CHEROKEE, North Carolina: On Tuesday, March 17, Museum of the Cherokee People (MotCP) opens ᏧᏂᏲᏍᎩ ᏂᎨᏒᎾ: ᏣᎳᎩ ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎯ ᏃᎴ ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏁᎦ ᏓᏂᎦᏘᎴᎬ ᎠᏰᎵ ᎤᏙᏒᎲᎢ Unrelenting: Cherokee People and the American Revolution, a first-of-its-kind exhibition centering Native voices, perspectives, and creativity in response to the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.
On view through December 30, the exhibition features historic objects in conversation with works by Cherokee artists, merging cultural heritage, military history, and contemporary art for a nuanced examination of a pivotal moment in Cherokee and American history.
“As a sovereign nation and the tribal museum of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, we are so pleased we can present this self-funded, independent exhibition from a Cherokee perspective,” says Executive Director Shana Bushyhead Condill (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians).
With research beginning in 2022, the exhibition’s curators — MotCP Director of Education Dakota Brown (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), MotCP Director of Collections and Exhibitions Evan Mathis, and guest curator Brandon Dillard (Cherokee Nation), Director of Historic Interpretation and Audience Engagement at Monticello—sought Cherokee accounts of the American Revolution (1775-1783) and the Cherokee American War (1776-1794), highlighting the complexities of memory and commemoration.
“For those of us from the South, memory is inscribed on the landscape in countless ways that are so naturalized that they feel omnipresent,” says Dillard. “Most people drive by roadside markers commemorating long-forgotten battles every day. We pass statues in public squares, learn and work in buildings named after complicated and often fraught people, and we partake in rituals commemorating historical events. But how often do most people sit around and actually talk about those events?”
In addition to showcasing historic objects, including weapons, adornments, and archival materials, MotCP invited Cherokee artists to create new works in response to historic treaties and documents from the Revolutionary era. Ranging in medium from spoken word songs to paintings to beadwork, these contemporary creative expressions “make it impossible for the viewer to put us, as Cherokee people, in the past,” says Condill.
As the nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, Unrelenting’s curators aspire to spark conversation about American identity and sovereignty among visitors of all walks of life, sharing new research in the first exhibit about Cherokees in the American Revolution by Cherokee scholars.
“Because American nationalist mythology pretends like Native people belong in the past, our contemporary existence contradicts the dominant memory and commemorative landscape of the United States,” says Dillard. “We just wanted to invite people to think about some of those things and recognize how complicated it all is … and most importantly, to welcome complexity when thinking about the past.”
An opening reception will be held on March 17 from 4:30pm-6:30pm. The event is open to the public. Curators: Dakota Brown (EBCI), Brandon Dillard (Cherokee Nation), Evan Mathis
Featured Artists: Joshua Adams (EBCI), Beth Anderson (Cherokee Nation), Karen Berry (Cherokee Nation), Martha Berry (Cherokee Nation), Anagali Shace Duncan (Cherokee Nation), Keli Gonzales (Cherokee Nation), Aaron Lambert (EBCI), Robert Lewis (Cherokee Nation, Navajo Nation, Apache), Louwana Jo "ᏍᎩᎵᎡᏆ" Montelongo (EBCI), Paula “Qualla” Nelson (EBCI), Isabella Saunooke (EBCI), Laura Walkingstick (EBCI), Tara White (Cherokee Nation), Alica Murphy Wildcatt (EBCI)
Museum of the Cherokee People and the museum store are open daily from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m., seven days a week. Ticket sales close at 4 p.m.; a self-guided tour of the museum takes approximately one hour. The museum is open daily except the day preceding the Thanksgiving holiday, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day.
General admission tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for children ages 6-12, and free for children 5 and under. MotCP offers free admission to members of federally recognized tribes and museum members. Student, educator, senior, and military rates available. Admission to all changing exhibitions is included in the general admission ticket price.
A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1948, the Museum of the Cherokee People is one of the longest-operating tribal museums in the country. Located in Cherokee, North Carolina, on the Qualla Boundary, the sovereign land of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and ancestral homelands of all Cherokees, the museum shares the history, culture, and stories of the Cherokee people through its exhibitions, collections, and programs.
Learn more at MotCP.org.