Sequoyah National Research Center Celebrating Native American Heritage Month

November is Native American Heritage Month, and UA Little Rock's Sequoyah National Research Center is helping to celebrate by sharing knowledge of Native American history and culture across Arkansas throughout November.

On Friday, Nov. 8, the public will have two chances to see readings of Diane Glancy's play "William Tincup's Squaw," in partnership with the School of Literary and Performing Arts. The play will be read at 2 p.m. in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the Fine Arts Building and 5 p.m. at UA Little Rock Downtown, 333 President Clinton Ave.

"This is one of Diane Glancy's plays that she submitted for the Best Play Prize in the 1980s at the Five Civilized Tribes Museum," said Erin Fehr, assistant director of the Sequoyah National Research Center. "The competition was an important way to foster a new genre of Native American plays. This play has been sitting in the archives for decades, and I don't believe it's ever been performed. We are excited to team up with Dr. Larry Smith from the School of Literary and Performing Arts so that the play will see new light."

The play is a story of the Cherokee Removal of 1839. This first Cherokee "Trail of Tears" was a 950-mile-long forced relocation from Georgia through Tennessee, Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri, and Arkansas to the new Cherokee Nation located in present-day Oklahoma. The play is a part of the Garrard Ardeneum Collection at the Sequoyah National Research Center.

The cast of readers for the play include UA Little Rock faculty, staff, students, and community members:

• Valerise Bell-Ovwiomoriemu, music major
• April Chatham-Carpenter, chair of the Department of Applied Communication
• Doug Cortes, director of the Business Innovations Legal Clinic at William H. Bowen School of Law
• Grant Diffee, community member
• Kenshi Lewis, theatre arts major
• Maritza Moore, theatre arts major
• Levey Saintil, American Sign Language Studies major
• Rex Wilkins, visiting assistant professor of Spanish

"It's important for people to see how archives can be brought to life, and how they can be used today," Fehr said. "A lot of people think archives are old and dusty and are only useful to researchers who are writing a book, but maybe seeing this play will spark some curiosity about what else we have in the archives."

In addition to the play, Dr. Daniel Littlefield, director of the Sequoyah National Research Center, will attend the Corvettes and Veterans event Nov. 10 at War Memorial Stadium, where he will deliver the land acknowledgement statement and present an educational display on behalf of Sequoyah.

Dr. Littlefield and Fehr will also be speaking at places like Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas National Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District, and the American Indian Center of Arkansas Gala throughout November.

With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Littlefield will discuss the Arkansas Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association's ongoing project to mark nine sites along the Arkansas River between Arkansas Post and Fort Smith that were important sites along the Trail of Tears. The Arkansas Chapter of the Trail of Tears Association received a $50,000 grant from the National Park Service Foundation to place interpretive signs and markers at the locations.

Fehr will also attend the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries, and Museums Conference. She will be on a group panel with members of the Cherokee Nation to discuss a collaborative event held in February to commemorate the 196th anniversary of the first publication of the Cherokee Phoenix newspaper.

Additionally, she will speak about Sequoyah's work on the Modern Warriors of World War I project. Sequoyah has created a database of Native American veterans who served during World War I to remember their legacy of bravery and sacrifice, and they are still working to identify more of the 12,000 American Indians and Alaska Natives that served. The Valor Medals Review Act allows for the records of minorities who served during World War I to be reexamined to determine if they should receive medals posthumously. To qualify for a review, the veterans must have received a Distinguished Service Cross, a Navy Cross or a Croix de Guerre with Palm, but then had their honors downgraded.

"I'm hoping that the audience can help us find even more deserving Native American veterans of World War I that we don't know about," Fehr said. "The deadline for review for the Valor Medals Review Act has been extended to 2028, so we still have four years to find new veterans. To date, we have found 25 Native American veterans that qualify for review."

The Sequoyah National Research Center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, but they suggest you call at 501-916-3336 before coming to visit. They currently have a small exhibit set up featuring artwork, baskets, pottery, handmade dolls, and Navajo jewelry.