WCU Anth and Soc

08/06/2026

This morning, I had the opportunity to welcome Western Carolina University’s newest faculty during New Faculty Orientation.

As I listened to the Associate Provost read WCU’s land acknowledgment, I was filled with pride as she spoke of the rich history of the ancestral homelands on which the campus sits. Moments like that remind me what a privilege it is to serve in a role that connects Western Carolina University and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. I am incredibly grateful to support two strong communities and two places that I proudly call home.

As the Director of the WCU Cherokee Center, I also had the chance to introduce the work of the center and share how our role extends far beyond a building. The Cherokee Center exists to strengthen the relationship between Western Carolina University and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians through collaboration, education, community engagement, and student success.

One of the greatest opportunities we have is building meaningful relationships. I hope our newest faculty will see the Cherokee Center as a place to connect, collaborate, learn alongside our community, and create partnerships grounded in mutual respect and reciprocity.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to share the work we’re doing and look forward to the relationships that will grow from today’s conversations. Here’s to a new academic year filled with meaningful connections and impactful collaborations.

Sgi, thank you, and welcome to the Catamount family! Or as I was told, “Welcome Home.” 💜💛

If you see me out and about on campus, say Siyo! 👋🏼

-Shalana Yates

03/25/2026

Do you love research? These students do! Check out some of our amazing undergraduate students presenting their findings at the WCU Research and Scholarship Conference. Great job all!

Featured presenters:
Sadie Cain
Tayler Franklin
Isabelle Alves
Jordan Brown
Kiera Grandell
Benjamin Ryan

Interested in doing research? Talk to your advisor about how to get involved today.

03/13/2026

Curious about where your degree in Anthropology can take you? Join us on Monday, March 16 from 4-6p for a conversation with Dr. Joseph Hefner (WCU ‘97), a world renowned-forensic anthropologist and associate professor at Michigan State University

See you there!

03/13/2026

We’re excited to welcome Julie L. Reed to City Lights next Thursday at 6pm to discuss her new book LAND, LANGUAGE, and WOMEN: A Cherokee and American Educational History.

A sweeping Indigenous history of education across generations

Historians largely understand Native American education through the Indian boarding schools and reservation schools established by the US government during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. But Native Americans taught and learned from one another long before colonization, and while white settlers and institutions powerfully influenced Indigenous educational practices, they never stopped Native peoples from educating one another on their own terms.

In this ambitious and imaginatively conceived book, Julie L. Reed uses Cherokee teaching and learning practices spanning more than four centuries to reframe the way we think about Native American educational history. Reed draws on archaeological evidence from Southeastern US caves, ethnohistorical narratives of Cherokee syllabary development, records from Christian mission schools, Cherokee Nation archives, and family and personal histories to reveal surprising continuity amid powerful change. Centering the role of women as educators across generations in Cherokee matrilineal society, the power of land to anchor learning, and the significance of language in expressing sovereignty, Reed fundamentally rethinks the nature of educational space, the roles played by teachers and learners, and the periodization imposed by US settler colonialism onto the Indigenous experience.

03/02/2026

Please join us for the Cherokee Studies Summit, March 25-27.

https://www.wcu.edu/engage/professional-enrichment/profdev/cherokee-studies-summit.aspx

03/02/2026

02/27/2026

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to attend an academic conference?

Follow along with Tayler Franklin .rae03 as she attends the 2026 American Academy of Forensic Sciences Conference in New Orleans, LA! Tayler co-authored a poster on individual variation in the maxillary sinuses with her professor

Tayler (WCU ‘26) is double majoring in Forensic Anthropology and Forensic Science. She’ll be attending another conference in March, so follow along to learn more about her research!

02/26/2026

Today, WCU Cherokee Language students and instructors attended the historic signing of the Nikwasi mound deed, returning it to the EBCI.

02/25/2026

The documentary “Tiger” directed by Loren Waters about Dana Tiger is still on our minds

The 13-minute film is a moving and evocative portrait of the Tiger family’s path to heal from tragedy and share their art with the world

It was so beautiful to see a story about Indigenous (Muscogee/Cherokee) experiences told from an Indigenous perspective

We are so grateful to Loren and Dana for sharing their art with us, to Brenda Pipestem for moderating the discussion with Loren, and of course, to for organizing this event!

📸 by

02/04/2026

Check out this profile of WCU Alum (2012) Beau Carroll, who graduated with degrees in Archaeology and Cherokee Studies. Dr. Carroll recently received a PhD in Archaeology (2025) from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. He has been doing incredible work as the lead archaeologist for the EBCI's Tribal Historic Preservation Office.

Beau Carroll is a true educator who is passionate about his Cherokee culture and heritage. A member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), Carroll is the lead archaeologist with the EBCI’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office.