Museum of the Cherokee Indian

Official site of the museum of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina.

Preview your trip on the web: Museum of the Cherokee Indian

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• Lesson plan: Storytelling with Cherokee Folktales This is a two day lesson pertaining to telling Cherokee Folktales. This lesson can be modified and used with any folktale.
• Lesson plan: Shadows of North Carolina's past Students will infer past Native American lifeways based on observation, construct a timeline of four major culture periods in Native American history, and compare these lifeways and discuss how they are different and alike.
• History of the Cherokee Tells the history of the Cherokee people, incorporating both legend and fact, through chapters that cover the times before the Europeans settled the United States, first contacts with the settlers, the Trail of Tears, and the Civil War. Find also images, maps, and suggestions for further reading.
• Lesson plan: A Comprehensive Study of North Carolina Indian Tribes Students will apply their research skills of gathering and validating information to study the eight state recognized American Indian tribes of North Carolina in order to create an Honors U.S. History Project. Students then will create a comprehensive study of those tribes to be compiled into a notebook to be copied and shared with the eighth grade teachers of North Carolina History in our county.

Related pages

• North Carolina Museum of History: Get a sneak preview of the Museum before you visit! You can search for artifacts, preview the exhibitions, and read about important events in North Carolina history. The Museum offers teachers a variety of resources--many are online! Find lesson plans, information on history in a box kits, professional development workshops, and more!
• Alamance County Historical Museum: Learn about the history of Alamance County on a field trip to this museum.
• Cherokee County Historical Museum: Students can see artifacts, books, papers, photographs, and other materials significant to the history, culture, and heritage of Cherokee County, NC.

Related topics

• Learn more about American Indians, Archaic Period, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Mississippian Period, North Carolina, North Carolina history, Paleo period, Swain County, Trail of Tears, arts, arts and crafts, crafts, culture, folk arts, history, history museums, and indigenous people.

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The mission of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in Cherokee, North Carolina is, "To perpetuate the history, culture, and stories of the Cherokee people." To accomplish this mission, the museum maintains a permanent exhibit, extensive artifact collection, archives, education programs, artist series, and a gift shop. The museum also publishes the Journal of Cherokee Studies.

The Education page mainly provides information for teachers on graduate course and workshops. But, there is one classroom resource: How the Possum Lost His Tail lesson plan

Only Basic information can be obtained on-line regarding the four major collections:
• Trail of Tears;
• Paleo Period;
• Archaic Period;
• Mississippian Period.

To arrange a visit to the museum, contact Chris Watty at (828)497-3481.Group rates are available.

See the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction documentary Cherokee: The Principle People

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