February 21, 2007
Bowling
Green, Ky. - Cherokee storyteller and filmmaker Sequoyah Guess will be visiting Western Kentucky University on Thursday (March 1) for two rescheduled events in celebration of Native American Heritage Month.
Both events will be held in the Mass Media and Technology Hall Auditorium and are free and open to the public.
The events are sponsored by the Provost’s Initiatives for Excellence, the Department of Folk Studies and Anthropology, and the Office of Diversity Programs.
From 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., Guess will present a screening of his movie “Ravenmocker.” Guess wrote, directed and produced this independent film based on the ravenmocker, a vampire-like demon in Cherokee lore and an important figure in Cherokee stories. Following the movie, he will lead a discussion and answer questions.
From 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., he will present “Sigili: Dark Keetoowah Tales.” A gifted storyteller, Guess will keep with the theme of the supernatural and macabre by sharing dark tales of his tribe, the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.
Guess had been scheduled to visit WKU in November but cancelled his trip because of illness.
A sixth-generation descendent of the original Sequoyah, who developed the Cherokee writing system or syllabary in the early 1800s, Guess speaks, reads and writes the language of his people. He is a traditional storyteller who has been telling stories in the true custom of his people for more than 20 years. He received the position as the family storykeeper from his Great Aunt Maggie Turtle before she passed on at the age of 98.
Over the years, he has gathered and told stories shared with him by other Elders of the Cherokee and Keetoowah people. Through his art he preserves the myths and legends of his people, the oldest of which tells of the migration of his ancestors. All of his stories are Keetoowah/Cherokee.
More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.
For information, contact Darlene Applegate at (270) 745-5295.
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