WCU Cherokee Center

08/28/2026

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of welcoming Digali’i students back for the new academic year with a student cookout! 💜💛

The evening was filled with introductions, shared laughs, good food, and plenty of hope and excitement for the year ahead. More importantly, it was an opportunity for students to spend time together, strengthen connections, and continue building community.

Student organizations can be such an important part of the college experience. They provide opportunities for leadership and involvement, but they can also offer something just as valuable, a place of support, belonging, and a little bit of “home away from home.” We are excited to support Digali’i however we can this year and encourage more of our students to come out, get involved, and join us for meetings and events throughout the year!

We were also grateful to be joined by so many friends, faculty, and supporters of our students and the Cherokee Center, including former WCU Cherokee Center Director Roseanna Belt and her husband, WCU honorary doctorate recipient and fluent Cherokee speaker Tom Belt.

Also joining us were Ben Steere, Department Head and Professor of Anthropology and Sociology; Jane Eastman, Associate Professor; Lisa Lefler, Director of the Culturally Based Native Health Program; Sara Snyder Hopkins, Associate Professor; Brett Riggs, Sequoyah Distinguished Professor; and Georgia Ennis, Assistant Professor.

We’re looking forward to seeing where the year takes Digali’i and to many more opportunities to gather, support one another, and strengthen the community surrounding our students.

Welcome back, Digali’i! Here’s to a great year ahead! 💜💛

08/26/2026

Tonight Dr. Riggs presented String Bands, Square Dancing and the Cherokee Fair, when Cherokee was Music City.

08/25/2026

Ulihelisdi tsadetiyisgv! 🥳 🎂

Join us in wishing Chief Joyce Dugan a Happy Birthday!
-EBCI Communications

08/25/2026

08/24/2026

Meet our new gardener! 🌱🦌

She doesn’t ask for much, just that we stay out of her way! 😂😅

08/24/2026

Siyo! Ever since accepting the Director’s position in April, I have been on the go looking for programs and courses that we can offer right here in our community. This is only the beginning! Stay tuned. 💜💛

Shalana Yates
Director WCU Cherokee Center

August 2026 - December 2026 (Beginning August 25, 2026) Tuesdays and Wednesdays 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm In-person format: Meetings will be held at the WCU Cherokee Center in Cherokee, NC

08/21/2026

“Hey, Leo?”

“Yeah, mom?”

“The season opener is next week.” 🏈

“YEAHHHHHHHHH!” 💜💛

✨Saturday, August 29th @7:30pm✨

08/20/2026

Siyo! Shalana here, the Director of the WCU Cherokee Center. I’d love to take this moment to discuss our support in sponsoring the event bags for the 2026 Rooted in the Mountains Conference. ⛰️🌿

When I began working on the design for this year’s Rooted in the Mountains event, I knew I wanted it to be more than something that simply looked nice on a tote bag. I wanted to understand the story behind the event and find a way for the design to carry a little piece of that story forward. And the story begins long before there was an event.

In the video link below, Dr. Lisa Lefler, Director of the Culturally Based Native Health Program at WCU, and Cherokee elder and former Cherokee language instructor Tom Belt share how Rooted in the Mountains grew from conversations beginning long ago.

Lisa remembers Tom visiting with her mother, a mountain woman born and raised here, and the two of them sitting together talking about growing up, culture, and the ways their lives and experiences intersected through the land. As Tom says in the video, regardless of whether those who have called this place home are Native or non-Native, “we have one thing in common…the mountains and how we live here.” Those conversations became the spark for something bigger. Rooted in the Mountains grew from the belief that these conversations should be shared, that traditional knowledge, environmental health, human health, and our relationships with the land and one another are not separate things. They are interconnected. That story became the inspiration behind this design. 🌿

The mountains surrounding the cabin are, of course, our home, but they also represent something we have a responsibility to care for. The plants and natural elements throughout the design are intentional reminders that the health of the land, water, plants, animals, and people are connected.

At the center sits the WCU Cherokee Center cabin, here on the Qualla Boundary, a place that represents the connection between Western Carolina University and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and, to me, a fitting place to visually bring these pieces together. And, if you look closely, there’s even a little Ꮻ on the cabin door. 💜

But perhaps my favorite connection came from listening again to Tom explain the Cherokee understanding he associates with root and its connection to the idea of a “helper.” To me, that brings the meaning of Rooted in the Mountains full circle. It is about how we help. How we serve. How we listen. How we care for this place and one another. As Tom reminds us, “the health of these mountains is invariably our own health.” And as Lisa shares, being here on the homeland of the Kituwah people comes with an opportunity, and an obligation, to listen, learn, help, and serve the community.

Egwa sgi to the speakers who reached out to help me execute the language aspect of “rooted” in the present tense. 🙏🏼🤍

Watch the video below to hear Lisa and Tom tell the story in their own words, and then join us for the 2026 Rooted in the Mountains Conference, September 24–25, as we continue these conversations through this year’s theme:

Indigenous Perceptions of Hope 🌿⛰️💜✨
Find the link below to register! We hope to see you there!



Video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoO0GyMw26E

Registration link:
https://continuinged.wcu.edu/portal/events/reg/participantTypeSelection.do?method=load&entityId=1587609

08/19/2026

08/19/2026

It was a beautiful day in Cherokee today! ☀️🌼🌸🌱✨