The purpose of the Southeast Indian Studies Conference is to provide a forum for discussion of the culture, history, art, health and contemporary issues of American Indians in the Southeast. The conference serves as a critical venue for scholars, students and all persons interested in American Indian studies in the region.

The conference will be held in the University Center Annex and the cost to attend is $40 (lunch included) for two days, or $20 per day. After March 26, admission is $55 or $27 per day.

Local community can attend sessions for a $5 fee (meals not included). UNCP students, faculty and staff with ID may attend sessions at no charge (meals not included).

The Thursday evening dinner is $10 additional.

Register online: www.uncp.edu/ais/news/sisc/index.htm. For more information, call (910) 521-6266 or email ais@uncp.edu.

Keynote speaker Karenne Wood is an enrolled member of the Monacan Indian Nation and has served on the Monacan Tribal Council.

Wood recently published a book of poetry titled “Markings on Earth” (University of Arizona Press). It is her first book and it won the Native American Native Authors First Book Award and was a finalist for the Balcones Prize. In 2002 she was selected as the Writer of the Year for poetry by the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers.

She was awarded a Ford Foundation pre-doctoral scholarship prior to entering her doctoral studies at the University of Virginia (UVA). She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in anthropology, working to reclaim indigenous languages and revitalize cultural practices.

Wood recently edited “The Virginia Indian Heritage Trail,” published by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. She led the Beyond Jamestown Teachers’ Institute and curated the “Beyond Jamestown: Virginia Indians Past and Present” exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Natural History.

She was previously the repatriation director for the Association on American Indian Affairs, responsible for coordinating the return of sacred objects to Native communities. She has also worked at the National Museum of the American Indian as a researcher and directed a tribal history project with the Monacan Nation for six years.

Wood held a gubernatorial appointment as chair of the Virginia Council on Indians for four years, and she has served on the National Congress of American Indians’ Repatriation Commission.

Dr. Michael Grofe is a specialist in Mayan hieroglyphic writing, archaeo-astronomy, comparative mythology and cacao.

He led several field courses in Belize, Mexico and India. He is particularly interested in the confluence of mythological narrative and participatory science in Mesoamerica and the historical interaction between the traditions of the Maya and Central Mexico.

In his doctoral research at the University of California at Davis, he explored a new astronomical interpretation of the serpent series within the Dresden codex, and he is currently expanding this research to incorporate the theoretical astronomy found in the Palenque inscriptions.

Dr. Grofe has published several papers and presented his research on archaeo-astronomy and the mythology of cacao at multiple conferences. In 2007, he designed and curated an exhibit on cacao and the ancient Maya at the Gorman Museum at U.C. Davis.

Dr. Grofe has taught numerous courses on the Popol Vuh and Native American literature. He is currently teaching cultural anthropology, archaeology and physical anthropology at American River College in Sacramento, Calif.