News, Events & Announcements

Dr. Melchor Hall of The African American Education & Research Organization @ Melchor-Quick Meeting House will be facilitating our year-long Truth and Reconciliation process.

Exercise 1 - 10 Queries About Charity

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Fourth Month 11, 2023

Activating Indigenous Beats:
Hip Hop Nativo Festival
UNC Asheville Cultural Events/Equity & Arts Series

April 11-14, 2023

During the weeklong residency, hip-hop Indigenous artists, graffiti artists and DJs will meet on the campus of UNC Asheville (Antokiasdiyi, Cherokee territory) to share and exchange their music and language with our community. This is a unique opportunity for the university and community to engage with contemporary Native American and Indigenous musicians. The three main rappers and artists will visit from Chile, Mexico and the US. In decolonizing academia, this week will provide an alternative space to learn about Indigenous land-based ways of being both in North America and Latin America. We are partnering with the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and local hip hop artists and community leaders. After years of involvement in a variety of trans-Indigenous projects (i,e anthologies, cultural exchanges, conferences) among artists and writers from various native nations of Abiayala (the Americas), we have realized the importance of Indigenous hip-hop in dismantling stereotypes about indigeneity. In bridging popular culture, political agendas, and spirituality, Indigenous youth have embraced rap, punk, and heavy metal since the early 1990's. Rappers such as Mare (Zapatotec), Luanko (Mapuche), and Tzutu Baktun (Maya Tzutuhil), and poets such as David Aniñir (Mapuche), have explained through their poetry/lyrics how singing and improvising are part of their "being indigenous". In their music, themes such as empowering women, environmental concerns, nation-states' violence against protectors of water, braid all around powerful beats. All of these themes have been part of the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Minor, and the 414 Critical Perspectives on Contemporaneity Series, in which Juan Sanchez has been involved for 5 years. The NEH and Global Studies Program are sponsoring this event, along with other campus departments. The new course LA 378-Race, Identity, Belonging and Cultures In the Americas has been supportive in adding contemporary Indigenous experiences to the curriculum. The artists will be guest-speakers in Humanities Program, the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Minor, and Language and Literatures classes.

In Spring, Juan Sanchez’s classes -- LA 378 Race, Identity, Belonging and Cultures in the Americas -- will celebrate music and literature as powerful tools to spark consciousness about Indigenous/africamerican realities in Abiayala (the Americas). The Hip Hop Nativo Festival and Residency, originally scheduled as part of the 2019-2020 Cultural Events Series and canceled due to COVID, will bring the protagonists of the social movements that we will be studying (i.e Mapuche struggle for their land in Chile, Indigenous Feminist Theory in Mexico). In addition to master classes and workshops open to UNC Asheville and Asheville communities, we are partnering with the HUM program and will collaborate with AIIS, New Media and Music departments to create pedagogical video materials based on the artists’ recordings during their residency. This residency aligns with our mission to support UNC Asheville students, staff, and faculty as they develop awareness, skills, and opportunities for collaboration and education that will better our engagement with global partners, themes, and issues.This trans-Indigenous gathering will be historical in the sense that distant Indigenous languages will meet in Cherokee territory, and UNC Asheville will be the host of this groundbreaking festival.

Featured Artists:

LUANKO MINUTO SOLER: "Witrapaiñ" (Estamos de Pie) / Video Oficial (Mapuche, Chile)

MARE ADVERTENCIA LIRICA: ¿Y Tú Qué Esperas? (Video Oficial) (Zapotec, Oaxaca, Mexico)

TALL PAUL (Anishinaabee, USA)

Roderico Diaz (Maya Kaqchikel, Guatemala)

Byron Tenesaca - Mural, visual art (Kichwa-kañari, Ecuador)

Luanko - Champurria

Mare Advertencia - Sesion para "Suoni Per II Popolo"

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Tenth Month 3, 2021

Watson Harlan presented a historical look at Cherokee spiritual, religious and cultural practices and how they have: developed from contact to the present time.

