Native American Culture Festival
at Sycamore Shoals
Celebrating 20 years in 2010!
Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area is proud to announce our schedule of events for our annual Native American Festival to be held Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday, June 4, 5 & 6, 2010. This educational event provides the opportunity for our visitors to experience many facets of Native American culture, particularly that of the Cherokee. The event opens on Friday, the 4th, at 7 pm, continuing on Saturday the 5th, running from 10 am until 9:30 pm; and from Noon ‑ 6 pm on Sunday. Most activities are held at Fort Watauga, unless it rains. In the event of rain the show will relocate to the Visitors Center. The Friday and Saturday evening programs will be held in the Visitors Center Theater; the campfire will take place near the picnic shelters behind the city pool.
This three-day long festival will feature traditional and contemporary arts and crafts, traditional Cherokee song and dance, Cherokee storytelling and legends, Native American flute, and craft demonstrations and sales.
In celebration of the 20th year of this festival,
this event will be honoring Selu, the Cherokee Corn Mother
and Kana’ Ti, the Lucky Hunter.
In Cherokee myth, Selu and Kana’ Ti were the First Man and the First Woman. Their stories and images will be woven through the events of the weekend. Additionally, an exhibit of Cherokee hand crafted art, representing them, will be in the park Visitors Center for the festival weekend. These items will be loaned by the Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery.
For the first time, a limited number of our full color promotional posters will be available for sale during the weekend. Each year, Vicki Shell, designs these stunning posters for the Native American Festival. Vicki is a partner in the firm, Osborne, Shell and Miller Advertising, Johnson City, Tennessee. www.osm-adv.com
Our featured speakers and programs include:
Dr. Michael Abram of the Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery in Cherokee, NC will provide a glimpse into Cherokee history and legend. He will give two lectures per day, “Gourds in the Daily Life of a Cherokee” and “Origins of the Cherokee Tear Dress.”
At 6:30 pm on Saturday evening, in the theater of the Visitors Center, Dr. Abram will present a lecture on “ Cherokee Women in Legend and Life.”
Dr. Abram has been a presenter at this show since its beginning and is owner of the Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery in Cherokee, NC, the largest collection of traditional and contemporary Cherokee art in the nation. He has devoted his life to studying, preserving, and lecturing on Cherokee culture.
On Friday evening at 7 pm, Mark and Sherry Finchum will present a program in the park theater entitled,
"So Your Grandmother was a Cherokee Princess?,” which will provide an interesting look into tracing your Cherokee ancestry. Saturday evening at 8:30 pm, they will present a traditional campfire program, titled “The Trail Where We Cried.”
The Finchums, both middle and elementary school educators, will be joining us from Jefferson City, Tennessee. Mark has earned a Bachelor's Degree in communications and a Masters Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. He is currently working on a Doctorate in Social Studies Education. Sherry earned her Master's in Educational Administration from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2002. During the summer of 2007, she earned her Pre-K endorsement from Tennessee Wesleyan College.
Vicki Standingdeer and her husband Dale will direct the Traditional Cherokee dancing and music; Mossy Creek will be the host drum and will provide the drum and singers. The dancing demonstrations will include the Fancy Dance and Hoop Dance, the Jingle Dance, the Men’s Traditional, Grass and Straight Dances, and many more. All are invited to dance, so bring your regalia. Vicki and Dale make their home in Cherokee, North Carolina
Our featured Cherokee traditional storyteller will be Freeman Owle, of Cherokee, NC, who will also be demonstrating the carving of Cherokee stone pipes along with other stone carvings. In addition to his Storytelling presentations each day, Freeman will be offering a Cherokee language workshop on Saturday and Sunday. Freeman is a noted lecturer, historian, and member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. He has traveled all over the eastern United States lecturing to various groups, which include churches, military units, and schools. Freeman Owle has told stories and presented programs on Cherokee history and culture throughout the Southeast for more than ten years.
Well known in the Cherokee community, Freeman Owle serves on the board of directors of the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual and is a coordinator for the Cherokee Heritage Trails project of the Blue Ridge Heritage Initiative. He is one of the featured storytellers in the book Living Stories of the Cherokee, and he also appears in the video documentary Cherokee: The Principal People, which aired on public television in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Kentucky.
