The Legend of Cherokee Rose

                                                                    Nina Rose

The Legend of Cherokee Rose

The forced relocation of the Cherokee Nation from Georgia to Oklahoma is one of the greatest tragedies in American history.

After gold was discovered on Indian land in Georgia this "removal to the west" was skillfully engineered. Greedy politicians and other

citizens would break the treaties and confiscate all possessions of the Cherokee people.

Over 4,000 people died on that journey and the survivors could only look forward to a life of poverty, neglect and abuse.

The Cherokee Rose Legend, handed down through many generations, is a representation of the People's suffering and

loss ,as well as, their hope and survival.

As the story goes, during the Trail of Tears the mothers of the fallen Cherokee grieved greatly and my family lives today because of their courage. Our grandmothers say that the Creator knew how difficult this time was for all the people *** but especially for the mothers who wept for their lost children.

The Wounded Cherokee Heart

So the Creator gave us a gift to remind us that life is a cycle and that the Cherokee people will always survive. She planted a Cherokee rose along that trail where the tears of the mothers fell. She made the rose "ah-dee-oo-ni-gay" (white) for the innocence of the people who died while not understanding why they could not remain in their homeland.

She made the center "dah-loh-nee-gay" (gold), like the gold that had driven the whites mad, to remind us never to harm others for petty gain. Then, she placed seven leaves on each stem *** one for each of the seven remaining clans of the Cherokee people that walked the Trail of Tears.

The Cherokee Rose is designated as the state flower of Georgia. It is believed that the rose was introduced into the State, perhaps directly from China or from China by way of England. One well-known horticulturist agreeing with this view gives the year 1757 as the date of it's introduction into England and advances the belief that it reached the United States shortly afterwards.

The name, Cherokee Rose, is a local appellation derived from the Cherokee Indians who widely distributed the plant, which elsewhere is known by the botanical name of rosa sinica. Growing wild the rose is a high climbing shrub, frequently attaining the proportions of a vine, is excessively thorny and generously supplied with leaves of a vivid green. It's blooming time is in the early spring but favorable conditions will produce a second flowering in the fall of the year.  

In color, the rose is a waxy white and large golden center and the petals are of an exquisite velvety texture.

CHEROKEE FULL CIRKLE

                                                                                

                              CHEROKEE FULL CIRKLE
                         
                      CHEROKEE WISDOM

THE FIRST FIRE
In the "Old Wisdom" teachings, the first fire was the beginning, and every ceremony honors the fire as the ancestor and elder teachers with a reverence and almost mystical acceptance. According to the legends, it starts with a powerful existence or force that is in all things of creation. That includes those things we can see and those things we cannot see. It seems to flow through and connected with all things. Mother Earth represents the physical existence of this force as creator of life and caretaker of life, so to speak. Therefore, we honor Mother Earth with our pipe stem by pointing to her first, then to Father Sky. An elder Medicine Man said that the "Old Ones" would add a slight circle movement with the stem before bringing the pipe stem back to the center. It was to recognize that all this mystical force exist in our circle of life. In this way, Mother Earth is our teacher for how to survive and to continue our way of life.

This force had two keepers in the beginning to recognize that all things existed in pairs and opposites as well. This was the Sun and the Moon. A Cherokee elder used to say that for every living being here on Mother Earth there is a star that physically shines a light that is connected to us. When we pass on, our "little light" goes up into the skyway or sky vault to always be there. I was always taught that as Cherokees we came from the skyway as stars manifesting the energy of the Great One.

SACRED NUMBERS

The number three represents the sacredness of relationship, as taught by our Earth Mother. It takes two to create the force, or what the earlier Cherokee as "nv-wo-di" or pronounced as "nah wah t(d)ee." With two of anything, there is always a third existence that supports survival in the form of food, warmth, and wellness to be in harmony and balance. Therefore, the number three was relationship.
Fire was one of those natural elements of Nv-wo-di that is considered sacred, like the number three used in ceremonies as told by the keepers of the secrets or traditions.
The elder teachers say we always will seek to be connected to the place where our relationship takes us back to the first fire. They say that we have a memory in the cells of our body and our spirit that connects us back in time to our ancestry connections. Therefore, we always have a spirit or ancestor guide that links or connects us to the first fire and the beginning of time.

