Copyright © 2006 NLThomas
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News from the Cherokee Nation, OK
Copyright © 2006 CNO
The Warriors of AniKituhwa dancers will perform Friday, March 24, at 7 p.m. in the Tsa La Gi Community Room, located at the Cherokee Nation Complex in Tahlequah. The group will perform the War Dance/Welcome Dance, the Eagle Tail Dance, the Bear Dance, and other social dances.
The Warriors of AniKituhwa 
TAHLEQUAH, OKLAHOMA – In partnership with the Cherokee Heritage Center, The Warriors of AniKituhwa dancers will perform Friday, March 24, at 7 p.m. in the Tsa La Gi Community Room, located at the Cherokee Nation Complex in Tahlequah. The group will perform the War Dance/Welcome Dance, the Eagle Tail Dance, the Bear Dance, and other social dances.
The Warriors of AniKituhwa have been making history by revitalizing Cherokee dances from almost two-hundred and fifty years ago. They bring to life the “Warrior Dance” and the “Eagle Tail Dance” as described in the Memoirs of Lt. Henry Timberlake. Timberlake witnessed these dances in the Cherokee capital of Chota, in the Overhill Towns, in the fall of 1762, and he described these dances in his Memoirs, published in 1765.
The War Dance was used in several ways by the Cherokees, according to historical sources. It was done when going into war. It was also used as a welcome dance on diplomatic occasions, such as Timberlake’s visit to the Cherokees at the end of the Cherokee War of 1760-61. It was also performed by warriors to raise money for families in need.
The War Dance continued into the twentieth century. Historical records show that it was done by men in preparation for Rutherford’s expedition in 1776. Cherokee men did this dance as they prepared to fight as allies of the Americans in the Creek War of 1814, and they danced the scalp dance when they returned. Men from the Eastern Band did the War Dance on numerous occasions going to the Civil War in 1862, and when surrendering in 1865. In the twentieth century, this dance was done in Big Cove, where it was witnessed and described by Frank Speck in his book, Cherokee Dance and Drama. Sticks were carved and painted to represent war clubs, and some of these, collected from Big Cove in the 1920s and 30s, are in the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian.
The group includes Walker Calhoun, singer, Bo Taylor, Bullet Standingdeer, Sonny Ledford, Ty Oocumma, David Seay Owle, and Jeremy Sequoyah. The Warriors of AniKituhwa have been officially recognized as Cultural Ambassadors for the EBCI: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
The Warriors of AniKituhwa are supported by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Cherokee Preservation Foundation, and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. For more information on the dancers, or to book them for your event, contact Barbara Duncan at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, phone: 828 497-3481 or send email to: bduncan@cherokeemuseum.org.
For more information on the Cherokee Heritage Center and its upcoming shows and exhibitions, call 918-456-6007 or visit on the CHC web site.
| Related Cherokee Nation contact information: |
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Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org
Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager |
Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org
Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation |