Don't forget to visit our Photos Page to view memories of many of the following events!
December 2011
On
Thursday, December 1st, Mark and four colleagues from the National
Council for the Social Studies conducted a pre-conference clinic in
Washington, DC., on the topic of Native involvement in the War of 1812.
Mike Clare presented information regarding the role of Canada's
First Nations, while Barbara Johnson and Frances Hagemann shared about
Tecumseh and his confederacy out of the Old Northwest Territory. Mark
completed the presentation by talking about the Cherokee involvement in
the war. The clinic was well-received.
November 2011
Sherry did programs on Cherokee culture for the Jefferson Elementary School kindergarten classes.
October 2011
Sherry
did programs on Cherokee culture for Rush Strong School and Dandridge
Elementary. At Maury Middle School, she told some old Cherokee
stories as a part of a unit on creation tales from various cultures.
Mark and Sherry also participated in the Pumpkin Town Festival in
Athens, TN.
September 2011
Indian
Day, a program for the fourth graders in Greeneville, TN, city schools,
turned out to be another great success on Friday, September 23rd, even
though rain forced a change of location. Rather than use the park
behind Tusculum View Elementary School, all activities were held indoors at the Eastview Recreation Center.
Mark
talked about the role of Cherokee men in 18th century society and
showed clothes, tools, and weapons of the period at his station.
Sherry's station featured information about the role of 18th
century Cherokee women and the children got to see baskets, pottery,
and jewelry, among other period items. Lowery Begay worked a
station with drums and flutes. Parent volunteers helped run
another station where the children made crafts. New this year was
Freeman Owle telling old Cherokee stories. The dance program was
awesome again too!
August 2011
The
fourth Spirit of Nations Powwow was held at Chilhowee Park on Saturday,
August 27th, and it was awesome. Attendance was at least 1,000
this year. There were not enough wristbands or souvenir books to
go around! The vendors and dancers were all happy and looking
forward to next year. Awohali Singers served as the host drum.
Joining in was Star Medicine Singers and Southern Echo.
"Live at Five at Four" did a live shot with us on Friday and that
certainly helped our attendance. The Knoxville News Sentinel ran
ads and stories for us, including color photos in the Sunday paper.
"Everything Knoxville" magazine did a great full-page spread for
us too. No doubt that was helpful too.
On August 18th, Mark and Sherry did a program for Fort Craig Elementary
School in Maryville. The first part of the presentation involved
the roles of men and women in Cherokee society during the 18th century.
After a short break, the second part of the program involved
storytelling and a friendship dance. As usual, the students were
very attentive, polite and engaged. Their answers to questions
during the session showed that the teachers at Fort Craig have done a
good job.
July 2011
On
Thursday, July 7th, Mark and Sherry participated in the Wing Ding event
at Tellico Plains. Motorcyclists from across the country came to
Knoxville and the surrounding area for four days of riding, visiting,
and seeing the sites. One of the events was at the Cherohala
Visitors' Center in Tellico Plains, in the heart of Overhill Cherokee
country. Kele Crisp, Johnathon Crisp, Nikki Crisp, and Andy Grant
also danced. Matthew Tooni did the singing and emcee work.
The heat, however, was just about unbearable.
June 2011
Wednesday,
June 29th, Mark and Sherry spent part of the morning and early
afternoon with scores of children at the Rockwood Library. The
summer reading program theme of "One World, Many Stories" was certainly
a good time to tell old Cherokee stories. There was also a little
time for games and crafts.
Tuesday, June 28th was a fun time at the Regency Retirement Center in
Morristown. Mark and Sherry shared several old Cherokee stories
and even got many of the residents involved with the sound effects for
the story about the stickball game between the birds and the animals.
Saturday,
June 25th, was the annual Treaty of the Holston event at James White's
Fort in Knoxville. This may have been one of the best ones yet.
Bob Eldridge did storytelling, set up his display, and
participated in the Cherokee traditional dancing and the treaty
reenactment. Bear Brooks did a lecture and demonstration of
archery and blowguns, sang for the dance demonstrations, and
participated in the treaty signing. Antonio Grant and his brother
Earnest danced as well, and told the governor what they thought about
the treaty. Antonio brought along Karen George and Ramona Lossie
to participate in the dancing and the treaty signing. They were a
great addition to the day.