ANCESTRY AND CONNECTION

My grandfather, Oscar Rogers was of the Walkingstick family. That family was from one of the seven mother towns. Prior to the "unsettlement period" when American was beginning to be settlements, our town or was one of the Overhill Settlements in Poke County, Tennessee. It was called the Great Hiwassee or "Ay uh wa si Eg wa hi" near Savannah Ford. There was a strong connection of these families on the Ocoee River near the junction with the Hiwassee River, or "Ug wa hi" and with Chestua or "tsi stu yi" or called Rabbit Place near the mouth of the Chestua Creek at the Hiwassee River in Poke County, Tennessee. While there were many small villages in the Overhill Settlements, eventually it was all lost to expansion of the non-native people.

The Middle Settlement of "Kituhwa" or the towns on the headwaters of the Little Tennessee, the Tuckaseegee, and the Tuckaleechee were considered the first settlement. It was the place of refuge for the lower and valley settlements as well during threatening times for the Tribe. Each of us have this "connection with all our relations," as the elder said, "It is important that we know and find our family and life connections to know ourselves and to understand our journey.

STORY OF THE FIRST FIRE
The story of the first fire is hared in a legend told by the elders about a time when the animals were concerned about keeping warm in the cold winter nights. According to an elder, "As the story goes there was this large sycamore tree that was across the large water. The animals went to council and asked the 'Ga lon e da' for warmth in the winter. Well, lightning was called upon to strike the tree that caused a fire. The animals could see the smoke from the fire, but they did not know how to get to the fire and to bring the fire back to their homes."
"The snake said he would swim across the water and crawl into the bottom of the tree to get to the fire.

The ashes were so hot that to this day he is called the black snake or 'ga le gi.' He failed to bring back the ambers. The Screech Owl, 'wa gu gu' flew across the great water, but his eyes got black circles around them as he
looked down at the burning sycamore tree stump. The War Bird called the Raven or 'go lan u' flew to the top of the sycamore to bring the fire home. It burned his feathers and coal smoke covered his wings and body, which is the reason the raven is black today. Finally, the little Water Spider or "kana ne sgi, an a ye hi" asked to bring some fire back across the great water. With ease she skipped across the water, then wove a web on her back to bring a fire ember back for the animals to have warmth. Today she has the back color on her back, but she is credited with giving us fire."

FIRE BROUGHT INTO THE LONGHOUSE

It is unsure when fire was actually brought into the hothouses or the longhouses, but the Cherokee did have a "normal" dwelling and a winter hot house with its stores of corn and beans close. One elder said that the Cherokee did not dance around the open fire as shown in films, but in designated areas near the dance ground in front of the council house and away from the ball ground and chunkey yard. Ironically, the houses were built with two large posts with a smaller post between then, packed with clay and grass as a plaster with bark or thatch roofs. Certain houses would be whitewashed with lime and crushed clam shells with a smoke hole, rather than a chimney. Hothouses were used for sleeping during the cold weather called "o si" with a fire pit in the middle and beds around the walls. The beds had short posts for legs and white oak or ash splints woven on a sapling frame. Cane mats were placed on the woven framework and skins for coverings. Later, chimneys were built on the outside with fireplaces. A fire would be kept burning during the day to have a warm inside area for the cold evenings. At bed time, the fire would be banked with ashes with a smoldering fire for smoke to be pulled upward through the smoke hole.

There was hothouse in a designated location as a special place for sweat baths called "a li a lu u ta wa sti." White river rocks were heated in the fire then raked out on a floor where prepared liquids would be poured over the rocks for steam. The old "Medicine" would include barks from cherry, mulberry, persimmon, poplar, sycamore, cucumber tree, and wild parsnip roots. After the baths, the person would take a cold plunge in the river.

