CHEROKEE, NC, October
4, 2006 — Cherokee Preservation
Foundation (CPFdn) announced today
that it has awarded a $500,000 grant
to the Travel and Promotion program
of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
(EBCI) to sustain an award-winning,
multi-year marketing campaign to attract
visitors interested in exploring the
Cherokee culture to Cherokee and its
three principal cultural attractions.
The attractions are the Museum of the
Cherokee Indian, Qualla Arts and Crafts,
and Cherokee Historical Association,
which presents the Unto these Hills
outdoor drama and Oconaluftee Indian
Village. A second grant totaling $585,000
will enable the Museum of the Cherokee
Indian to create a new education and
research center and to expand the annual
Southeastern Tribes Gathering it coordinates.
The new center will give heritage visitors
hands-on historical and cultural classes,
workshops and demonstrations.
Overall,
CPFdn has just awarded 26 new cultural
preservation, economic
development and environmental preservation
grants valued at $2.19 million.
Since
2002, the Foundation has provided financial
support totaling $8.8 million
to the three cultural attractions,
enabling collaboration on a successful
advertising campaign; complete revamping
of the Unto These Hills drama; new
events such as the Southeastern Tribes
Gathering and Festival of Native Peoples,
expansion of Museum facilities and
exhibits; community outreach efforts
at Qualla Arts & Crafts that are
building a new generation of Cherokee
artists; and development of business
plans at each of the three organizations
to ensure their long-term self-sustainability.
During the summer of
2006, attendance and sales have been
up dramatically
at each of the Big Three cultural attractions.
Revenue from ticket sales from Unto
These Hills was up 17% compared to
the 2005 season, Museum ticket sales
increased 16%, and sales at Qualla
Arts & Crafts rose nearly 10%.
Earlier
this month, the Southeastern Tourism
Society recognized Cherokee,
NC, as the Travel Attraction of the
Year and also recognized the Eastern
Band of Cherokee Indians for the Visual
Excellence of its travel marketing
effort. The Southeastern Tourism Society’s
Shining Example awards highlight the
best work in travel and tourism in
the Southeast. The organization is
dedicated to the promotion and development
of tourism in its 11 member states.
The EBCI marketing campaign is a collaborative
effort between EBCI Tribal Marketing
and Promotion, Cherokee Historical
Association, the Museum, Qualla Arts & Crafts
and the Goss Agency.
“
Heritage tourism is the lifeblood of
the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians,
and Cherokee Preservation Foundation
is committed to helping members of
the tribe market and continually improve
the major tourism venues on the Qualla
Boundary, revitalize the Cherokee downtown,
establish new events to draw more visitors
and create tour packages that give
visitors unique experiences,” said
Susan Jenkins, executive director of
Cherokee Preservation Foundation. “We
are delighted to see that the community’s
hard work is beginning to pay off with
greater attendance and sales, and the
new grants are intended to help build
on the momentum that has been achieved.”
Other
Economic Development Grants
CPFdn has
awarded a $125,000 grant to Cherokee
Bottled Water to enable
the EBCI enterprise to purchase equipment
to bottle water locally. Currently
water is shipped to an out of state
manufacturing facility. The grant will
enable Cherokee Bottled Water to create
more local jobs and build another source
of income for the EBCI.
Other economic
development grants will enable the
Cherokee School system to
improve its curriculum; the Western
Carolina University Cherokee Center
to continue delivering the Qualla Financial
Freedom financial literacy program
to Cherokee youth; the Waynesville
Police Department to establish a K-9
unit to detect explosives in a seven-county
area and reduce response time to bomb
threats; the Cherokee Boys Club to
construct a new training facility to
expand its offerings; and the EBCI
to increase the productivity of tribal
government with a geographic information
system that allows for representation
of EBCI land, businesses, natural resources
and other data.
Additional grants will
provide the artists of Graham and Swain
Counties
with a public gallery space in which
to show and sell their artwork; Vocational
Opportunities of Cherokee to complete
a business and marketing plan; the
new Cherokee Chamber of Commerce to
fund activities that will lead to its
growth and sustainability; and the
EBCI Economic Development Department
to conduct a feasibility study for
an indoor water park in Cherokee.
Environmental
Preservation Grants
Four grants totaling
more than $260,000 will further the
objectives of the
CPFdn initiative known as Revitalization
of Traditional Cherokee Artisan Resources,
or RTCAR. RTCAR’s purpose is
to teach, protect and promote Cherokee
traditional art, resources (such as
river cane and white oak), and land
care for present and future generations.
A
grant totaling more than $100,000 will
enable Western Carolina University’s
Department of Geosciences and National
Resource Management to implement a
major research effort into the ecology
and restoration of native river cane
in western North Carolina. An RTCAR
grant to the University of Tennessee
will enable the development of a natural
resources education program in the
new Cherokee High School that will
soon be constructed. A grant to the
Land Trust for the Little Tennessee
(LTLT) will enable the expansion and
management of butternut, white oak
and river cane resources growing on
LTLT lands. Another RTCAR grant will
enable operation of the program and
support of new aspects in 2007.
Other
environmental preservation grants will
enable the Cherokee Boys Club
to reduce air emissions from its school
buses and fleet vehicles by converting
them to bio-diesel, and make it possible
for the Tribe to construct a green
space for the Sara Smoker Community.
Cultural Preservation
Grants
A $100,000 grant will
enable the advancement of programs
to revitalize
the Cherokee
language that have been created by
the EBCI and Western Carolina University.
Another language-related grant will
make it possible for regional youth
in the Voices in the Laurel choir to
perform music in the Cherokee language
in Sydney, Australia.
Other cultural
preservation grants will enable a workshop
for North Carolina
teachers that will help them teach
their students about the Cherokee people;
the construction of an outdoor walking
track, pavilion and gazebo for community
members in Cherokee County; continuation
of the dual program with EARTH University
in Costa Rica in which an EARTH university
student works in Cherokee as an intern
and Cherokee youth participate in an
eco-study tour in Costa Rica; changes
in the decor at Cherokee Hospital that
will make its interior design more
culturally oriented and appealing to
EBCI members; development of a cultural
exchange program between Hazelwood
Elementary School and Cherokee Elementary
School; and development of a plan that
will give Cherokee stone sculptors
space to create large sculptors.
About
Cherokee Preservation Foundation
Cherokee
Preservation Foundation was established
on November 14, 2000, as
part of the Second Amendment to the
Tribal-State Compact between the EBCI
and the State of North Carolina. It
is an independent nonprofit foundation
funded by the EBCI from gaming revenues
generated by the Tribe. CPFdn is not
part of or associated with any for-profit
gaming entity. Since CPFdn’s
inception, it has made 342 grants totaling
more than $27.1 million.
back to top
