Cherokee Lands & Traditions

Yesterday, I took niece Zoe & nephew Abe out to the remote Little Snowbird community of Robbinsville, Graham County, for the "Fading Voices" demonstration festival of the Eastern Band Cherokee. The main part of the tribal lands are within the reservation Qualla boundary however, as I have been learning, there are many Cherokee communities & Cherokee-owned land outside that specific border. Scattered along the Snowbird, Little Snowbird & Buffalo Creeks, about two hours from Candler & an hour from Cherokee proper, residents incorporate many traditional practices into their daily lives. This community was established when President Andrew Jackson ordered the dispersal of the Cherokee from their ancestral lands to Oklahoma, a long walk known as the Trail of Tears which began in 1828. The ancestors of these folks found refuge deep in the Snowbird Mountains and thus avoided permanent relocation.

We went for the food (of course!) and more. My formerly fry bread virgin niece & nephew are now devout followers of this delectible but very unhealthy, ubiquitous, pan-Indian treat. I've literally eaten frybread from Neah Bay, the far northwest of corner of Washington state to the Tohono O'oadham lands of southern Arizona; from the Rosebud Lakota Reservation of South Dakota to, well, far west North Carolina Cherokee communities.

While at the festival, we met artists & craftspeople who are still practicing old techniques for soapmaking, bow & arrow carving, quilting, coffin-making, pottery & more. One of the highlights was talking with SHIRLEY OSWALT. She was born at home in the Snowbird Community and grew up speaking the Cherokee language. We shared a joke when I showed her the hat I was given as a volunteer at the Center for Cherokee Plants. She explained to me what the writing on it meant (one who plants or gardener) and told me the correct pronunciation, ah-wee-suh-wee-skee based upon the Cherokee syllabary. But, she said jokingly, the folks at the center may not know that with confidence. She said I should go back and say that I'd spoken with a fluent elder who told me it actually says, "your mother is a cow." Very amusing. I think I'll try that. Anyhow, Shirley attended the Snowbird Indian School, a small community school where students were encouraged to speak Cherokee language as well as English. A member of the Seven Clans Art Guild, Shirley learned basketmaking and beadwork from her family, and also carves and paints gourds.

She has taught workshops at schools in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia, and regularly demonstrates at festivals, including The Cherokee Voices Festival at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum Festival. At Fading Voices, she was demonstrating her pottery-making while her husband sold her gourd rattles at a nearby table. I still regret that I didn't purchase one of those rattles!

Here are some more photos from Fading Voices:

I mentioned above the Center for Cherokee Plants. I have just started volunteering there. The center, under the skillful direction of Sarah McClelland and her husband, Kevin Welch, has grown in leaps and bounds. As one of the programs of the Cooperative Extension program with North Carolina State University & the tribe, the Center is collecting, archiving, growing & distributing traditional and heirloom food & craft plants. Currently, they are nurturing a small "potted grove" of White Oak trees for basket-making & other crafts, bloodroot for dye, ramps (native wild onion), heirloom potatoes & strawberries among other plants. These are given to elders, children's heritage gardens at the schools & artists in the community. The Center consists of a nursery and garden area for propagating and growing Cherokee traditional vegetables, wild edible plants, plants significant as Cherokee artisans' resources, and native plants for landscape revegitation projects and a building to house the Cherokee Traditional Crops Seed Bank. Public educational programs are also being developed. The Center stemmed from a seed bank feasibility study lead by Kevin Welch. Funding for these projects is being sought from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation among other sources.

I'm really enjoying it so far. If it weren't for Karen, I never would have known about the Fading Voices festival. THANKS, Karen!!

Here taken directly from the Indian Country Extension website, http://www.indiancountryextension.org/extension.php?=27:

Current activities include the revegetation of ramps (a native wild onion) as a traditional food; revegetation of river cane, white oak, and butternut trees for traditional basket making; revegetation of American Chestnut for wildlife; the Cherokee Farmers Market; the Costa Rica Eco Study Tour; for youth and the Traditional Seeds project.

