Hayesville Celebrates the Opening of the Cherokee Homestead Exhibit

Hayesville Celebrates the Opening of the Cherokee Homestead Exhibit

Hayesville’s Cherokee Homestead Exhibit opened officially on Saturday, October 23. The exhibit is located just off the historic courthouse square adjacent to the Old Jail Museum in Hayesville. It celebrates Clay County’s rich Cherokee heritage and culture. It offers travelers and students a gateway to Cherokee heritage sites in the region and will boost the economy of Clay County as its existence attracts visitors to the area. The site includes a Cherokee summer house, winter house, and corn crib, designed to conform to the historical record regarding late 16th century to 18th century Cherokee structures. It also displays public art, representing elements of Cherokee heritage and culture, including clan masks, mural panels and contemporary and historic quotes. The opening recognized the many people who contributed to the exhibit and provided the public with information about Cherokee history and demonstrations of Cherokee culture.

Walker Calhoun, a 92-year-old WWII veteran and member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, opened the exhibit with an invocation in the Cherokee language. Mr. Calhoun grew up speaking Cherokee and did not learn English until the age of 16. He is credited with knowing more of the ancient Cherokee songs and dances than any other living person. The Raven Rock Dancers, a troupe composed of Mr. Calhoun’s children and others, performed three traditional Cherokee dances: the bear dance, the corn dance and the friendship dance. They also demonstrated how to make a Cherokee blowgun out of reed cane. Mr. Calhoun made some darts, and Richie Bottchenbaugh shot one of the darts into a squash 30 feet away, demonstrating how a Cherokee hunter might use a blowgun to shoot rabbits and squirrels.

Russell Townsend, tribal archaeologist and director of the Eastern Band of the Cherokees (ECBI) Tribal Council Historic Office, explained that in the period leading up to the American Revolution, there was a large Cherokee settlement on the land near the Spikebuck Mound and adjacent to the Hiwassee River. The settlement had dozens of houses and hundreds of residents. Fearing the Cherokee would side with the British during the American Revolution, in 1776, the government sent General Griffith Rutherford on an expedition against the Cherokee, burning the Cherokee settlement here. The settlement revived after that and maintained a significant presence in the area until the Cherokee removal of 1838. Mr. Townsend and his associate, Johi Griffin, Cherokee Tribal Historic Sites keeper, provided significant advice about the construction of the Cherokee exhibit.

Diamond Brown, educator, storyteller and Tribal Council member representing Snowbird, also spoke at the opening. He has already given several presentations to local school children at the Cherokee Homestead Exhibit. He made important contributions to the curriculum designed by Sandy Nicolette for children about the exhibit. So far, 636 children from three area school systems have come to the exhibit to learn about the Cherokee contribution to their heritage: Hayesville (Clay County), Murphy (Cherokee County), and Hiawassee, Ga. (Towns County). Several other representatives of EBCI have previously given talks to the public at the exhibit site. They include Kevin Welch, director of the Center for Cherokee Plants, and Davy Arch.

A number of other people who have contributed to the exhibit also spoke. They included Angie Chandler, executive director of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area; Dr. Jane Eastman, assistant professor of anthropology and director of Cherokee studies at Western Carolina University; and Judi Jetson, small towns coordinator for HandMade in America; and Rob Tiger and Darry Wood of Hayesville.

The program recognized a number of other individuals who made important contributions to the project. They include Garfield Long, EBCI; Mary Jane Ferguson, EBCI; T.J. Holland, Junaluska Museum; Tyler Howe, Tribal Council Historic Office; Dr. David Moore, Warren Wilson College; Dr. Brett Riggs, UNC Chapel Hill; Scott Ashcraft, USFS; and Mark Butler, reconstruction archaeologist, Moncks Corner, S.C.

The Cherokee Homestead Exhibit is a joint effort of Clay County Communities Revitalization Association and the Clay County Historical and Arts Council. A large number of additional organizations provided support for the project. They include the following in addition to the EBCI: the NC Rural Center, the Conservation Fund, Clay County Board of Travel and Tourism, the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, the N.C. Arts Council, HandMade in America, Walmart, and the Cherokee Preservation Foundation.

