Public Indians, Private Cherokees

A major economic industry among American Indian tribes is the public promotion and display of aspects of their cultural heritage ina wide range of tourist venues. Few do it better than the Eastern Band of the Cherokee, whose homeland is the Qualla Boundary of North Carolina. Through extensive research into the work of other scholars dating back to the late 1800s and interviews with a wide range of contemporary Cherokees Beard-Moose presents the two faces of the Cherokee people. One is the public face that populates the powwows, dramatic presentations, museums, and myriad roadside craft locations. The other is the private face, whose homecoming, Indian fair, tradition, belief system, community strength, and cultural heritage are threatened by the very activities that put food on tables. Constructing an ethnohistory of tourism and comparing the experiences of the Cherokees with the Florida Seminoles and Southwestern tribes, this work brings into sharp focus the fine line between promoting and selling Indian culture. Book jacket.

Christina Taylor Beard-Moose is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Suffolk County Community College, Ammerman Campus, in Selden, New York