Daughter Lise, friend Toke, and I enjoyed the tour of outdoor exhibits showing how the Cherokee Indians lived and worked. Our guide was a young man who spoke very rapidly and had a good sense of humor. The people kept working as he spoke, but they answered questions if we wanted more detailed information.

I was interested in the making of pottery, since I’ve seen neighbor Shawn throw a pot on a wheel. These people shaped everything by hand because they didn’t have a wheel. Instead of using a kiln, they built a fire in the ground and turned the pieces each time they moved them closer to the fire. Finally, the items would actually be in the fire.

There were buildings showing what houses looked like in several different periods. This was the third time I’ve been to this village, and it was the first time I understood that some of the buildings were scaled down in size. Also, the canoe on display was a scale model. It appeared big enough for one person, but it was supposed to hold three, along with items they were trading.

There was a new part of the narrative that I had not heard before. Two recurring phrases were “before European contact” and “after European contact”. Obviously, nothing in history changed, but their presentation did. I don’t think Europeans were mentioned at all five or six years ago.

After that tour, another Indian man stood in the sacred area where there would be dancing. He explained the way the tribe was organized. It was a matriarchal society where the women had the final say in many things. If a woman decided to “divorce” her husband, she put all his belongings outside the home and told him to leave. He would have to go back to his group to live. Blood lines were traced through the women, not the men.

We heard thunder, and it began to rain. It was announced that the tribal dances would not be performed. We were sitting on wooden benches under a roof and weren’t getting wet, but they canceled because of the danger of lightning.

Driving back toward home, we stopped above Maggie Valley where the scenery was gorgeous. A bit further down the mountain, Lise exclaimed, “Look! Did you see that elk?” She turned around, and Toke was able to get a shot of the animal grazing beside the road.

We had a late lunch at Clyde’s as others were coming in for dinner. What a delightful day it had been!