The sacred fire would burn in an altar made of clay in the council house. It would be rekindled each year with a ceremony in October/November. This was an "honored fire" called "a tsi la, ga lun kwe ti yi that was kindled by rubbing two pieces of basswood together with dried goldenrod to initiate the fire. Seven woods would be used for the fire including black jack oak, post oak, red oak, locust, redbud, sycamore, and wild plum. Strings of white beads would be place between each pile of wood separated to represent each of the seven clans. On the day of the ceremony, each fire in the homes would be put out and cleaned of old ashes. The women would come to the council house to be given some of the fire to take home to start a new fire. Tobacco would be offered and a feather would be used to fan the smoke in the four directions.

THE FIRE AS ELDER

In the old Cherokee teachings, fire is associated with the elderly, the beloved ones. Today, we have the Eternal Flame at the Mountainside Theatre to represent the important role of fire in the traditional life of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. A beloved man was in earlier times the keeper of the Council House fire. Elderly or old has the connotation of being wise and having some special powers and or connection with the Great One. Fire was sometimes referred to in ceremonies as the Ancient Red or Ancient White or as Grandfather/Grandmother. A similar association is with the sun as a force of nature, as well as the Ancient White relating to the white ashes spread over the grave. Ancient Red was referenced in ceremonies using a sacred fire for the stickball game and with victory with war. The color symbolism also included white with old age, wisdom, purity, and peace.

A sacred belief is that the unity of fire, sun, lightening, and even the rainbow represents a divine power with reference to the Ancient Ones. The old ones believe they will never be struck by lightening because of the close relationship of being elderly. There is also thought to be magical powers in wood or a tree struck by lightning. A sacred word used only in ceremonies in earlier times was "yo wah" and "ga lon e da" that may have been taken from the expression "cho ta un e le eh" that translates as the elder fires above (Ed Sharpe). Earlier Cherokee regarded fire as a grandparent, and it was to be treated with respect, "like the elderly as old ones." Even a piece of burned wood ember or charcoal would be place in a "Medicine bag" for a child that would be away from their grandparents.

CELEBRATION OF FIRE

In 1984 at Red Clay in Tennessee there was a Celebration of Togetherness between the Eastern Band and the Cherokee Nation from Oklahoma in April 1984. They united for the first time since the Removal when in 1838 thousands of Cherokees were forced to gather at Red Clay to begin an almost 1,000-mile "Trail of Tears" to Indian Territory in the West. The Sacred Fire was carried to northeastern Oklahoma that was kept alive and even returned to the Qualla Boundary in 1951. The gathering a year before the march west was the last time the Eastern Band as it is called today was with their brothers and sisters of the removed Cherokee Nation.

Fire as a healing and purification in the sweatbath or "a si" was used in ceremonies that included Indian runners and ball players. Tobacco was an essential element as "tso lun e go" or the White Ancient One with certain formulas and incantations in ceremony with the fire.

The association of fire with the sun and the moon or "nun da" means light. The sun or "iga ehin nun da" is the source of the light or "e hi" or day as "ega." The moon is referred to as "nun da su no ehi" where the light or "e hi" is in the night or "su no."

The sun has been referred to in stories as the sister to the moon, the daughter to the moon, and even as in the male gender. The moon has been referred to as the sun's elder brother, the grandfather, and as grandmother moon. The moon in earlier times was even the protector in ceremony and prayer as the protector to the ball player, as the fire is the protector to the hunter. Reference to the sun and moon as "apportioners" in ceremony called "un eh lan u hi."





CEREMONY

The ceremony for the Spring Full Circle would usually be the Spring Ceremony of Friendship or First New Moon of Spring; however, 2004 is also the time of celebrating the sixth annual ceremony called the "Bounding Bush Ceremony" or "elah uah tah lay kee." This is not a ceremony used in my or my grandfather's lifetime, and little is known about it. It was more of a time of feast and dance. Normally there would be feather hoops held by the dancers as they moved in columns. Instead, a feather Medicine Wheel will be carried by the dance leaders as men and women follow in a single circle, unlike the paired columns of earlier times. Pine needles would be carried and in the center of the circle of dancers would be someone with a box or basket.

