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Cherokee Casino employees help recreate ancient village12 April 2012TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (PRESS RELEASE) -- Employees from Cherokee Casino & Hotel West Siloam Springs are helping the Cherokee Heritage Center build a new outdoor exhibit that recreates Cherokee life from more than 300 years ago. Employee crews spent multiple days applying mud to the interior and exterior of structures that replicate winter and summer homes built by Cherokees in 1710. Other crews collected river cane for roofing and scraped bark from trees for framing the houses. “The volunteers are doing a great job, and we deeply appreciate their work,” said Karen Cooper, executive director of the Cherokee Heritage Center. “By helping reconstruct the exhibit they really become part of the village, which is something they can tell their kids and grandkids about.” The new outdoor living exhibit is a transformation of the Tsalagi Ancient Village that opened in 1967 as an interpretive area showcasing everyday Cherokee life prior to European contact. During the past couple of weeks more than 40 employees from Cherokee Nation Businesses, including employees from its gaming and hospitality division, Cherokee Nation Entertainment, worked more than 140 hours on the village. “Watching our employees support every effort to help tell the Cherokee story is amazing,” said Roger Barr, assistant general manager of Cherokee Casino & Hotel West Siloam Springs. “It is truly heartwarming to see our employees build houses as our ancestors did more than 300 years ago.” When the new village opens in spring 2013, visitors to the village will witness Cherokee life from the early 18th century. Guests are guided through a detailed historic landscape and more than a dozen interpretive stations for craft demonstrations, storytelling and explanations of Cherokee lifeways. |