Cherokee Elder Myrtle Driver to Discuss Cherokee History, Culture, Language and Traditions November 9
PENDLETON --- Cherokee Elder Myrtle Driver will discuss Cherokee history, culture, language and traditions Wednesday, November 9, at Tri-County Technical College.
The presentation will be held from 1:25-2:25 p.m. in the Marshall Parker Auditorium on the Pendleton Campus. It is sponsored by the College's Arts and Sciences Enrichment Series Committee. The event is free and open to the public.
Driver, who was born and raised on the Qualla Boundary in western North Carolina, has spent much of her life working on the preservation of language and culture of the tribe. She is a member of the Deer Clan and the Tribal Council recognized her as the Beloved Woman of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. This is the highest honor a Cherokee woman can receive. Driver is the Tribal Cultural Traditionalist in the Office of Cultural Resources of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. She studied anthropology and museum science at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, received an Honorary Fellowship to the Newberry Library and interned in natural history with the Smithsonian Institution. For many years she directed the Ani-Kuwih (Mulberry) Dancers, teaching children ages 5-12 traditional dances and ceremonies of the Cherokee, as well as the Cherokee language. Ms. Driver speaks the Cherokee language fluently, writes in the Sequoyah syllabary and teaches the language in the Cherokee Language Immersion Program.
For more information, contact Sandra Roddey, sroddey@tctc.edu, 864-646-1432.