17:30 - 19:00 | Museum of the Cherokee People, 589 Tsali Blvd, Cherokee, NC, 28719, United States
On Thursday January 9 at 5:30pm, 2024 Jones-Bowman Fellow and former MotCP intern Avery Maples (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) presents William Holland Thomas: A New Perspective and a History Retold at Museum of the Cherokee People.
In conversation with his great-great-granddaughter, Elizabeth Avery Thomas and historian and professor Kirk Savage, attendees will learn about new research on William Holland Thomas from a Cherokee viewpoint.
This free event is sponsored by the Jones-Bowman Leadership Award Program, Cherokee Preservation Foundation, and Museum of the Cherokee People.

Beginning Cherokee Language Series with Landon French (EBCI)
2025-01-13 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-01-20 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-01-27 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-02-03 17:00 - 18:30 | Museum of the Cherokee People – Education Wing
Beginning January 13, educator Landon French (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) will lead biweekly Cherokee language lessons for beginners at Museum of the Cherokee People. This offering is free of charge and open to all. Participants are encouraged to attend each session, but drop-ins are welcome.
Meet the instructor:
ᏏᏲ,
ᎦᎸᏥ ᏓᏆᏙᎠ ᏣᎳᎩ ᎬᏗ ᏃᎴ ᎴᏂᏓᎾ ᎦᎸᏥ ᏳᏁᎦ ᎬᏗ. ᎡᎳᏬᏗ ᎨᎯ. ᎠᏤ ᎩᏚᏩ ᏗᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ ᏓᎩᎷᏫᏍᏓᏁᎰ ᏃᎴ ᎠᎬᏱ ᎠᏂᏯᎠ ᏕᎦᏕᏲᎲᏍᎩ. ᏚᏳᎪᏛᎢ ᏃᎴ ᎠᏂᎩᏚᏩᎩ ᎢᏳᎾᏛᏁᏗ ᏥᏍᏆᏛ.
Siyo,
My Cherokee name is Galvtsi and english name is Landon French. I live in Yellowhill. I work at New Kituwah Academy and I am the first grade teacher. I am also a graduate of Right Path and Kituwah Ways.
Schedule:
Week 1: January 13 & 15, 5pm-6:30pm
Week 2: January 20 & 22, 5pm-6:30pm
Week 3: January 27 & 29, 5pm-6:30pm
Week 4: February 3 & 5, 5pm-6:30pm
Week 5: February 10 & 12, 5pm-6:30pm
Week 6: February 17 & 19, 5pm-6:30pm

Beginner Cherokee Language Series with Landon French (EBCI)
2025-01-15 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-01-22 17:00 - 18:30, 2025-01-29 17:00 - 18:30 | Museum of the Cherokee People – Education Wing
