Tribal Economics and the Eastern Band of Cherokee – Talk by Historian Christopher Arris Oakley of ECU

Christopher Arris Oakley will discuss his newly published book, New South Indians Tribal Economics and the Eastern Band of Cherokee in the Twentieth Century, in a free public talk at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 25 in UNC Asheville’s Karpen Hall, Room 038.

Divided into five chapters, Oakley’s New South Indians traces the economic development of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians throughout the 20th century to better contextualize the Cherokee Tribal Council’s decision to incorporate gaming into the EBCI’s economic strategy. In building his contextual framework, Oakley discusses the interdependent relationships forged by Cherokee Tribal Council members with various public and private entities in order to protect their land, manage their resources, and advance the well-being of their nation’s economy and community.

Christopher Arris Oakley is chair and associate professor in the Department of History at East Carolina University. He specializes in North Carolina and Native American history.  He also is the author of Keeping the Circle: American Indian Identity in Eastern North Carolina, 1885–2004, and he is coauthor, with Theda Perdue, of Native Carolinians: The Indians of North Carolina. He received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Tennessee.

For more information, contact the UNC Asheville’s History Department at 828-251-6415 and/or at history@unca.edu.