February, 2008
<>On
February 22nd, Mark and Sherry drove to Elizabethton, TN, and had
dinner with members of the "Friends of Sycamore Shoals" group that
supports the activities of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area.
After a very enjoyable meal, the "Friends" made arrangements for Mark
and Sherry to spend the night at the Doe River Inn bed and breakfast.
<>
<>
<>On
Saturday morning, Mark presented a PowerPoint program designed to help
the men who volunteer their time to portray Cherokee people for the
outdoor drama, "Liberty," hosted by the park each summer. The
first act of the drama tells the story of the Transylvania Purchase of
land from the Cherokee people. After a short break, Sherry
presented a PowerPoint program designed to help the women volunteers.
<>
<>In the
afternoon, Mark and Sherry presented a third program designed to help
those who might be interested in Cherokee living history
presentations. The entire day was enjoyable and hopefully
worthwhile to those who attended.
January, 2008
In
January, Indian Creek Productions was again inactive - just recovering
from too many Christmas cookies!
December, 2007
For the month of
December, Indian Creek Productions wasn't active in any presentations,
just Christmas shopping, cookie baking parties, etc!
November, 2007
Mark went to the National Council for the
Social Studies annual conference in San Diego at the end of
December. The city is certainly beautiful with the Seaport
Village, wonderful convention center, historic Gas Lamp District,
etc. Among the many meetings he attended, was the "Teaching
American Indian History, Culture and Current Events" community.
Lots of work by community members is currently being conducted.
On Saturday, November 10th, Mark and Sherry
drove to Frakes, Kentucky, to take part in the Appalachian Festival
held at Frakes Center School. The original plan was to set up
camp outside the school, but with the cold weather, the decision was
made to set up in a hallway of the school. Hundreds of students,
teachers, administrators, parents, and members of the community enjoyed
the food, talent show, games, music, and (hopefully!) the display of
Cherokee material culture.
The next day, Mark and Sherry drove to Crossville to be ready for
several programs the following morning at Martin Elementary
School. The day began with several classes coming into the
theater for two sessions of the "Walking in Balance" presentations,
along with some storytelling.
After lunch, two groups of students came outside for games.
Sherry first showed each group how to play the basket game and
explained to the teachers how the game can be done in the classroom
with very minimal expense. Then Mark led the students in some
relay races. Lots of fun!
If that wasn't enough for one week, the Leadership Sevier team invited
Mark and Sherry to help them conclude their yearlong program on
Wednesday evening. The day ended at Norton Creek Estates just
outside Gatlinburg. Mark and Sherry put together a new PowerPoint
to serve as background as they told stories of the creation of the
Smoky Mountains, and how the first man and woman were placed in those
mountains. It was a fitting ending to the day and to the program.
October, 2007
The Tennessee History Festival at the
Bicentennial Mall Capitol State Park on October 12th and 13th was once
again fun time. Mark and Sherry set up the late 18th century camp
to show Cherokee life of that time period. Sherry did her usual
job of demonstrating outstanding culinary skill while Mark showed some
prowess with the blowgun. More than a thousand elementary school
students visited on Friday. On Saturday, Bill Carey from the
Tennessee History For Kids website was on hand to film a video
segment. Check it out at http://www.tnhistoryforkids.org/ and see
what you think!
This year Indian Creek Productions helped the park add a new
demonstration to its great line-up. Nikki Crisp and Bob Eldridge
helped the public understand more about the Removal, better known as
the Trail of Tears, which passed through the Nashville area. A
photograph of Bob at the festival made the cover of the TEAch magazine
published by the Tennessee Education Association.
September, 2007
The Crockett Fest at the Crockett Tavern in
Morristown was a wonderful and enjoyable day. The weather
cooperated and the crowds showed up. Bob Eldridge did his usual
entertaining job as a storyteller. His wife Lynne did some
leatherwork demonstrations as well. Danny Bigay was on hand to
present some excellent flute music while his wife Kay Littlejohn
demonstrated basketmaking.
Sherry did open fire cooking and stitched two deerhides together in
preparation for having them smoked. Mark did some blowgun
demonstrations and shared Cherokee history and culture with the
visitors.
Ernest "Beaver" Grant came over from Cherokee, NC, to participate in
the Cherokee traditional dancing demonstrations. Beaver can be
seen this fall in a PBS special called, "Emmisarries of Peace," about
the visit of Lt. Henry Timberlake among the Cherokee in the 18th
century. Joining him in the dancing was Nikki Crisp, her son
Johnathan and his girlfriend Ashlea Plummer, along with Mark and
Sherry, and Bob and Lynne. Johnathan also spent some time
practicing his new hobby, throwing tomahawks.
Native American Day at Natural Tunnel State
Park in Duffield, Virginia, was once again an enjoyable day. Mark
did a presentation about the 400th anniversary this year of Jamestown,
the first permanent English settlement in North America. Sherry
presented a session on tracing geneaology and another on the evolving
styles of Cherokee clothing.
Together, Mark and Sherry shared the "Walking in Balance" presentation
that involves showing the artifacts associated with daily life in the
late 18th century. The final session of the day was a "Q&A"
time where the audience was invited to ask any question they might have.
In between the presentations were some demonstrations of flintknapping
and the use of an atlatl.
The event took place in a picnic pavilion at the park and was attended
by a good crowd all day long.
Friday, September 7th was a fun, educational, but exhausting day.
The fourth graders from the Greeneville city school sytem,
almost 200 of them, converged on Tusculum View Elementary School
for "Cherokee Day." The morning began with students from
two schools rotating between five stations.
Mark did one on the role of Cherokee men; Sherry shared about the role
of Cherokee women; Elizabeth Cahill from the University of Tennessee
gave the children a chance to practice drilling and corn grinding;
Shirley Oswalt showed pottery and taught the Cherokee language; and the
final station was one where the children got a snack and made crafts to
take home. In the afternoon, the students from the other two
schools made the rounds of the stations.
Between the morning and afternoon sessions was a dance demonstration
for all four schools. John John Grant from Cherokee, NC, emceed
the program. He introduced himself in the Cherokee language, then
told stories and played the flute. Then it was time for the
dancing, with Nikki Crisp, Johnathan Crisp, Emerson Begay, and Ernest
(Beaver) Grant entertaining the crowd.
Representatives from two other schools came to see the presentation and
to make plans for having a similar program at their schools later in
the school year.
August, 2007
The
annual Cherokee Heritage Day was held on August 4th at James White's
Fort in Knoxville. Sherry was unable to participate this year due
to having to take a Praxis test that day. However, Nikki Crisp
was a trooper and filled in for Sherry to do the role of Cherokee
women. Mark pointed out to the audience that having Nikki there
did not mean he and Sherry had broken up! Nikki did a good job
speaking to the crowd.
Also on hand was Elizabeth Cahill from the University of Tennessee who
gave children a chance to practice drilling and corn grinding.
This was Elizabeth's second year and she continues to be popular.
New to the event was Justin Burke from Morristown who showed how hides
are tanned.
Nikki, along with her daughter Kele and son Johnathan, joined John John
Grant and Paula Nelson from Cherokee, NC, in demonstrating
powwow dancing and traditional Cherokee dancing. Paula also
entertained with her educational music. She helped those in
attendance learn some of the Cherokee language through
song. This was Paula's first appearance at James White's
Fort, and she became an instant fan of the historic site. She had
to leave rather quickly to return to Cherokee for the evening's
performance of the outdoor drams, "Unto These Hills." John John
and Johnathan have roles this year as well.
July, 2007