Here are some more of people who played important roles in making the exhibit a reality:

The Cherokee Exhibit Committee designed and laid out the exhibit structurally and artistically. Its members included Barbara Bussolari, the late Ella Scheuer, Susi Hall (artist), Davy Arch (Eastern Bank of the Cherokee Indians artist), Joseph Miller (metal smith) Rob Tiger, and Tighe White.
 
The core steering committee for the project met weekly over the past three years. Its members include Glen Love, John Bayne. Hal Farren, Tighe White, Rob Tiger and more recently Sara Smith, Paul Cent and Janice Padgett.

A number of people wrote applications for grants to fund the project. During the first year, John Bayne, Ella Scheuer, and Rob Tiger wrote grant applications. In the last two years, John and Rob have written and administered grants. So far, the project has received eight grants. One grant application is pending. In addition to these grants, the project also received generous support from the Clay County Board of Travel and Tourism and The Town of Hayesville.

Sandy Nicolette and the Clay County Communities Revitalization Association directed the development of the curriculum used by volunteers to teach children visiting the exhibit about the Cherokees.

John Urani, Glen Love and others have contributed long hours toward finishing the additional storage building for Clay County Historical and Arts Council (CCHAC).

In addition to these people, dozens of volunteers from a large number of organizations have worked on the project. They include CCHAC, Clay ,County Communities Revitalization Association  the Clay County 4-H Club, Cindy Curtis and Pathways students, Hayesville middle and high school students, Dr. Jane Eastman and students from Western Carolina University, members of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, and the Clay County community at large.


















The Cherokee Homestead Exhibit















Another view of the Exhibit

















The Cherokee summer house and dugout canoe during the invocation by Walker Calhoun
















Rob Tiger acknowledging contributors to the exhibit















The Cherokee dugout canoe















Angie Chandler, Blue Ridge National Heritage Area






















A representative of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians





















Darry Wood of Hayesville















Walker Calhoun making a blow dart















Richie Bottchenbaugh fires a blowdart at a squash















The blowdart in the squash















The Cherokee corn dance by the Raven Rock dancers















The Cherokee friendship dance by the Raven Rock Dancers and the public















The Cherokee friendship dance by the Raven Rock Dancers and the public






















Dr. Jane Eastman of Western Carolina University





















Judi Jetson of Handmade in America





















Sandy Nicolette talking about the Cherokee curriculum for school children
















Information about some of the wall hangings that are part of the exhibit

















Supporters of the exhibit

Volunteers Construct Cherokee Dugout Canoe at Hayesville's Cherokee Heritage Park

On September 17, 2010 a group of volunteers met at the Cherokee Village site in Hayesville to start construction of a traditional Cherokee dugout canoe. See a description of the event here.

Summer Activities Boost Clay County

Cherokee clan masks are now on display at the Cherokee village near downtown Hayesville. The display is outdoors and available all year round. Come and enjoy it.

An independent film company filmed on the Hayesville square on August 15. The movie is Doctor Ryan's Magic Elixir Medicine Show with music by Dom Flemons of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. For more information on the film, see kazoofilms.org.








































Children enjoyed themselves at the Family Fun Fest on the square in Hayesville on August 14.












































CCCRA's beautification committee worked with Friends of the Library to spruce up Moss Memorial Library on August 11. Workers were (from the left) Bob Leonard, John Tiemon, Patsy Leonard, Margie Weathers, Jake Ehrhart, and John Atkins. Not pictured: Dorothy Ethridge.

Friends of Clay County Courthouse Need Your Support for Interior Renovation

Friends of the Historic Clay County Courthouse
“Let’s Bring it Back to Life!”

This week some of the members of the Friends’ Steering Committee took a look at the courthouse interior. At this point, it’s a sad sight. The inside is jarringly different from the beautiful restored exterior.

