Beyond Land Acknowledgement - part one

For about 80 mostly older white people, the Eastern Band of Cherokee spoke at the Olli Center of the U of NC at Asheville. The seminar I attended last Saturday was intense, informative, and respectful in sharing the history, the personal experiences, and the hopes of Cherokee peoples. Most of the speakers were from the Eastern Band of Cherokee, located in North Carolina, and other tribes. I was the volunteer photographer.

Here are the presenters:

James Bradley, Former Education Secretary of Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians (EBCI)

Patty Grant Edgemon, Behavioral Health Specialist, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI)

Shenelle Feather, Education Program Manager, Museum of the Cherokee Indian, Qualla Boundary, Cherokee, NC

Nola, Cultural Specialist giving the history of life on earth (excellent amazing presentation), Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Dylan Morgan, Cultural Specialist of pine basket weaving, musician,  Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Lianna Costantino, Director, Tribal Alliance Against Fraud, "Toward Allyship with American Indians"

Music by Jamie Marie Spears and Jarrett Wildcat

Shannon Swimmer, JD, Former Associate Judge, Cherokee Courts, "Reconciliation Process using Talking Circles to Heal.:

The event was brought into being by three matriarchs and many volunteers:

Pat Johnson, Maggie O'Neill and Elizabeth Wallace

Before it started are Maggie O'Neill and Evan Yanik (one of our technical pair who kept the audio/video smoothly running). I can't say enough about Maggie, her calm presence on top of everything, and her organizational skills shining through! 

Elizabeth Wallace was another of the matriarchal leaders who put this all together, working with me (official photographer) and other volunteers to keep things enjoyable for an audience of 80, plus the Tribal presenters. (I'm using "Tribal" as we heard from them that Natives have trouble with all the phrases that describe them, given by the colonial peoples.)

Here Pat Johnson (organizer) stands with one of the vibrant speakers, Patty Grant Edgemon.

Jarrett Wildcat opened the seminar with welcoming double flute music.

Seated are speakers Patty Grant Edgemon, and James Bradley, while Maggie welcomed everyone to the program as shown on the big screen above.

I'm going to give just a few highlights today. Patty introduced many of us to the extent of historical grief, trauma and intergenerational impacts of the colonization process. (more details to come)

There was time for questions and answers after each of the 5 speakers.  And during breaks there usually were lines of people with more questions for them.

Here James, (who has just finished a detailed history of the Cherokee) listens to an attendee as she shares personally.

Yes, this week I'll share more of these photos and my experience of "Beyond Land Acknowledgement: Toward Reparations and Healing" 

Look for Tribal People have Spoken chapters here later this week. But I know you could be bored by an inundation, so I'll still post other things going on in my life!!

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Note: This is why I missed reading all my blog friend's posts on Sat., as well as being able to reply to their comments. But I was exhausted after my 9 hour day (including driving to Asheville) and napped 2 hours before dinner!