He would dance around within the circle, singing and holding the box or basket in front for each to drop a piece of tobacco into the box. In earlier times it would be repeated three successive nights.
On the fourth night there would be a feast preceding the dancing that would begin after midnight. On the fourth night the pine needles would be dropped in the box. Everyone would circle around the altar fire as each dancer would approach the fire three times, as the person as keeper of the tobacco and pine needles would offer them to the fire. This would conclude the six great annual ceremonies.

To follow the First New Moon of Spring tradition, women will perform the Friendship Dance. Symbolically, the men will provide meat for the ceremony, while women will provide corn. Seven men and seven women were chosen earlier; however, the "counselors" will choose seven men and women to oversee the ceremony. There is a gathering of the fire on Friday evening. The seven barks (white oak, black oak, water oak, blackjack, basswood, chestnut, and white pine) will be used for the sacred fire and a prayer for strength as helpers, as tobacco is offered to the fire.

J.T. Garrett, Ed.D., MPH
Member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

The Diet of American Indians

The Diet of American Indians

The Whole Animal

Ruminant animals, such as moose, elk, caribou, deer, antelope and, of course, buffalo were the mainstay of the Amerindian diet, just as beef is the mainstay of the modern American diet. The difference is that the whole animal was eaten, not just the muscle meats.

Beverly Hungry Wolf describes the preparation and consumption of a cow in The Ways of My Grandmothers, noting that her grandmother prepared the cow “as she had learned to prepare buffalo when she was young.” The large pieces of fat from the back and cavity were removed and rendered. The lean meat was cut into strips and dried or roasted, pounded up with berries and mixed with fat to make pemmican. Most of the ribs were smoked and stored for later use.

All the excess fat inside the body was hung up so the moisture would dry out of it, recalls Beverly Hungry Wolf. It was later served with dried meat. Some fats in the animal were rendered into “lard” instead of dried.

All the insides, such as heart, kidneys and liver, were prepared and eaten, roasted or baked or laid out in the sun to dry. The lungs were not cooked, just sliced and hung up to dry. Intestines were also dried. Sapotsis or Crow gut is a Blackfoot delicacy made from the main intestine which is stuffed with meat and roasted over coals. Tripe was prepared and eaten raw or boiled or roasted. The brains were eaten raw. If the animal was a female, they would prepare the teats or udders by boiling or barbecuing-these were never eaten raw. If the animal carried an unborn young, this was fed to the older people because it was so tender. The guts of the unborn would be taken out and braided, then boiled too. The tongue was always boiled if it wasn’t dried. “Even old animals have tender tongues,” she recalls.

The hooves were boiled down until all the gristle in them was soft. The blood was also saved, often mixed with flour or used to make sausages in the guts.

The second stomach was washed well and eaten raw, but certain parts were usually boiled or roasted and the rest dried. “Another delicacy is at the very end of the intestines—the last part of the colon. You wash this real good and tie one end shut. Then you stuff the piece with dried berries and a little water and you tie the other end shut. You boil this all day, until it is really tender and you have a Blackfoot Pudding.”


According to John (Fire) Lame Deer, the eating of guts had evolved into a contest. “In the old days we used to eat the guts of the buffalo, making a contest of it, two fellows getting hold of a long piece of intestines from opposite ends, starting chewing toward the middle, seeing who can get there first; that’s eating. Those buffalo guts, full of half-fermented, half-digested grass and herbs, you didn’t need any pills and vitamins when you swallowed those.”


The marrow was full of fat and was usually eaten raw. The Indians knew how to strike the femur bone so that it would split open and reveal the delicate interior flesh. Eaton and others report that the marrow is rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids but Stefansson describes two types of marrow, one type from the lower leg which is soft “more like a particularly delicious cream in flavor” and another from the humerus and femur that is “hard and tallowy at room temperatures.” According to Beverly Hungry Wolf, the grease inside the bones “was scooped out and saved or the bones boiled and the fat skimmed off and saved. It turned into something like hard lard.” More saturated fat the professors have overlooked!