Watson Harlan is a Cherokee Nation enrolled member and tribal historian with specializations in Colonial Cherokee History, Byzantine History, Classics and Historical Combat. He majored in History with a Minor in Native American and Indigenous Studies. His biographical roles include Non-Professional Digital History Consultant, Amateur Writer, Historical Fencer, Professional Lecturer and Public Speaker. He is available for historical legal consultation regarding treaty law.

Once you launch the Zoom recording, please start the video by using the play button. Then, you can use the Play/Pause button and the time slider to go forward and backward in the video.

A link to a recording of his presentation is below

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mxL9D8RsYBZKwoioInR-6guSP8T2ygYS/view?usp=sharing

Below is a link to the slides from the presentation

'Principle Faith.pdf'

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Ninth Month 30, 2021

WNCHA Presents: Dr. David Moore on Native American Resistance to the 16th Century Spanish Invasion of Western North Carolina September 30, 2021

In this 1-hour program, Dr. David Moore, an archaeologist at Warren Wilson University, discusses the Joara Native American Village and Native resistance to the Spanish invasion of WNC in the 1500s. Dr. Moore has been involved with the archaeology of this site near modern Morganton, NC for nearly three decades. He describes the findings of ongoing excavations and places them in context with the culture of the Native peoples who eventually thwarted Spanish colonization attempts in the Appalachian Mountains.

Below is a link to the presentation

href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GVIVATNsK8&t=24s

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Eighth Month 15, 2021

Asheville Friends Meeting hosted a presentation on Cherokee Ancestral Lands by Dr. Ben Steere, Anthropology Professor at Western Carolina University. The recording of his talk to Asheville Meeting timed out on Zoom. Below is a similar talk he gave.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfuhoo7tM2Y

You may view the slides that Ben used by clicking on the link below:

Archaeology and ancestral Cherokee lands in western North Carolina

      Presentation to the Asheville Friends Meeting
      August 15, 2021
      Ben Steere, Ph.D.
      Western Carolina University

In gratitude to Dr. Steere and to support for the Cherokee Studies Program at WCU, we encourage donations to the TJ Holland Cherokee Studies Scholarship at

https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/15932/donations/new

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Second Month 20, 2021

The young Friends invited the entire Meeting to participate in

Moving to Make a Difference!

On 2/20/21, all were invited to walk, run, bike, scooter, stroller, or skate your way to the Meetinghouse. Bring a mask and a mug, because a few folks will be ready with Hot Chocolate or tea! We're not just gathering to see each other (though that will be nice), we also want to make a difference. We are collecting non-perishable food and raising money to help fulfill the wants and needs of our neighbors. All the food will be delivered to Little Free Food pantries in the area. All the money raised will be donated to Beloved Asheville to support their ministry. You can choose to just bring food or money yourself, or get sponsors from friends and family members. Please feel free to join even if you are unable to participate in the movement part. And please remember to help keep everyone safe by keeping ample distance when removing your mask to enjoy your hot drink.

Lots of participants, kids galore, two dogs, brilliant sunshine, no wind, hot drinks, muffins and homemade cookies, and good vibes.....
-- Jim

Thanks so much to everyone! It was great to see everyone in person and have some time to visit. Thanks especially to Eden for her idea and persistence, and to Patty B, Susan, and Jen for all the delicious drinks, cookies and muffins. I'm attaching some pictures!
-- Laura

Thanks lots for this!! It was wonderful to see you all today, and to make this project a reality. Grateful to Tim and Patty for the food and beverage table, and to Susan for the delicious cookies..
-- Jennifer

I asked Ponkho Bermejo where to find the little pantries and he said to do a Google search for Beloved Asheville Street Pantry and refer to the map. Beloved has a recent post in Facebook, too, that shows them stocking a few of the pastries so you can see them as a "street view" lol. Here's a link to the map that came up when I did that Google search. Going to look for one closest to our apartment.
-- Adrianne

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Second Month 9, 2021

Pat met with Chief Sneed, the Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to discuss the proposed Land Acknowledgement from the Asheville Friends Meeting. During that meeting, Chief Sneed gave Pat the medallion shown below

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