H
istory has been in the news a great deal in recent years, and much of that news has been regarding fights over history – or rather, what to teach, what to leave out, how to teach it, what’s been misinterpreted and on and on.
Someday, a history will be written of today’s fights over history.
Should be an interesting read.
History is important. It helps build a framework of how we view ourselves, how we view other cultures, how and why things work the way they do today. It informs us. In doing that it helps us become better citizens and people who can understand and adapt to change, a constant in life since time immemorial.
That brings us to some recent initiatives between Western Carolina University and the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians.
Now, the school and the Cherokee have a very solid foundation built on the works of previous leaders and initiatives, but these recent developments are sending that relationship to an even higher plane.
The Bardo Arts Center recently announced its plans for a permanent exhibit on the culture, language and history developed in collaboration with the EBCI and fueled in part by an $88,050 grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation. The move gets backing from WCU’s Cherokee Studies Program, Cherokee Center and Bardo Arts Center. Anticipated to open next year, the exhibit will feature an array of art installations and a multimedia venture that will let visitors experience the Cherokee language.
The recently re-opened archaeological collections curation facility was named, with the OK of the Cherokee Speakers Group and Tribal Council, as the Tali Tsisgwayahi Archaeological (Two Sparrows Town) Collections.
In a nutshell the mission of WCU is to provide for a better present and better tomorrow for the citizens of these mountains. As part of that, during spring commencement ceremonies, a land acknowledgment was recognized between EBCI Principal Chief Richard Sneed and WCU Chancellor Kelli Brown.
The document recognizes history, and it recognizes the role the university plays in the ongoing story of the Cherokee in Cullowhee, Jackson County and Western North Carolina as a whole. WCU’s Land Acknowledgment reads in part:
“Western Carolina University is situated within the ancestral homelands of the Cherokee people, twenty miles from present-day Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian communities of the Qualla Boundary. The campus occupies Two Sparrows Place (Tali Tsisgwayahi), an ancient principal town with a mound and council house where Killian Building now stands. Cullowhee, the university’s home, is Tsul’kalawi or Judaculla’s Place. This giant being was the Great Teacher and steward of the natural world, and ancient stories about Judaculla tell of the Creator and creation, the origin of humans, and the proper way to be Cherokee. We at Western Carolina University inherit these stories so that we may better understand the deep significance of this beloved place and our role here.
“Western Carolina University seeks to embrace our place, connect with tribal communities, and enable the success of each indigenous student. We reaffirm our commitment to these goals and recognize that the entire WCU community is responsible for this success.
“Our Commitment: Western Carolina University is committed to enhancing knowledge and supporting action around Cherokee cultural, social, educational, legal and economic issues. In collaboration with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, we have built world-class programs of scholarship in Cherokee Studies, culturally based native health, and Cherokee language. This work is rendered particularly meaningful by our position in a deeply significant Cherokee place. As part of our commitment to actively acknowledge and celebrate WCU as an ancient and contemporary Cherokee landscape, we will work to actively engage our community of students, faculty and staff with the extraordinary indigenous identity and culture of this special place.
“We are dedicated to supporting the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and all indigenous tribes throughout the world in achieving futures of their own making.”
In their actions in May, Sneed and Brown made a little history themselves.
Overall, WCU is helping to preserve a history and continue to tell the tale of a culture that stands on its own but also vastly influenced mountain culture.
In comments regarding the Bardo initiative, Cherokee Center Director Sky Sampson summed up those influences and that ongoing culture well: “This will have a huge impact showing the connections of the Eastern Band of Cherokee and Western Carolina University, and this land,” she said. “It also will demonstrate that Cherokee culture is a living, breathing and authentic thing, not a historical footnote. We are still here and thriving.”
History, if we embrace it properly, gives us a chance to examine the mistakes of those who have gone before and gives us a blueprint as to how to avoid those mistakes, should we choose to heed those lessons.
All that said, it’s also interesting to learn about who you are, who else you live with and where you live. For example, for years it was common knowledge that Cullowhee translated to “Valley of the Lilies,’’ a beautiful but incorrect phrase.
Turns out it’s Judaculla’s Place. Always was.
There’s a lot more to learn.
Not a bad charge for a university, eh?
