The Fast Horse family will perform on October 30

UNC Asheville joins the nation in celebrating American Indian Heritage Month this November with a host of special events. All events are free and open to the public.

 -- Reuben and Ash Fast Horse and their children, all traditional Lakota performers, will speak on the contributions of American Indians at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30, in UNC Asheville's Alumni Hall, Highsmith University Union. They will discuss food, tools, healing and governmental structures derivative of ancient North America. Reuben Fast Horse, who is certified by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the North Dakota State Board of Education as an Eminent Scholar, has researched traditions to preserve such dances as the Buffalo Dance and the Eagle Dance. He has performed at the WOMAD World Music Festival three times and is a 2001 Grammy nominee with the group Lakota Thunder. Ash Fast Horse is an accomplished dancer of ethnic and choreographed styles and is a singer and craftswoman.

-- CANCELLED: James "Bo" Taylor, a champion powwow grass dancer, will perform and discuss traditional Cherokee songs and dances at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13, in UNC Asheville's Mountain Suites rooms 223-224, Highsmith University Union. Raised in the Wolfetown community on the Qualla Boundary, Taylor is a member of the Cherokee Long Hair Clan. He earned a degree in anthropology with a minor in Cherokee studies from Western Carolina University and now serves as an archivist at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.

-- CANCELLED: Dr. Anne Bullock, medical director of the health and medical division of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, will speak on "The Connection of Trauma and Stress to Diabetes" at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 15, in UNC Asheville's Humanities Lecture Hall. A member of the Cherokee Indian Hospital medical staff since 1990, Bullock oversees the medical components of the Health and Medical Division and has direct responsibility for a number of medical programs, including the Cherokee Diabetes Program and the Qualla Indian Health Services National Diabetes Program. Bullock holds a medical degree from the University of Washington and is board certified in family medicine. She is an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.

For more information, call Deirdre Wiggins, UNC Asheville assistant director of Multicultural Organizations and Events, at 828/232-5110.