American Indian Heritage Celebration

The 31st annual American Indian Heritage Celebration brings together North Carolina's American Indian communities for a day of dance, music, craft and food at the North Carolina Museum of Art.

North Carolina has the largest American Indian population of any state east of the Mississippi, with eight state-recognized tribes, and this event is the principal public celebration of that. Thirty-one years makes it one of the longest-running cultural events of its kind in the country.

What the day typically includes:

• Dance and drum performances
• Traditional and contemporary craft demonstrations
• Storytelling
• Food
• Representation from tribal communities across the state

One caution: the times published for this year are listed as tentative, so confirm before traveling rather than relying on an 11 a.m. start.

The venue changed in recent years to the Museum of Art, which has considerably more space and parking than the previous downtown location. The museum's grounds and galleries are free to enter as well, so the trip stands up even if you arrive between programmed items.

Our read: this is the kind of event worth bringing school-age children to specifically. North Carolina's American Indian history is taught thinly and mostly in the past tense, and a day of living contemporary culture corrects that more effectively than any classroom hour.

Free to attend.