Christopher Teuton to speak on Cherokee stories

Christopher B. Teuton will speak and read from his new work, “Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars’ Club,” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 13, in Room 114 Belk Library and Information Commons at Appalachian State University.

Teuton’s visit is sponsored by Appalachian’s Center for Appalachian Studies and the Department of English. Copies of “Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars’ Club” will be available for purchase and signing. For more information, contact the Center for Appalachian Studies at (828) 262-4089 or email center director Patricia Beaver at (beaverpd@appstate.edu)

A former member of the Department of English at Appalachian, Teuton is an associate professor of American studies at UNC-Chapel Hill. A citizen of the Cherokee Nation, Teuton teaches in the American Indian studies curriculum of the Department of American Studies.

Teuton’s scholarship is in the forefront of studies of indigenous literature. His book, “Reasoning Together,” was voted one of the 10 most influential books of the 21st century in Native American and indigenous studies by the members of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association. His work involves the study of cultural practices, politics and history, and honors Cherokee knowledge systems.

“Cherokee Stories of the Turtle Island Liars’ Club” is Teuton’s most recent book. Published by University of North Carolina Press in 2012, the book is a collection of 40 interwoven stories, conversations and teachings about western Cherokee life, beliefs and the art of storytelling.

“Cherokee Stories” was written collaboratively with elders and traditionalists Hastings Shade, Sammy Still, Sequoyah Guess and Woody Hansen.

Teuton is also author of “Deep Waters: the Textual Continuum in American Indian Literature” (University of Nebraska Press, 2010), as well as co-editor and co-author of “Reasoning Together: The Native Critics Collective” (University of Oklahoma Press, 2008).