Upcoming
Events
December 1st - National Council for the Social Studies Conference - Washington, DC
Don't forget to visit our Photos Page to view memories of many of the following events!
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.
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.
December 2010
The
Mossy Creek Literacy Council meeting was cancelled, so there were no
activities for the month of December, other than Christmas cookie
baking, Christmas shopping, parties, family time, church, etc.
It's all good.
November 2010
The
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) held its annual
conference in Denver, Colorado from Thursday, November 11th through
Sunday, November 14th. On Thursday evening at the Hyatt, one of
the host hotels, several members of the "Teaching American Indian
History, Culture, and Current Events" community of NCSS shared music,
stories and dance. Larry Wright, tribal chairman of the Ponca of
Nebraska and a community member, shared a flag song in honor of
Veterans' Day. He also showed slides and described various powwow
dance styles. He then performed a Crow Hop dance for the
audience. Frances Haageman and Barbara Johnson, also community
members, shared stories. Mark did a "reader's theater" version of
the story of the stickball game between the birds and the animals.
The evening ended with a two-step involving audience members.
On Friday and Saturday, other activities included a community business
meeting and sessions presented by Mark and other community members.
October 2010
On
Tuesday, October 19th, Mark and Sherry visited the Wackenhut, Inc.,
offices in Oak Ridge as a part of their recognition of American Indian
Month. The storytelling session was hosted by the diversity
committee at Wackenhut. In addition to telling several stories, Sherry
sang "Amazing Grace" in the Cherokee language, then both answered
questions from the audience. Afterwards, one lady told Sherry
that she had never heard a better rendition of "Amazing Grace."
The Spirit of Nations Powwow was so much fun on Saturday, October 16th,
at Chilhowee Park in Knoxville. Nikki Crisp, along with the able
assistance of Lynne Eldridge and others, produced some outstanding
frybread and Indian tacos - as expected. Keri Brooks took care of
a myriad of tasks, such as being in charge of the silent auction and
involved in just about everything else too. Sherry Finchum
handled vendors and the face painting, along with assisting with the
luck of the draw. Dan Standley handled the treasurer duties,
making sure to keep up with money coming in and supplying the ticket
booths with wristbands, etc. Anthony Crisp handled arenda
director duties, along with Bear Brooks who set up the arena.
(I'm trying to remember what Mark did.)
Entertainment included dance demonstrations, storytelling, hand drum,
flute and guitar music, Aztec dancers, and more. The weather was
ideal and the audience seemed to have a great time. The potato
dance in the evening was hilarious. Many people came up to
members of the committee and shared their positive comments on the
whole day.
September 2010
Saturday,
September 25th, was a day to remember. The Native American
Student Association at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, kicked
off American Indian Month (October) in Tennessee in grand fashion.
The morning began at 7 am with a briefing and breakfast followed
by rehearsal with the Pride of the Southland Band. At 10:35 am,
the police escort led the color guard and a group of powwow dancers
down Volunteer Blvd. in front of the band. It was so exciting to
be out there with the thousands of Volunteer football fans.
The dancers then waited in the Lauricella Center for lettermen on
ground level at the stadium during the first quarter. Dr. Jan Sinek,
UT's interim president came to welcome all the dancers. Mark said
that it was a wonderful opportunity, but if it was ever done again, one
thing could make it better - let everyone run through the T!!!!
Dr. Simek laughed and said that he didn't even get that honor.
During the second quarter, the dancers were all led out onto the
sidelines and then waited in place for the band to enter the field at
halftime. The band played the "Cherokee Morning Song," then the
Awohali Singers, a drum from Cherokee, NC, went to the center of the
field to sing for the dancers who were divided into three groups around
the field.
On
Friday, September 10th, Tusculum View Elementary School was the site
for the annual Native American Day for the fourth graders in the
Greeneville City Schools system. Mark presented the role of
Cherokee men, while Sherry shared about the role of Cherokee women in
the 18th century. The other stations the students rotated through
were primitive tools, demonstrated by Abby Naunheimer from UTK; John
John Grant with music and stories; and crafts arranged by Sherry and
handled with parent volunteers. Scott Crisp was emcee for the
dance program this year, along with dancers Johnathan Crisp, Nikki
Crisp, Anthony Grant, Sunshine Grant, and Jamie Pheasant.
