Expert on Cherokee Indians to speak at Athens-Clarke library
A longtime practitioner of Cherokee Indian survival skills will be in Athens this week for two days of sharing his knowledge at the Athens-Clarke County Library.
Mark Warren, a University of Georgia graduate and owner of Medicine Bow Wilderness School in Dahlonega, will speak on the “ancient ways of the Cherokee” at the library at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He is the featured author for a meeting of the Café au Libris at 7 p.m. Thursday.
Warren, who holds championships in archery and whitewater canoeing, has been honored with awards in the past for his conservation efforts. He is also an expert in the life of wild west lawman Wyatt Earp.
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During Wednesday’s gathering, the library reports that Warren will discuss the ways the Cherokee used native flora for food, medicine, crafts, shelter and other uses.
Warren said he has a passion to learn the ways of the Cherokee and he finds others are drawn to this knowledge.
"When you get into the realm of the Native American people come out of the woodwork wanting to learn about it. I think it has something to do with the fact that in our culture we've moved so far away from nature and there are a lot of people who feel that deficit and want to somehow connect to it," he said.
"One of the greatest ways is to look at what the Native Americans used specifically in the forest," Warren said. "I'm living in the same habitat as those people and no people will ever again know this habitat as well as they did as a people."
People today depend on stores for everything, he said.
"The beauty of Native American studies is that every single thing that is needed is still out there, but it's become more or less a lost art," Warren said.
The College Park native has written a series of books on outdoor skills called “Secrets of the Forest.” And it is his writing prowess that garnered his invitation to the library’s Café au Libris meeting on Thursday.
This year he was nominated twice for Georgia Author of the Year for two books. He is a finalist for his novel “Song of the Horseman,” the story of a Cherokee man in North Carolina and his grandson in Chicago and how they connect through their native American heritage.
Warren’s second novel, “Indigo Heaven,” is a western.
Both events are free and Warren’s books will be available for purchase and signing. For more information, call the library at (706) 613-3650.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Cherokee Indian expert to speak at Athens-Clarke County Library
