Ongoing Initiatives and Upcoming Events

Events 2025 – 2026

Robert Carter: Clemson University Cooperative Extension and Catawba Cultural Center ethnobotanist Dr. Robert Carter came to speak on his new book, Catawba Nation Ethnobotany, written in conjunction with the Cultural Division of the Catawba Indian Nation. The talk happened as part of a Lunch-and-Learn in the 900 room on Wednesday, September 24th, 11:30am-12:30pm.

Steve Sando: Founder of Rancho Gordo, a specialty food company focused on growing and promoting heirloom and heritage beans (as well as grains and spices), Steve Sando will speak on his work in supporting smallholder farms and inspiring a new wave of interest in indigenous bean varieties. His passion has culminated in the best selling cookbook The Bean Book: 100 Recipes for Cooking with All Kinds of Beans, which has furthered his mission in spreading awareness about the potential of heirloom beans.

Talk: Monday, February 23rd, 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. – Hance Auditorium, Chambers Building. This event is free and open to the public
Lunch-and-Learn: Tuesday, February 24, Vail Commons. Lunch served between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Talk from 12:15 p.m. – 1 p.m. Those without a meal plan can purchase a lunch ticket for $15.50 at the door.

Rez Colored Glasses: The Native Perspective of Tom Farris: Tom Farris, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and Otoe-Missouria tribe, draws inspiration from his culture and life-long immersion in the breadth of American Indian artistic traditions. His work – often humorous, always smart – invites viewers to question the boundaries of what is “American Indian” art and appreciate the impact of Indigenous influences on pop art. Farris has served as the Assistant Director of the Oscar Jacobson Foundation and Native Art Center, the creator and manager of the Cherokee Art Market, owner and operator of the Standing Buffalo Indian Art Gallery & Gifts, manager of Exhibit C Gallery & Gifts and, most recently, the museum store manager at First Americans Museum. As a professional artist Farris has been honored to participate in and has received awards from a number of nationally acclaimed art shows including The South Eastern Art Show and Market, The Cherokee Art Market, The Artesian Art Market, The Trail of Tears Art Show, The Indigenous Fine Art Market, The Eiteljorg Indian Art Market, Red Earth, The Artesian Art Market, and The Southwestern Association of Indian Artists Santa Fe Market, where his pioneering was recognized with the Creativity Award in 2015 and the Innovation Award in 2019. He has exhibited at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. and in venues in New York City. His work in held in many private and public collections including the Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ; The Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, Tulsa, OK; Eiteljorg Museum, Indianapolis, IN; American Indian Museum, The University of South Carolina at Lancaster, SC; Wheelwright Museum, Santa Fe, NM, and the Sam Noble Natural History Museum, Norman, OK.

This event is organized by Dútα Bαhiisere Kus Ráˀhere/We Know Corn Together, the collaboration between Davidson College and the Catawba Nation.

Please RSVP here.

Lunch-and-Learn: Tuesday, March 31st, 11:05am-12:05pm, 900 Room.
Screen-Printing Workshop: Tuesday, March 31st, time & location TBD.

Ongoing and Future Initiatives

Growing corn at the farms: Under the leadership of farm manager Halle Murphy, Davidson students work together with Catawba natural resources staff to plant, tend, and harvest Catawba flour corn at the college farm each year. Ongoing work involves selecting for different color varieties and assessing the efficacy of traditional planting methods.

Research involving corn: Dr. Susana Wadgymar leads the project’s research portion, specifically addressing our Catawba partners’ biological inquiries. Experiments have been conducted at Black Snake Farm/Yawakče Yabsigre, at the Davidson College Farm, and in the Pat Peroni Greenhouse on the top of the Wall Academic Building. Centered around the rematriation of the Catawba Nation’s recently rematriated variety of flour corn, previous projects have assessed the impacts of drought, traditional growing methods, and companion planting on the yield and growth of corn. For one particular project at Black Snake Farm, Wadgymar worked with Davidson students, staff, faculty, and Catawba citizens to conduct an experiment examining the costs and benefits of growing corn, beans, and squash in polyculture (together, an Indigenous planting practice called “The Three Sisters”) versus in monoculture (separately, as is typically done in Western agriculture). This experiment included 2,820 plants and involved collaborative work by 8 Davidson students, 5 Davidson faculty and staff members, and 8 Catawba Nation citizens, one of whom was a high school student. The results of this experiment informed future planting efforts at Black Snake Farm, first presented by Environmental Studies student Ty Cryan ‘24 as his senior capstone project and has been published in the scientific journal Plants, People, Planet.

Wildlife management: In summer 2023 a group of Davidson College researchers led by Dr. Kevin Smith began collaborating with the Catawba Nation Department of Natural Resources to survey and assess biodiversity at the Catawba Wildlife Preserve (CWP). The goal of the surveys was to provide information to be considered as part of habitat management decision making, with an emphasis on use of the CWP for hunting (for example, of deer and turkey) and gathering/foraging by citizens of the Nation. The Davidson College team focused on several planted stands of Loblolly Pine and associated edge habitats scattered throughout the property, which were the areas deemed most in need of assessment and potential management. They focused on documenting tree, shrub, and forest floor plant biodiversity to assess the potential of CWP to support populations of and become core habitat for these and other wildlife species and provide foraging and gathering opportunities for citizens of the Catawba Nation. The Smith’s team’s assessment of forest management activities such as stand thinning, prescribed fire, and/or forest stand improvement is ongoing.

Meals with Indigenous Chefs: Chef Craig Mombert at Davidson College remains a key collaborator by welcoming an Indigenous chefs to campus each fall. This chef prepares a meal featuring kus and other indigenous foods for service at the college dining hall and Catawba Cultural Center.