August 2010
The visit to Kingsport on Saturday, August 28th, was certainly
enjoyable. Mark was asked to share the "Warrior Tradition"
presentation at the Kingsport Library in conjunction with the
exhibition on Navajo Code Talkers that was on loan from the National
Museum of the American Indian. About 40 folks showed up and
seemed to have a good time. There were numerous questions at the end,
which is always a good sign. The exhibit was interesting too.
A
once-in-a-lifetime event took place August 6-8 at Fort Loudoun State
Historic Area near Vonore, Tennessee. It was the 250th
anniversary of the surrender of Fort Loudoun to the Cherokee during the
French and Indian War. Mark and Sherry spent the day on Saturday
participating in the event. Numerous speakers gave lectures in
the auditorium of the visitors' center. For example, first on the
list Saturday was Dr. Babara Duncan, the education director of the
Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, North Carolina. Her
illustrated talk was on the cultural exchange between the Cherokee and
the British.
During the day, a number of reenactments were held, such as a Cherokee
war council, the delivery of food by women to the fort, the surrender,
running of the gauntlet, and much more. The day ended with a
performance by the Warriors of Anikituwah. It was an awesome
spectacle with tremendous effort in realism (such as the cooking of
fish, turkey, and even a snake over the fire).
July 2010
July
15th was the annual Jefferson County Historical Society picnic at
Douglas Dam near Dandridge. After a tasty covered dish dinner,
Mark and Sherry used a PowerPoint slideshow to explain many of the
different styles of pow wow dances. They also talked about some
of the traditions that surround pow wows. After the presentation,
audience members were invited to participate in a two-step and in a
potato dance. Sure was lots of fun, in spite of the very hot
weather.
Mark
and Sherry participated in an Independence Day parade in a small Middle
Tennessee town on Saturday, July 3rd, because they were already in the
area due to a family reunion. There's an old Indian proverb that
says, "Now, I've learned my lesson." The parade was two miles
long, up and down a number of hills in the hot July sun. The
vehicles in the parade moved too fast and stayed bumper to bumper.
Walkers could not keep up. There was a group of people with
goats on leashes who, after trying to keep up for awhile, actually got
on board one of the vehicles to ride the remainder of the route!
Although Mark and Sherry started out near the front of the parade, they
ended at the rear as various vehicles and floats went by. Two
thirds of the entries were candidates for political office. It
won't be much of a parade next year since there are no elections!
Near the end of the route, Sherry was hot and exhausted, but still had
the energy to deal with a gentleman along the route who commented about
the "squaw" walking a few steps behind the man! Mark stopped to
explain that men honored women and walked in front as protection.
Sherry made it clear to the man that he should never use that
word again!
At the end of the parade, the organizers had made no provisions for
getting walkers back to the parking lot where the parade began.
Sherry asked a city policeman to give them a ride and he obliged.
Wonder what any spectators along the street might have thought if
they saw that scene?
June 2010
The
second annual "Treaty of the Holston" event at James White's Fort was a
success on Saturday, June 26th, in downtown Knoxville. The day
started with Dr. John Finger, professor emeritus from the University of
Tennessee Department of History. Dr. Finger spoke on the events
that led up to the treaty being signed. Mark and Sherry talked
about Cherokee life before the arrival of Europeans. Robert
RedHawk told Cherokee stories too. The audience was also treated
to traditional Cherokee dances, including the bear dance and the beaver
dance, and ending with a friendship dance that gave the visitors a
chance to participate.
Several militia reenactors from Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area
came to participate as well. They did a drill demonstration and
fired a volley. Joan and Ron Short came down from Virginia to be
with us as well. Joan worked on such things as stringing beans
while Ron performed some colonial music.
Ronnie Lail portrayed Governor Blount during the signing of the treaty
reenactment. With the militia at hand, Ronnie had to suffer the
verbal sparring of several Cherokee who were opposed to the treaty.
Louise Brown, a fluent Cherokee speaker, added a great deal of
drama and emotion as she spoke against the treaty, but understood that
it was in the best interest of the Cherokee to sign the document.
After the treaty signing, Dr. Finger spoke about the aftermath of the
treaty and Mark and Sherry talked about how Cherokee life changed after
the arrival of Europeans. There was more dancing and storytelling
too. Bear Brooks showed how bows were made, the blacksmith forge
was in operation, and open hearth cooking was being done in the
kitchen. The public got their money's worth!
