Though Asheville is built on the ancestral land of the Anigiduwagi, the legacy of Indigenous culture is often difficult to discern in our city's day-to-day landscape.

The Indigenous Walls Project, launched by local street artist and business owner Jared Wheatley, hopes to change that narrative one mural at a time.

Five months since Jared first painted the Cherokee Syllabary on a vacant wall near Coxe Ave., the amount of Indigenous street art has already flourished exponentially in Asheville.

Now, seven murals and roughly 8,000-sqft of wall space downtown are adorned with Native art — and this weekend, an additional 10,000-sqft worth of mural art will be installed throughout the city at the Intertribal Graffiti Jam.

Jared Wheatley, founder of the Indigenous Walls Project. | Photo by @eatasheville

"One thing that we're really proud of is trying to represent the diversity of Indigenous culture and welcome it in a different way," Jared says.

"We focus deeply on the urban Native, the people who live off the reservation and don't have access to their culture on a daily basis... we're also trying to build a bridge from the Qualla Boundary to here — to allow those folks to feel more comfortable visiting the area," he adds.

The Graffiti Jam's visiting artists span from Portland, OR and Los Angeles, CA to St. Paul, MN — and they represent 10 unique tribal nations, including the Cherokee, Navajo, Diné, Yaqui, Purépecha, Apache, Quechan, Arawak, Menomimen, and Ojibwe.

A depiction of the Anishinaabe "Jingle Woman." | Art by @elninoperdido; photo by AVLtoday

In addition to these live art installations, there will be several events this weekend.

On Fri., Oct. 21, 6-9 p.m., the Wortham Center will host a ticketed screening of the documentary "Mele Murals," followed by a panel discussion about the Intersection of Indigeneity + Street Art. The same evening, there will also be a Silent Disco at Rabbit Rabbit featuring music from DJ Oskar Malinalli.

Then, on Sat., Oct. 22, 8 a.m.-3 p.m., there will be an Indigenous Market at 46 Aston St., featuring 20+ Native vendors selling jewelry, baskets, fry bread, and beyond.

Want to get involved with the Indigenous Murals Project? Follow along via their Instagram page.