Goals of the cooperative extension office include:

Enhancing Agriculture, Forestry and Food Systems.
Conserving and Improving the Environment and Natural Resources.
Building Quality Communities.
Developing Responsible Youth.
Strengthening and Sustaining Families.

Other programs of the extension program include:

Cherokee Garden
Cherokee provides technical assistance to Cherokee farmers and gardeners. The annual garden contest grows in popularity each year. In 2006, 54 Cherokee gardens were in the competition. Over the past 3 years, the Chief's Cherokee Family Garden Project has distributed 1250 garden kits and 1000 apple trees to families to promote traditional family gardening. Two new interest groups have formed and meet monthly in Cherokee, the Smoky Mountain Beekeepers and the Cherokee Native Plant Study Group. Farming activities on two tribal farms are coordinated though the FRTEP Agent. Field days and on-farm demonstrations occur at these community farms.

Cherokee Youth in Costa Rica
Cherokee youth have the opportunity to travel to Costa Rica each year for international experiences in cultural exchange and learning about the environment and sustainable practices. Cherokee Extension prepare the youth for travel through an extensive educational series monthly classed from January to June. Thi stravel experience has allowed Cherokee youth to grow in their understanding of environmental issues and cultural appreciation. 2006 youth participants initiated a community recycling project, inspired by their experiences in Costa Rica. The youth-led community service recycling project is now established in four high highschools in Western North Carolina.

Hiker's Paradise

Just starting a list here of hikes I've done with Kali in the area. So far, it's not too long a list but will get longer as the season progresses. I'm using my equivalent of a bible from the "Best Hikes With Dogs" series of hiking books, this one by Karen Chavez for North Carolina.

1. LOTS of loops off the Hard Times Trailhead to Lake Powatan at Bent Creek Experimental Forest, part of Pisgah National Forest. This one is not in the book but is mine & Kali's old standby trail when we don't have much time for anything else. It is about 2 miles long with some climbs and drops but can be extended by the numerous other trails in the immediate vicinity. Features include the fresh-running creek, Lake Powatan & the marshy, muddy areas surrounding that and lots of geese to chase (she never catches any - neither do I, for that matter). We've done this one at least a dozen times.

2. Graveyard Fields, near mile 418 off the Blue Ridge Parkway, a moderate trail of about 3.4 miles through a lovely blueberried high valley replete with two waterfalls and numerous blackened tree stumps (hence the name). The beginning of the trail drops steeply and, well you can guess the end-of-trail consequences of that!

3. Rattlesnake Lodge Trail, near mile 376 off the Blue Ridge Parkway & Elk Mountain Scenic Hwy, a moderate 3.2 mile trail with some steep optional additions. This is a peaceful trail along both switchbacks & more level areas through the forest to the remains of the Ambler retreat from the early 1900's. You can still see building foundations, the rounded walls of the old spring-fed swimming pool, the spring house & the servant's quarters. You can add about a mile to this trail by continuing on the Mountain-to-Sea trail past the lodge and looping back on the blue-blazed trail through the rest of the former Ambler property.

4. Fryingpan Mountail trail starts near the Mt. Pisgah campground, around mile marker 408 and ambles its way above the parkway but roughly parallel to it. Then it begins to climb & climb until the top of the mountain. When you get up there, these is an ugly 10-story metal structure - an old fire tower. Not looking down, I climbed it, step by step, leaving my dog Kali at the bottom as a witness. The higher you go, the windier it gets until you literally have to grab onto the rails to avoid the sensation of being picked up by the current and tossed into the valley. Very cool!

5. Craggy Nature Trail, the bald & Craggy Summit are all very well-known and loved areas of the parkway about 20 miles north of Asheville. I hiked the nature trail up to the shelter & visitors center with my sister, brother in law, niece, nephew & friend Shanna early in June. We passed through rhododendron tunnels and hundreds of not-yet-bearing blueberry bushes. The bald area is a large, grassy Alpine-feeling meadow with fabulous views of the Asheville watershed area. We followed this with a tasty picnic in the area of Craggy reserved for such endeavors. Then, a couple of weeks later, Kali & I climbed up to the summit where there are viewing area of spectacular scenery. I love Craggy!

