Cherokee Voices Festival, Saturday June 13th

The Museum of the Cherokee Indian will hold the 18th annual Cherokee Voices Festival on the grounds of the museum on Saturday, June 13th, from 10 to 5 pm. Admission is free and made possible by sponsorship from the NC Arts Council and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

Visitors can expect to see more than 25 demonstrations of traditional Cherokee arts and crafts throughout the day, in addition to continuous performances of dance, storytelling, and music.

“This is a chance for the public to see Cherokee people presenting traditions that go back hundreds or thousands of years, on the land that they come from,” says Barbara R. Duncan, education director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and co-author of the Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook.

Duncan has been with the Museum of the Cherokee Indian for the last 19 years, and founded the Cherokee Voices Festival in 1998. (For more on the museum, check out the latest blog post here.)

“We’re a small organization, but we do a lot.”

“We’re the hub of cultural things happening in Cherokee,” adds Bo Taylor, Director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. “This road that is right by our door, about 10 million visitors pass by every year. We hold the festival right here on our grounds, and it’s a chance to learn, have fun, and interact with Cherokee people face-to-face.”

Taylor is also a founding member of the Warriors of AniKituhwa, a tribal dance group that will be performing at Cherokee Voices. The members of the Warriors of AniKituhwa are designated cultural ambassadors by the Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and sponsored by the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

In addition to their performance, the members talk about the significance of the dances, their clothing, and Cherokee history and culture.

To learn more about the Cherokee Voices Festival, the Warriors of AniKituhwa, and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, visit www.cherokeemuseum.org.