Study Abroad in Review

Like Marsha, I don't know if I would through out anything from the course, because everything was relevant in some way. I enjoyed both the topics that connected us with the past and the current conditions of the Cherokee Nation.

I think that rather than removing any of the activities, I would only change them to allow for more free time, or other activities. I would have really enjoyed more time either in the evenings or afternoons, to have free time to spend with one another or with our NSU hosts. I really enjoyed spending time with everyone and I would have liked to have more time. There were a few instances when I could not spend time with anyone because I was too busy trying to keep up with our schedule. I would have also liked to have a second afternoon of half day to have to ourselves, without having the option of a day trip like floating on the river. I thought the river trip was really fun, but I would have liked to have a day where I didn't have to chose between sleeping in and doing something else.

The one thing that I enjoyed the most, as I think other people did too, was learning Cherokee. I feel like the Cherokee language lessons were the glue that brought the entire course together. Learning the language I had no idea that Cherokee was such a difficult language, and that for someone to become a fluent speaker, they needed something like 3,000 hours of training and classes. I had no idea that Cherokee was on the same level as languages like Japanese and Arabic. I would have liked to have a bit more time time spent learning more of the language. I really loved going to the immersion school as practice for the language, and it really helped me to feel connected with all the work the Cherokees are doing to maintain the small remainder of fluent speakers.

One of my other favorite activities was the Native American film festival day we had. I really began to understand some of the norms and traditions of current Cherokee and Indian communities. I thought that as well as visiting as the Cherokee Nation Hospital, and the Indian Child Welfare Services, helped us to gain a better idea of the contemporary Cherokee Nation, and I would have enjoyed more activities like these.

As far as the Cherokee Nation history course goes, I really felt like this was an effective way for us to learn about the history we needed to learn so that we could connect the past to the present. Without this course, I do not know if we would have been able to be so well informed when meeting the Keetoowahs and the Freedmen, which I think both of those meetings were imperative to the course and our learning. I also thought that meeting the Principal Cheif Chad Smith was a great way for us to become more apart of hte Cherokee Nation. After hearing him talk about what was in store for the Cherokee Nation and what they want to achieve in the future, I feel that I as a non member, can now educate my friends and family on the things that can make the most difference and cause the greatest changes needed there.

As a Native American Studies minor, I have taken plenty of courses, all with excellent professors on the histories of many tribes, but never have I taken one like this before. A full immersion program like this one gave me a chance to get a great deal of information in a short time. I got more information than I could ever deal with, and the best study of a tribe I could have had. With all of the information I gained at the Study Abroad in the Cherokee Nation, and with all the help I've gotten from all the people we've met I think I have a great opportunity to make a difference not only in our native communities, but also the native communities around the United States.