Cherokee Dance Group performs March 25 at UNC Asheville

Press release

Cherokee Dance Group, Warriors of AniKituhwa, to Perform March 25 at UNC Asheville

The Warriors of AniKituhwa, Cherokee dance group and official cultural ambassadors for the Tribal Council of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, will perform at 12:30 Tuesday, March 25 at UNC Asheville’s Main Quad. Their performance is free and open to the public.

The Warriors of AniKituhwa educate audiences about Cherokee history and culture by performing Cherokee dances such as the Eagle Tail Dance, Beaver Hunting Dance and Friendship Dance, based on traditions that date back generations. They also perform a re-creation of the War Dance, using descriptions from the memoirs of Lt. Henry Timberlake, a colonial journalist who witnessed the dances, as well as music from songs recorded on wax cylinders by Cherokee tribal councilman Will West Long and anthropologist Frank Speck in the 1920s.

“The Warriors of AniKituwha were able to successfully recreate this dance because they are part of an ongoing dance tradition that still exists and goes back thousands of years,” said Barbara Duncan, education director of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. “Several of them grew up doing traditional Cherokee dances with Richard Crowe and other elders.”

The performance is part of the Native American Speaker and Performance Series at UNC Asheville, and is sponsored by many UNC Asheville offices and programs: Office of the Associate Provost, Education Department, American Indian Outreach, Arts & Ideas Program, Humanities Program, National Endowment for the Humanities Distinguished Professor, Cultural Events & Special Academic Programs and more. For more information, visit cesap.unca.edu or call 828.251.6674.