Mar
28

Cherokee Days, March 31 – April 2

Visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and enjoy the three-day festival featuring storytelling, traditional flute music, traditional games, demonstrations, music, dance performances, and hands-on activities.

Cherokee man in traditional dress addresses crowd in Potomac Atrium of NMAI
Image courtesy the National Museum of the American Indian

This free event showcases the shared history and cultural lifeways of the three federally recognized Cherokee tribes—Cherokee Nation, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.

Cherokee Days Festival

Friday–Sunday, March 31–April 2

10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.  

In the museum’s imagiNATIONS Activity Center, children can make corn husk dolls, clay turtle medallions, miniature gourd masks, or try paper mat weaving (Sunday only). The activities are free, but tickets are required and are available on a first come, first served basis.

Artisans will demonstrate basket weaving, loom weaving, bead work, twining, stone carving, woodcarving, flint knapping, painting, and pottery, and how to make moccasins and the balls used in stickball.

Visitors can also watch filmmaker favorites and selections from the Cherokee Almanac Series from OsyioTV each day in the museum’s Rasmuson Theater.

A full schedule of events is available on the museum’s website.

Events in the museum’s Potomac Atrium will be livestreamed Friday and Saturday, March 31–April 1 at AmericanIndian.si.edu/livestream

For further information, contact Marielba Alvarez, National Museum of the American Indian, x3-6888 (VoIP) or 202-633-6888 (non-VoIP), alvarezma@si.edu

Related posts:

Cropped photo of traditional Cherokee tools“Cherokee Days” at NMAI should have lasted at least a week! Young T. rex skullICYMI: Highlights from the week that was April 14 – 20, 2019 Pepper in Haupt GardenICYMI: Highlights from the week that was April 22 – April 28, 2018 Resized Folklife Festival BannerEverything you ever wanted to know about the 2023 Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Posted: 28 March 2023
About the Author:

Alex di Giovanni is primarily responsible for "other duties as assigned" in the Office of Communications and External Affairs. She has been with the Smithsonian since 2006 and plans to be interred in the Smithson crypt.