Cherokee Days Festival returns to the Smithsonian American Indian Museum this weekend.
During this three-day celebration, enjoy Cherokee food, weapons, singing, and perhaps a dash of Christian Nationalism.
The American Indian Museum is an anthology of tribal stories without a central narrative. Visiting and seeing American Indians through one tribe’s eyes gives a more direct introduction.
Highlights of the festival include:
•Watch and learn as flint knappers make arrowheads and spear points. They love answering your questions as they work.
•Hear Christian hymns sung in Cherokee by the Cherokee National Youth Choir. They might even sing your favorite.
•Get a sample from the Cherokee food demonstrations.
•Meet Chuck Hoskin Jr., the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
•Help your kids make corn husk dolls, gourd masks, and clay turtle medallions.
The festival is an occasion for the recognized Cherokee tribes to gather and jointly highlight their culture in a public place.
This year also marks 200 years since Sequoyah completed the written Cherokee alphabet and 250 years since the first known Cherokee converted.
All these reasons make it a great year to visit the National Museum of the American Indian for Cherokee Days.
Cherokee Day Festival runs March 31st (Friday) through April 2 (Sunday) from 10 am to 5:30 pm. You can find more information about the festival on the Smithsonian website.
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