John Kincheloe

John Kincheloe’s mind is relentlessly inquisitive. His diverse academic, professional, and artistic background is revealing. He studied at the University of Richmond, Duke University, and the University of Virginia. He is Faculty Emeritus from Meredith College, where he was the Head of Media Services and taught courses in four academic departments -- Art, Education, History and Politics, and Sociology, including the very popular and innovative honors colloquium, “American Indian History and Cultures.” He is author of the award-winning REDISCOVERING CHRISTANNA: Native Worlds and Governor Spotswood’s Fort (2019) and co-designer and co-author of SILENT MUSIC: the Animal Flute Players on the Wells Petroglyph Preserve in Northern New Mexico (2018) and MESA PRIETA ROCK ART (2019). His young adult novella, THE PLANTING OF BO-KEDEN (2020), was chosen overall Winner in the Young Adult Book category of the 17th Annual New Mexico-Arizona Book Award Competition (2021). The author's most recent book, KINCHELOE ORIGINS, leads the reader through a remarkable exploration of early American and ancient Irish history. The book opens up doorways into the past as the author traces the surprising history embedded in his singular surname. Kincheloe and Kinsella family members will be particularly interested in this book that peels back layers of history to reveal ancient ancestors, the meaning and origins of the surname, locations of the original family homeland in America and Ireland, and much more. DNA, language analysis, and early documents come together in this book, the product of decades of research, to tell a rich and well-documented family story. KINCHELOE ORIGINS is much more than a genealogy book -- it is an adventure. John has been involved in collaborative projects with NC Indian tribes for many years. He was part of the design team for the Sappony tribal history room of the Person County Museum and worked under an ANA Grant as consultant, researcher, and exhibit designer for the Sappony tribe. John served as historical consultant to the Fort Christanna Historical Site Planning Committee (Brunswick County, VA) and developed interpretive signage and original artwork for the site based on archaeological and historical evidence. John’s work as an artist has been featured at galleries and museums in VA and NC. As a musician, John has recorded three CDs of music for the traditional North American Flute. John’s original music is featured in the soundtrack on two NC Indian tribal history videos, in the original film, “Seed,” by Bill Landis, in exhibits at the NC Museum of the NC Museum of History, and in videos produced for The Archaeological Conservancy. The author resides with his wife north of Santa Fe on Mesa Prieta, the largest rock art site in New Mexico and a part of the ancestral homeland of the Tewa People. Both are active in petroglyph education and preservation efforts, and have served as Board Members of the Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project. Among his adventures among the coyotes, John has discovered seven previously unknown Ancestral Puebloan solar calendar petroglyphs.