Cherokee Trails Project Receives Presidential Award

The President and Mrs. Laura Bush presented the first four Preserve America Presidential Awards at a White House ceremony Monday May 3. Two honorees were selected in each of two categories: Heritage Tourism, for projects that exemplify efforts that demonstrate commitment to the protection and interpretation of America’s cultural or natural heritage assets; and Private Preservation, for outstanding privately funded historic preservation projects that are funded privately or through public-private partnerships and that support the Administration’s Preserve America initiative objectives.

Blue Ridge Heritage Initiative, located in North Carolina , Tennessee , Virginia , and Georgia . This initiative promotes four groups of heritage tourism trails: Blue Ridge Music; Cherokee Heritage; Craft Heritage; and Farms, Gardens and Countryside. The development of guidebooks for driving tours helps visitors explore important cultural stories, places and traditions of the southern mountains. Accepting the award were Ms. Mary Regan, Executive Director, and Mr. Wayne Martin, Folklife Director, of the North Carolina Arts Council.

“The guidance and expertise of the Museum of the Cherokee Indian was essential to the success of the Blue Ridge Heritage Initiative, and led to this award,”  said Martin, Folklife Director of the N.C. Arts Council said.  The Museum of the Cherokee Indian is the main interpretive site for the Cherokee Heritage Trails.  The Museum has trained Cherokee tour guides, helped produce the Guidebook and the Cherokee Artist Directory, and serves as a resource for smaller museums in the three-state region of the project.  The Museum’s Education Director, Barbara Duncan, has  worked with the Blue Ridge Heritage Area from its inception in 1996, researched Cherokee sites, and co-authored with Brett Riggs the Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook. This guidebook was published by University of North Carolina Press in conjunction with the Museum of the Cherokee Indian in 2003.        

The Preserve America initiative to “Explore and Experience America ’s Heritage,” through both preservation and appropriate use of the nation’s cultural and natural heritage resources, was launched on March 3, 2003 . The annual awards event was timed to coincide with National Historic Preservation Week, which occurs May 3-9 this year with a theme of "New Frontiers in Preservation."

For more information on the Preserve America initiative, today’s award winners, and to nominate candidates for next year’s Preserve America Presidential Awards, please visit www.firstlady.gov or www.PreserveAmerica.gov.