Daniel Bigay of Greeneville, TN will entertain with traditional flute music in addition to having his handmade, traditional Cherokee style flutes for sale. Daniel is a flute maker, Artist, Performer/Recording Artist, and demonstrator, who lives with his wife, Kay, in the mountains of Tennessee. He has released two CD’s, the most recent being nominated for best flute recording at the 2005 Indian Summer Music Awards. Daniel and Kay are passionate about education and sharing of the Cherokee culture in the school system, at Pow-Wow’s, and various shows and festivals.
A unique feature of the Native American Culture festival is our educational/demonstration area, located within Fort Watauga. The dance circle is located in the center of the fort, where the popular traditional dance and drum performances take place. In addition, flute music, storytelling, lectures, and so much more take place within the circle, which share native culture and history with our visitors
The interior of the fort will also host a variety of excellent demonstrations, which include beadwork, pine needle basketry, Cherokee language, wood carving, flint-knapping, atlatl (primitive spear throwing), corn shuck dolls, gourd art, stone carving, native river cane flutes, an 18th century canoe camp, blowgun, toy making, finger weaving, the evolution of beads, arrow making, and 18th century life skills.
Just outside the fort, exceptional Native American arts and crafts will be featured, in addition to ethnic Cherokee food, and a Lakota Tipi exhibit.
Admission is $4.00 per adult, $1.00 for children.
All proceeds from admissions go to Friends of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area, to support this event. This event is made possible by the support of Friends of Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area, Americourt Hotel, and Vicki Shell.
Friday, June 4 7 pm
In the Visitors Center – Theater
7:00 pm “So Your Grandmother was a Cherokee Princess”
Mark and Sherry Finchum
Saturday, June 5 10 am – 9:30 pm
In the Fort (Visitors Center if raining)
10:30 am – 11:00 am Native American Flute
Daniel Bigay – Greenville, Tennessee
11:00 am – 11:45 pm Cherokee Storytelling
Freeman Owle, Cherokee, North Carolina
11:45 am – 12:30 pm “Gourds in the Daily Life of the Cherokee”
Dr. Michael Abram – Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery
Cherokee, North Carolina
12:30 pm – 1:00 pm Native American Flute
Daniel Bigay, Greeneville, TN
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm Cherokee Dance & Drum Demonstrations
Blowgun Demonstration
Vicki Standingdeer - Cherokee, North Carolina
2:15 pm – 2:45 pm Cherokee Language Workshop – In the Visitors Ctr Theater
Freeman Owle
2:30 pm – 3:00 pm Native American Flute
Daniel Bigay
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm “Origins of the Cherokee Tear Dress”
Dr. Michael Abram
3:30 pm – 4:15 pm Cherokee Storytelling
Freeman Owle
4:15 pm - 6:00 pm - Native American Dance & Drum Demonstration
Blowgun Demonstration
Vicki Standingdeer
In the Theater of the Visitors Center
6:30 pm – 8:00 pm “Cherokee Women in Legend and Life”
Dr. Michael Abram
At the Campfire Circle – Picnic Shelter Area
8:30 pm – 9:30 pm “The Trail Where We Cried”
Mark & Sherry Finchum
Sunday, June 6 12 – 6 pm
In the Fort (Visitors Center if raining)
12:00 pm– 12:30 pm Native American Flute
Daniel Bigay
12:30 pm – 1:15 pm “Origins of the Cherokee Tear Dress”
Dr. Michael Abram – Cherokee Heritage Museum
and Gallery- Cherokee, North Carolina
1:15 pm – 2:00 pm Cherokee Storytelling
Freeman Owle
2:00 pm – 4:00 pm Cherokee Dance & Drum Demonstrations
Blowgun Demonstration
Vicki Standingdeer – Cherokee, North Carolina
3:45 pm – 4:15 pm Cherokee Language Workshop – In the Visitors Ctr Theater
Freeman Owle
4:00 pm – 4:30 pm Native American Flute
Daniel Bigay
4:30 pm – 5:00 pm Cherokee Storytelling
Freeman Owle
5:00 pm – 5:45 pm “Gourds in the Daily Life of a Cherokee”
Dr. Michael Abram
For information contact
Sycamore Shoals State Historic Area in Elizabethton
(423) 543‑5808.
1651 W. Elk Avenue Elizabethton, TN 37643
www.sycamoreshoalstn.org www.tnstateparks.com/SycamoreShoals