Samuel Hearne, an explorer writing in 1768, describes the preparation of caribou: “Of all the dishes cooked by the Indians, a beeatee, as it is called in their language, is certainly the most delicious that can be prepared from caribou only, without any other ingredient. It is a kind of haggis, made with the blood, a 
good quantity of fat shred small, some of the tenderest of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs cut, or more commonly torn into small shivers; all of which is put into the stomach and toasted by being suspended before the fire on a string. . . . it is certainly a most delicious morsel, even without pepper, salt or any other seasoning.”

Sometimes the Indians selected only the fatty parts of the animal, throwing the rest away. “On the twenty-second of July,” writes Samuel Hearne, “we met several strangers, whom we joined in pursuit of the caribou, which were at this time so plentiful that we got everyday a sufficient number for our support, and indeed too frequently killed several merely for the tongues, marrow and fat.”

Certain parts of the animal were considered appropriate for men or women. The male organs were for the men, as well as the ribs towards the front, which were called “the shoulder ribs, or the boss ribs. They are considered a man’s special meal.” For women, a part of the “intestine that is quite large and full of manure . . . the thicker part has a kind of hard lining on the inside. My grandmother said that this part is good for a pregnant mother to eat; she said it will make the baby have a nice round head. Pregnant mothers were not allowed to eat any other parts of the intestine because their faces would become discolored.”

Sacred Foods

All of the foods considered important for reproduction and all of the foods considered sacred were animal foods, rich in fat. According to Beverly Hungry Wolf, pemmican made with berries “was used by the Horns Society for their sacred meal of communion.” Boiled tongue was an ancient delicacy, served as the food of communion at the Sun Dance. A blood soup, made from a mixture of blood and corn flour cooked in broth, was used as a sacred meal during the nighttime Holy Smoke ceremonies.


Bear was another sacred food-altars of bear bones have been found at many Paleolithic sites. Cabeza de Vaca reports that the Indians of Texas kept the skin of the bear and ate the fat, but threw the rest away. Other groups ate the entire animal, including the head, but recognized the fat as the most valuable part. According to colonist William Byrd II, writing in 1728, “The flesh of bear hath a good relish, very savory and inclining nearest to that of Pork. The Fat of this Creature is least apt to rise in the Stomach of any other. The Men for the most part chose it rather than Venison.” Bear grease was thought to give them resistance by making them physically strong. “We eat it sometimes now and everybody feels better.”

Bear was also considered an important food for reproduction. When Byrd asked an Indian why their squaws were always able to bare children, the Indian replied that “if any Indian woman did not prove with child at a decent time after Marriage, the Husband, to save his Reputation with the women, forthwith entered into a Bear-dyet for Six Weeks, which in that time makes him so vigorous that he grows exceedingly impertinent to his poor wife and ’tis great odds but he makes her a Mother in Nine Months.”

Plant Foods

A variety of plant foods were used throughout the North American continents, notably corn (in the temperate regions) and wild rice (in the Great Lakes region). Dry corn was first soaked in lime water (water in which calcium carbonate or calcium oxide is dissolved), a process called nixtamalizacion that softens the corn for use and releases vitamin B3, which otherwise remains bound in the grain. The resulting dough, called nixtamal or masa, can be prepared in a variety of ways to make porridges and breads. Often these preparations were then fried in bear grease or other fat. Many groups grew beans and enjoyed them as “succotash,” a dish comprised of beans, corn, dog meat and bear fat. As an adjunct to the diet, corn provided variety and important calories. But when the proportion of corn in the diet became too high, as happened in the American Southwest, the health of the people suffered. Skeletal remains of groups subsisting largely on corn reveal widespread tooth decay and bone problems.

Tubers like the Jerusalem artichoke (the root of a type of sunflower) were cooked slowly for a long time in underground pits until the hard indigestible root was transformed into a highly digestible gelatinous mass. Wild onions were used to flavor meat dishes and, in fact, were an important item of commerce. Nuts like acorns were made into gruel or little cakes after careful preparation to remove tannins. In the Southeast, pecans contributed important fat calories. In the southern areas, cactus was consumed; in northern areas wild potatoes.