We have hope that before too long things will change. The Steering Committee has met most weeks this summer, discussing ways to go forward; the main thrust is building and showing community support. Experience tells us that grantors want to see on our applications how residents feel about a proposed project-- it’s a major factor in their decisions.

How can you have a part in this opportunity? Sign the petition saying that you support the renovation of the courthouse interior. We won’t phone, email, or ask you for money, just list you as someone who thinks this is something that should be done.
Stop by Tiger’s or Phillips & Lloyd on the square to sign.

Landscape Architect intern Martha Eberle, whose services to Hayesville were arranged by HandMade in America, gave us some beautiful design ideas for the Square, the Old Jail Museum, the Cherokee Exhibit, and the proposed walking trail to Spikebuck Mound.

Along with her CAD plans, Martha furnished cost information that will come in handy when we apply for grants. You can see her work at the fall annual meeting.

Now all we need is money!

Hayesville Students Visit Nelson Heritage Park Exhibit

June 15, 2010 Although the Nelson Heritage Park Cherokee exhibit is incomplete, it is already providing educational experiences for students. Hayesville fourth and eighth graders practiced activities common in the life of the Cherokee who lived in our valley thanks to the efforts of community volunteers. Students played the butterbean game and used a rivercane spear to try to hit a chunkey stone. They learned how difficult it was to make the sides of the winter house, corn crib and summer house, while practicing weaving techniques. The students discovered making corn meal from corn kernels was time consuming and learned how the Cherokee planted corn and beans in a mound . Learning about the Cherokee’s respect for the balance of nature became meaningful when heard through several legends.
The students enjoyed learning about the seven clans and various symbols the Cherokee used to convey messages. The artifacts depicted on the retention wall at the base of the museum came alive for students after learning what the symbols and pictures represented. Of particular interest was the quote from Diamond Brown written in Cherokee and English that appears on one of the panels. The students learned about the Cherokee culture from educator and tribal councilman, Diamond Brown in a recent performance at the Hayesville school amphitheater. A visit to the museum enabled students to view artifacts from the Spikebuck/Quanassee village, identify locations in Clay County that retained their Cherokee names and discover the names of individuals displaced during the Removal.

The Cherokee exhibit has been made possible by funding from The North Carolina Arts Council, the NC. Conservation Fund and CNEF, The NC Rural Center, The NC Rural Centers STEP Fund, Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, Clay County Board of Travel and Tourism, WalMart Foundation, HandMade in America and the Town of Hayesville. Eastern Bank Cherokee artists and consultants, Kevin Welch, director of the Cherokee Native Plants Center and local artists and volunteers were involved in the project.

The Cherokee Preservation Fund, North Carolina Museum of History and the North Carolina Humanities Council supplied curriculum materials for use in the classroom. Lesson plans for the educational field trip were developed by CCCRA members and the presenters. If you would like more information or are interested in assisting with future educational experiences at the Cherokee exhibit, please call 389-3045.

Clay County Continues to Attract Archeologists

Professor Jane Eastman and archeology students from Western Carolina University have begun excavating several areas of Cherokee settlement on Lynn Waldroup’s property near the Clay County recreation center. The project follows a similar excavation conducted in the same general area last year. A grant from the Clay County Communities Revitalization Association (CCCRA) pays the cost of transportation for the archeology students to commute from their campus in Cullowee. Over time, Clay County’s Cherokee heritage is likely to attract tourists to the area and boost the local economy. The current excavation will last four weeks.

The site being excavated this year includes the remnants of a settlement likely dating from the 13th century before Columbus opened the Western hemisphere to European exploration. One exciting discovery at the site already this year is a small, turquoise-colored glass bead. Native Americans used glass beads manufactured in Europe in trading. Venice, Italy, was an important glass blowing center, and it is possible that this bead comes from there.

The current excavation has also uncovered a subterranean pit that held charcoal. The team is looking for good charcoal samples and traces of organic food. These items can allow radio carbon dating to establish the precise period of human habitation.

Jane Eastman, the leader of the project, is an associate professor at Western Carolina University and the director of the archeology lab and the Cherokee studies program.

The turquoise colored bead found at the site