Learn from experts about the rich American Indian history of Cherokee and Clay counties at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at the Hiwassee Valley Pool and Wellness Center in Murphy.

Lance Greene and T.J. Holland will speak.  

Greene received his PhD in anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, under an advisory committee that included Brett Riggs. He has worked as an archaeologist for 25 years, mostly in the Southeast. He works as a historical archaeologist with a focus on life in the Southern Appalachians during the 19th century. His recent research focuses on how and why members of traditional Cherokee communities avoided forced removal in the 1830s.  Greene’s dissertation is based on findings from research on the historic Welch Farm near Andrews, a portion of which was conserved by the Hiwassee-Valley Land Trust earlier this year.

T.J. Holland is director of the Junaluska Museum in Robbinsville and an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. He holds a degree in fine arts from Western Carolina University and is an expert on the mative settlement histories of the Hiwassee, Valley and Cheoah river valleys.

The forum is sponsored by the Junaluska Museum and the local conservation groups Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition and Hiwassee-Valley Land Trust and is a project of the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee.

The Hiwassee Valley Pool and Wellness Center is located at 695 Conahetta Street, across from Konehete Park near downtown Murphy. www.cherokeeheritagetrails.org/robbinsville_places.html