Staples like corn and beans were stored in underground pits, ingeniously covered with logs and leaves to prevent wild animals from finding or looting the stores. Birch bark was used to make trays, buckets and containers, including kettles. Water was boiled by putting hot rocks into the containers. Southern Indians used clay pots for the same purpose.

In general, fruits were dried and used to season fat, fish and meat-dried blueberries were used to flavor moose fat, for example. Beverly Hungry Wolf recalls that her grandmother mixed wild mint with fat and dried meat, which was then stored in rawhide containers. The mint would keep the bugs out and also prevent the fat from spoiling.

History of the Cherokee Indians***The Trail Of Tears

                                                                 

                              History of the Cherokee Indians

The original home of the Cherokee, a branch of the Iroquois, was the southern Appalachian Mountains, including western North and South Carolina, northern Georgia and Alabama, southwest Virginia, and the Cumberland Basin of Tennessee, Kentucky, and northern Alabama. Currently, the Cherokee live in eastern Oklahoma. There are also Cherokee in North Carolina, Missouri, Arkansas, Georgia and Alabama.


The Cherokee Indians arrived in the Smoky Mountains about A.D. 1000. Believed to have been a branch of the Iroquois who moved south from Iroquoian lands in New England. Consisting of 7 clans, the Cherokee Nation stretched from the Ohio River into South Carolina. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians lived in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, believed to be the sacred ancestral home of the Cherokee Nation. Cherokee Indians can trace their history back more than one thousand years. Their society was based on hunting, trading, and agriculture, living in towns until they encountered the first Europeans in 1540, when Spanish explorer Hernando de Sota led an exploration through Cherokee territory. By the time European explorers and traders arrived, Cherokee lands covered a large part of what is now the southeastern United States.


Cherokee Indians lived in small communities, usually located in fertile river bottoms. Homes were wooden, circular frames covered with woven vines and saplings plastered with mud. Each village consisted of up to 50 log and mud huts grouped around the town square, called the Council House, where ceremonial and public meetings were held. The council house was seven-sided to represent the seven clans of the Cherokee: Bird, Paint, Deer, Wolf, Blue, Long Hair, and Wild Potato. Each tribe elected two chiefs -- a Peace Chief who counseled during peaceful times and a War Chief who made decisions during times of war. However, the Chiefs did not rule absolutely. Decision making was a more democratic process, with tribal members having the opportunity to voice concerns.

Cherokee Indians society was a matriarchy. The children took the clan of the mother, and kinship was traced through the mother's family. Women had an equal voice in the affairs of the tribe. Marriage was only allowed between members of different clans. Property was passed on according to clan alliance.

In the late 18th century, the European settlers arrived in significant numbers. The Cherokee Indians battled Carolina settlers in the 1760's, but eventually withdrew to the Blue Ridge Mountains. Eventually, the TN Cherokee Indians readily adopted the tools, weapons and customs introduced by the Europeans. Desire for these items changed the Cherokee Indians life as they began to hunt animals, not just for food, but also for skins to trade as well. As the white population expanded conflicts arose. War and disease decimated the tribe. The Cherokee Indians were eventually forced to sign over much of their land, first to the British and then to the United States.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT:

Europeans first settled Cades Cove in 1818. Before their arrival, Cades Cove as part of Cherokee Nation, who called the Cove, Tsiyaha or "place of the river otter." Cherokee Indians never lived in the Cove, but used the land as its summer hunting ground for river otters, elk and bison.

In the early 1800's, Cherokee Indians began a period of change. The Cherokee Nation was established with a democratic government composed of a Chief, Vice-Chief, and 32 Council Members who were elected by the members of the tribe. A constitution and code of law were implemented for the nation. In 1808, Sequoyah, a Cherokee silversmith, invented a system for writing the Cherokee Indians language and within two years, almost all of the Cherokee's could read and write. The Cherokee Council passed a resolution to establish a newspaper for their nation. A printing press was ordered, the type cast for the Cherokee syllabary, and the Cherokee Phoenix was in business.

