The Eighth annual Southeast Indian Studies Conference will be held in the University Center Annex at UNCP Apr. 12 through 13, 2012.

The keynote speaker will be Jerry Wolfe, who is 87 years old, and who grew up in Sherrill Cove on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in Western North Carolina. The family home sat in the middle of what is now the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Jerry travels around the Southeast and is often asked to represent the Cherokee tribal perspective on plants and animals of the Great Smokies. He has assisted in translating documents into Cherokee; he speaks, reads and writes Cherokee. He spends a lot of time in local schools, teaching the fundamentals of Cherokee language and telling Cherokee stories.

Jerry was awarded the 2002 North Carolina Heritage Award. He consulted with the Smithsonian on the “Our Peoples” exhibit for the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. He received an award in 2008 from the North Carolina State Legislature for his contributions to the Eastern Band of Cherokees and the State of North Carolina as a storyteller and stickball caller.

Jerry served in the United States Navy during World War II and in October 2010, he was among an honored group of veterans who visited Washington, D.C. and the WWII memorial and other memorials to veterans of the United States military.

For registration forms or other information, please visit one of the event sponsors: The Department of American Indian Studies http://www.uncp.edu/ais, The Museum of the Native American Resource Center http://www.uncp.edu/nativemuseum/ ; or The Office of Academic Affairs http://www.uncp.edu/aa/