Sherry did a lecture on the role of Cherokee women in 18th century
society, a demonstration of Cherokee cooking, and participated in the
dancing and the treaty signing. Mark shared with the audience
about the role of men in 18th century Cherokee life, and took part in
the dancing and treaty signing too.
Tom Turner served as Governor Blount, while Grant Hardin, Chad Bogart,
Jim Buckenmyer all worked with surveying demonstrations and the
militia. Other militia members from Sycamore Shoals and Marble
Springs joined in and all did an outstanding job!
On
Friday evening, June 3rd, Mark and Sherry did a presentation entitled,
"Entering the Sacred Circle," as the kickoff for the 21st annual Native
American Festival at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area in
Elizabethton. After the slide show and a question and answer
session, Mark and Sherry demonstrated men's traditional and women's
traditional powwow dancing. Then the audience was invited up for
a friendship dance and a two-step.
On Saturday and Sunday, Mark and Sherry decorated one of the fort's
cabins into a Cherokee home of the 1770s period. Sherry cooked
Three Sisters, turkey, venison, and peach cobbler. As usual,
everybody was interested in sampling her cooking! Mark did
blowgun and tomahawk demonstrations. Lots of visitors came
through during the weekend.
May 2011
After
the program at Sycamore Shoals, Mark and Sherry headed over to Natural
Tunnel State Park in Duffield, Virginia, for the "Siege at the
Blockhouse," event. Bear Brooks, who was already there with his
tent set up, helped Mark and Sherry get their lean-to erected. On
Saturday, the weather turned out to be considerably cooler than
expected, helping everyone enjoy the activities even more. The
horse race turned out to be a bit more fun when an altercation broke
out among the settlers and the Natives. It led to some arguing,
and even a shot rang out! Later in the day, the Natives were back
to seek a solution to the problem. Storytelling in the evening
and more activities on Sunday made for an enjoyable weekend.
On Friday, May 27th, Mark and Sherry spent most of the day at Sycamore
Shoals State Park in Elizabethton with a great group of home school
students and parents. The morning began with the "Walking in
Balance" program that explains the roles of men and women in 18th
century Cherokee society. The children enjoyed seeing the hides,
pottery, jewelry, and especially the blowgun shooting. Their
questions were really good too. After lunch, the parents and
students, more than 50 in all, took a tour of the fort and learned
about life among the settlers. Then Mark and Sherry took over
with a series of Cherokee stories, followed by a friendship dance with
the children and a two-step with some of the parents.
April 2011
There were no activities in the month of April.
March 2011
Thursday,
March 31st, Mark and Sherry visited with a Cub Scout pack in Dandridge,
sharing a brief version of the "Walking in Balance" program. The
boys had a great time, especially when Sherry demonstrated the use of
flint and steel to make a fire. Fortunately, Mark took the kettle
with the fire outside before the alarms could be set off!
Monday, March 21st, Mark and Sherry spent time with the wonderful folks
at the Regency retirement home in Morristown. The residents had
asked the staff for a program on Indian culture, so Mark and Sherry
shared the "Walking in Balance" program on the roles of men and women
in 18th century Cherokee society. The residents seemed to have a
very good time and have asked for a storytelling session soon.
On Saturday, March 19th, Indian Creek Productions hosted NativeFest! at
the historic Sam Houston School House in Maryville. Keri Brooks
once again was the driving force in organizing the event. Scott
Crisp served as the emcee. Star Medicine Singers and Southern
Echo were the two drums. Robert Redhawk told stories, Bear Brooks
did archery demonstrations, and Mark shared about Cherokee life with
the visitors. Other activities included dances, led by Emerson
Begay, craft classes, a stickball demonstration, flintknapping, and
face painting. Thanks to Dan Standley for manning the gate, and
to the craft vendors, the dancers, and all those who came to support
our efforts to raise money for the 4th annual Spirit of Nations powwow
to be held at Chilhowee Park in Knoxville on Saturday, August 27th.
February 2011
February
22nd, what would have otherwise been a rather uneventful evening,
turned out to be a lot more fun. Mark went ot Natural Tunnel
State Park in Duffield, Virginia, as a guest speaker for a community
college class for teachers. He discussed a Cherokee timeline with
the class members in the visitors' center prior to their tour of the
Anderson blockhouse. After getting into period clothing, Mark
joined the group at the blockhouse for a first person talk about life
in the 18th century. A big thanks to Joan Short and Megan France
for the invitation.
Current
Activities