REMOVAL:

Unfortunately, the Cherokee Indians did not enjoy prosperous times for long. With the discovery of gold on Cherokee lands in 1828 and Andrew Jackson's 1830 Removal Act, calling for the relocation of all native peoples east of the Mississippi River to Oklahoma, the U. S. government forced the Cherokees from their homes in 1838. Almost 14,000 Cherokees began the trek westward in October of 1838. More than 4,000 died from cold, hunger, and disease during the six-month journey that came to be known as the "Trail of Tears." Altogether, about 100,000 natives, including Cherokee, Chickasaw, Seminole and Choctaw survived the journey.

A few Cherokees refused to move and hid among the wilderness of the Great Smoky Mountains, avoiding the army and authorities. These Cherokees, now called the Eastern Band, were allowed to claim some of their lands in western North Carolina in the 1870's. In 1889, this 56,000 acre sect of land was chartered and is now called the Qualla Indian Reservation, home to almost 11,000 descendents.




EASTERN AND WESTERN BANDS:

Prior to the "Trail of Tears," a small group of Cherokees in western North Carolina had already received permission to be excluded from the move west. Those individuals, often called the Oconaluftee Indians, did not live on Cherokee Nation land and considered themselves separate from the Cherokee Nation. Permission for the Oconaluftee Cherokee Indians to remain in North Carolina had been obtained in part through the efforts of William H. Thomas, a successful business man, who had grown up among the Cherokee Indians. For more than 30 years he served as their attorney and adviser.

To avoid jeopardizing their special status, the Oconaluftee Cherokees reluctantly assisted in the search for Cherokee Nation Indians who had fled to the mountains to avoid capture. Among those in hiding was Tsali who had become a hero to many Cherokees for his resistance to forced removal. Tsali was being sought because of his role in the deaths of several soldiers. To prevent further hardships for the Cherokees still in hiding, Tsali eventually agreed to surrender and face execution. Due in part to Tsali's sacrifice, many of those in hiding were eventually allowed to settle among the Cherokee Indians of western North Carolina. This was to be the beginning of the Eastern Band of Cherokees.

American Indians Words Of Wisdom

      

  

 American Indians Words Of Wisdom

"The Cherokee legacy is that we are a people who face adversity, survive, adapt, prosper and excel."

"And to fulfill this legacy, we must ask the questions...

Where will we be as people five, ten, fifty or one hundred years from now?
Do we brag about our full blood ancestor or do we brag about our Indian grandchildren?
Do we live in the past or do we focus on the future?
Is being Cherokee a novelty or a way of life?
Is being Cherokee a heritage or a future?

Our ancestors who walked the grounds of this capitol building resoundingly cry, 'Don’t forget the legacy we passed on. Don’t let it lapse. Pass it on, stronger and stronger to your children. Let the Cherokee language laugh, speak and sing again. Let our history be known and discussed. Live by our wisdom. Don’t let us die as a people. If you do then all our sacrifice will be for nothing and you will lose those things that fulfill your life.'"

Principal of the Cherokee Nation, Chief Chad Smith

"Being Indian is mainly in your heart. It's a way of walking with the earth instead of upon it. A lot of the history books talk about us Indians in the past tense, but we don't plan on going anywhere... We have lost so much, but the thing that holds us together is that we all belong to and are protectors of the earth; that's the reason for us being here. Mother Earth is ot a resource, she is an heirloom."

David Ipinia, Yurok Artist, Sacramento, CA

"The strength of our future, lies in the protecting of our past."

Seminole Elder

"The Earth was created by the assistance of the sun, and it should be left as it was. The country was made with no lines of demarcation, and it's no man's business to divide it. I see the whites all over the country gaining wealth, and I see the desire to give us lands which are worthless.

The Earth and myself are of one mind. Perhaps you think the Creator sent you here to dispose of us as you see fit. If I thought you were sent by the creator, I might he induced to think you had a right to dispose of me.

Do not misunderstand me; but understand me fully with reference to my affection for the land. I never said the land was mine to do with as I choose. The one who has a right to dispose of it is the one who created it. I claim a right to live on my land, and accord you the privilege to return to yours.

Brother, we have listened to your talk coming from our father, the Great White Chief in Washington, and my people have called upon me to reply to you.