On
the first weekend of June, Mark and Sherry took part in the Native
American Culture Festival at Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area in
Elizabethton, Tennessee. On Friday night, Sherry presented her
program on tracing Cherokee geneaology. Afterwards, Mark and
Sherry joined friends Nat and Sherri Hyder for an enjoyable late-night
dinner.
On Saturday Mark and Sherry "moved into" one of the cabins in the fort
and gave it a more Cherokee appearance. Mark spent time
demonstrating the blowgun and doing some tomahawk throwing while Sherry
cooked a Cherokee menu in the cabin's fireplace. That evening,
Mark and Sherry talked about the Trail of Tears around the campfire,
then joined several friends for another late-night meal.
On Sunday, another large crowd came to visit the festival. A
fairly serious rain fell mid-afternoon, but did not totally wash-out
the festival, but it was something of a mess in trying to pack up!
May 2010
The
annual Siege at the Blockhouse event took place on Saturday and Sunday,
May 22nd and 23rd, at the Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield,
Virginia. Saturday began with a murder of a Cherokee man taking
place at a horse race. This brought about the siege later in the
day. That evening a storytelling session concluded with another
attack on the blockhouse. Sunday morning began with Mark and
Sherry leading the worship service. Bear Brooks made his first
trip to the event and set up a tent to demonstrate how to make bows and
arrows. Mark and Sherry's daughter Katie also did a great job as
she particpated in many activities during the weekend. Mark had
to show up late on Saturday due to his participation in JCHS graduation
exercises on Saturday morning.
On May 15th, Mark and Sherry spent the afternoon with a great group of
Brownies in Franklin, Tennessee. Sherry took the lead in teaching
the girls how to cook over an open fire, make leather bags, cornbead
necklaces, and key chains. The girls played the basket game and
paricipated in a friendship dance too. Mark shared some Cherokee
stories with the girls too.
Mark
and Sherry participated in the Native American Festival at Russell Cave
National Monument on Saturday and Sunday, May 1st and 2nd, in
Bridgeport, Alabama. They presented a PowerPoint on the early
people of Alabama and taught the Cherokee basket game to several
children and adults who came through. It was also a good time of
seeing old friends and making some new ones as well. The event
included hoop dancing by Eddie Swimmer, traditional dancing and
storytelling by Bo Taylor, and blow gun demonstrations by Alva Crowe.
April 2010
A
dozen teachers from a variety of Jefferson County Schools attended the
"Trail Where We Cried" inservice presentation Mark and Sherry did at
Jefferson County High School on Tuesday, April 27th. Each teacher
received a disc with the PowerPoint presentation along with copies of
two articles Mark has had published on teaching Native topics in the
classroom.
On
Saturday, April 17, Sherry made her first "Native American Moment"
report to the Emory Chapter of the DAR. She spoke about schools
with Indian mascots, the controversial Duke Power substation plans for
a site near Kituwah, and some upcoming ICP event dates.
March 2010
On
March 31st, Sherry did a Native American cultural regions presentation
for about 30 GA girls at New Market Baptist Church in New Market, TN.
These girls had been studying about missionaries that minister to
Native American communities across the nation. The girls also got
to make frybread and sassafras tea.
Nativefest! was held at the historic Sam Houston School House near
Maryville, TN, on Saturday, March 20th. The event, a fundraiser
for the pow wow, hosted about 150 guests, who were treated to an 18th
century campsite, tomahawk throwing, blowgun shooting, and an archery
demonstration. Other activities included stories, dances, Indian
tacos, crafts, and a cornbead necklace class.
On Friday, March 19th, Mark and Sherry talked about Cherokee religious
beliefs and told the story of the first strawberries at a luncheon
gathering of the Unique Antiques senior citizens group at New Market
Baptist Church, New Market, TN.
Sherry spoke on 18th century Cherokee women for Wackenhut Services,
Inc., in Oak Ridge, on March 18th. Her presentation was attended
by a standing room only crowd of more than 60 employees.
February 2010
No activities this month, but lots of snow and cold weather, again.
January 2010
No activities this month, but lots of snow and cold weather.
Current
Activities