Course in review

The major components of the study abroad program included Cherokee language training, learning history, and first-hand cultural experiences. I really enjoyed and benefitted from the language component of the trip. Learning Cherokee is relevant to the current struggles within the community to revitalize the language as a means of preserving the entire culture. I wish we could have had more hours of training, but I appreciated that the language hours were often consecutive and allowed us to get deeper into our language study. The visit to the language immersion school was particularly inspiring. It would be great to interact with the kids more next year, maybe even using the iChat functions that the older students enjoy so much. We knew very little to the language, but I think more interaction with the immersion school students could be mutually-beneficial and very fun.

The Coates history course, as well as the variety of other lectures we received about Cherokee history, were the focus of the course and have completely changed my perception of the Cherokee. I think that the Coates class was well worth the 33 hours. It provided a strong base for everything else we studied on the trip. The Cherokee are probably the Indian tribe that children are most likely to study in schools across the United States. Therefore, Coates lectures fleshed out this history as well as adjusted some of the incorrect statistics taught in schools and in books. I was also grateful to visit the UKB and the Freedmen after attending Coates’ lectures in order to explore other perspectives on Cherokee history.

One way we were exposed to the modern Native American community was through watching films. I enjoyed every film we watched and particularly appreciated hearing Sterlin Harjo talk about his works.

We were all so lucky to be able to attend a stomp dance at Mr. Comingdeer’s grounds. Stomp dances really cannot be understood or described without actually attending. I was grateful to see how the stomp dance worked and begin to grasp the spirituality that the event encompasses for the Cherokee. I definitely was glad that we had a few hours to sleep after the stomp dance and before the last session of Coates’ class, although I never quite felt caught up with sleep after staying awake that entire night.

The games of stickball and marbles were two of my favorite events while in Tahlequah. I enjoyed learning these historical games among locals. I enjoyed making corn husk dolls and double-walled baskets with our host NSU students. I think that these two activities should be formally incorporated into the program in the future. I would have really enjoyed more hands-on Cherokee art demonstrations/lessons, although the museum and gallery trips did teach me a lot about the art scene among American Indians in that part of the country.

I could obviously go on for days about each element of the trip. I would recommend this study abroad to anyone (even vegetarians!)– not only did I enjoy myself, but I learned so much and have been able to really change my perspective of the Cherokee and American Indian studies.

p.s. I kind of missed the gun on the "course evaluation up to this point" post, so I hope this one suffices for both.