The winds which pass through these aged pines we hear the moaning of departed ghosts, and if the voice of our people could have been heard, that act would never have been done. But alas though they stood around they could neither be seen nor heard. Their tears fell like drops of rain.

I hear my voice in the depths of the forest but no answering voice comes back to me. All is silent around me. My words must therefore be few. I can now say no more. He is silent for he has nothing to answer when the sun goes down."

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains-Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

"Our fathers gave us many laws which they had learned from their fathers. They told us to treat all men as they treated us. That we should never be the first to break a bargain. That it was a disgrace to tell a lie. That we should speak only the truth. We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything and that he never forgets. This I believe and all my people believe the same."

Thunder Rolling in the Mountains-Chief Joseph, Nez Perce

Wars are fought to see who owns the land, but in the end it possesses man. Who dares say he owns it- is he not buried beneath it?"

Cochise, Chiricahua Apache

"When you are a person who belongs to a community, you have to know who you are. You have to know who your relatives are, and as a tribe  have to know where we came from..."

Charlotte Black Elk, Oglala Sioux

"A Nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground. Then it is done, no matter how brave its warriors nor how strong its weapons."

Cheyenne

"Have patience. All things change in due time. Wishing cannot bring autumn glory or cause winter to cease."

Ginaly-li, Cherokee

Lose your temper and you lose a friend; lie and you lose yourself."

Hopi

"With all things and in all things, we are relatives."

Sioux
"Kinship with all creatures of the earth, sky and water was a real and active principle. And so close did some of the Lakotas come to their feathered and furred friends that in true brotherhood they spoke a common tongue.
The animals had rights...
the right of man's protection,
the right to live,
the right to multiply,
the right to freedom, and
the right to man's indebtedness."

Luther Standing Bear, Teton Sioux

"We who are clay blended by the Master Potter, come from the kiln of Creation in many hues. How can people say one skin is colored, when each has its own coloration? What should it matter that one bowl is dark and the other pale, if each is of good design and serves its purpose well."

Polingaysi Qoyawayma, Hopi

"Walk on a rainbow trail, walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail."

Navajo Song

What is life?
It is the flash of a firefly in the night.
It is the breath of a buffalo in the winter time.
It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset."

Crowfoot, Blackfoot

"Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to life even when it is easier letting go.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you."

Pueblo Blessing

"There is no such thing as 'part-Cherokee.' Either you're Cherokee or you’re not.

It isn't the quantity of Cherokee blood in your veins that is important, but the quality of it . . . your pride in it. I have seen full-bloods who have virtually no idea of the great legacy entrusted to their care. Yet, I have seen people with as little as 1/500th blood quantum who inspire the spirits of their ancestors because they make being Cherokee a proud part of their everyday life."

Jim Pell: Principal Chief of the North Alabama Cherokee Tribe

"I think the Spirit, is the one thing we have to rely on. It has been handed to us as a live and precious coal. And each generation has to make that decision whether they want to blow on that coal to keep it alive or throw it away... Our language, our histories and culture are like a big ceremonial fire that's been kicked and stomped and scattered...Out in the darkness we can see those coals glowing. But our generation, whether in tribal government or wherever we find ourselves - Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole - are coal gatherers. We bring the coals back, assemble them and breathe on them again, so we can spark a flame around which we might warm ourselves."

Gary White Deer, Chickasaw

"Learn how to withhold judgment
Learn to listen
Get in touch with your own inner self
Look at life with joy
Don't ever cry over something that cannot cry over you."

Cheewa James, Modoc

"When the last red man shall have become a myth among the white men, when your children's children think themselves alone in the field, upon the highway or in the silence of the pathless woods, they will not be alone. In all the earth there is no place dedicated to solitude. At night when the streets of your cities are silent, they will throng with the returning hosts that once filled them and still love this beautiful land. The white man will never be alone."

Chief Seattle, Suquamish/Duwamish 1790-1866

"You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round.

In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion.

Everything the power of the world does is done in a circle. The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours. The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were.

The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation's hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children."

Black Elk, Oglala Sioux