CULTURE KEEPERS: BLOWGUN

In this installment of Culture Keepers, the Cherokee Heritage Center's Danny McCarter shows us how to make a Cherokee river cane blowgun. McCarter is currently a full-time employee at the Cherokee Heritage Center, and primarily works in the village giving tours to visitors and providing demonstrations of the blowgun, bow and arrow and the atlatl.

McCarter has been around the ancient village in the Cherokee Heritage Center for as long as he can remember. "It's a family affair. My uncle was the first blowgun shooter in '67 and my great aunt was one of the first pottery ladies," McCarter said.

McCarter explains that Cherokees typically used the blowguns to hunt small game, such as birds, rabbits and squirrels and was usually a boy's first hunting tool. The darts were never poisoned because the poison would affect the game, and small children often handled darts.

When made correctly, the river cane blowgun can last a long time. The blowgun McCarter uses for his demonstrations was made 14 years ago. Not only is McCarter keeping Cherokee traditions alive by making the same hunting tools that his ancestors made hundreds of years ago, but he also shares the tradition with visitors of the Cherokee Heritage Center.

"We're here to pass our culture to the people who come," says McCarter. "We have visitors from all over the world."