6. I wish I had all the dates of these hikes but the next one we did was the famed Mt. Pisgah. The books, the signs, the websites, the maps all say the same thing: Very Strenuous. Well, indeed it was but we took our time, climbing the rock steps up amongst the rhodies & mountain laurel to the very top of one of the tallest peaks off the Blue Ridge Parkway. At the top was a wonderful wooden platform to take in the 360 degree views. Kali discovered the shade underneath. After a bit of lunch and an unexpected phone call (after all, we were right near the transmission tower so I guess it makes sense that I had cell reception), we climbed down feeling smug & contented.

7. Following the Craggy summit hike which was only about 1.5 miles, we climbed Snowball Mountain, accessible from the lower part of the Craggy picnic area. It was, as my book Best Hikes with Dogs North Carolina said, "relentless" in its climb, gaining 300 feet in elevation in only 1/2 mile. We climbed to the leafy summit of Snowball and then, unable to see the mountains for the trees, fought gravity the whole way down. Good exercise but not very scenic this time of year.

8. Yesterday, we hiked Sam Knob and Flat Laurel Creek area with an unintended extender. Read the blog posting for June 27, 2009 for a more thorough description of this glorious/tiring day.

The lovely, the bad & the ugly...and the hopeful

Let me start with the warm fuzzies. Tonight I hosted my parents, my sister and her family, my brother in law's family and a family friend at my cabin for an evening of yummy North African & Middle Eastern treats. I made fish curry couscous and Shelly, Sam's sister, brough all sorts of goodies from the Jerusalem Deli in Greensboro. We had hummas, pita, spanakopita, dolmas & baklava. My sister brought a blintz casserole and a fabulous salad. It was fun and laughter and warmth. Kali, my blue heeler mix, mooched LOTS of food including about half a loaf of challah. I lit a path of candles from the top of the driveway to the big front porch. Inside, the cabin glowed with flowers and candles in every room. It was really fun. So, THIS is what it is like to have family in one's life. I've never ever had this before as an adult and I'm really enjoying it. Everyone ate to their heart's content and then just visited and hung out. It was so much fun for me, especially since I absolutely love cooking for people and entertaining. Tonight was kind of a warm-up for my niece's Bat Mitzvah coming up in September.

Unfortunately, Mom wasn't there. She has been having some very scary blood pressure spikes. Last night at around 11pm, we ended up calling 911 from the hotel. They brought her to Mission Hospital in Asheville with my dad sitting up front in the cab. Lots of tests and waiting. We finally got home around 4am. She was admitted but then discharged late this afternoon. She stayed back at the hotel and rested. I am worried about her health and wonder how they are going to get home all the way back to Wilmington, over 350 miles.

Prior to that, we all enjoyed dinner at Asiana buffet. Are you noticing the food theme here??

Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from the man who fancies himself the reining king of Catahoulas, Don Abney. Honestly, I don't want to rehash the whole conversation but, Lord, that man is pompous. As the head of COBRA (Catahoula Owners, Breeders & Research Association) he was trying to broker a resolution between myself and the people from Chaos Catahoulas who refused to take Chinook back when his aggression finally became too much to handle (for more info on this subject, read back in the blog to the dozen or so entries about the heartache and torment I experienced with that puppy). I made complaints to the BBB, the WI State Attorney General's Office, the National Association of Louisiana Catahoulas (who have not responded yet) and Don's organization, COBRA. The whole thing was very upsetting with him essentially being blaming, accusing, rude and demeaning. Really, he ought to consider meds & therapy with that nger problem. After ignoring my request for COBRA support, I got an email yesterday trying to get me to sign up for one of his classes! That was what brought this whole thing up again - I asked him to remove me from his list since I had not received the support I needed from them. In the end, he told me that b/c I had not euthanized Chinook that he did not believe I was entitled to any money back and that in order to do so, I had to promise and provide documentation of putting Chinook down. Well, he's not an attorney, a judge, a god or even a demi-god. I will say that if you can wade through the muck, he was making an effort to help, albeit in a somewhat self-serving way.

On a happier note, I talked to Derek (not his real name) in Tennessee who's got Chinook now. He's just starting to learn to be a cow dog and, according to Derek, is doing quite well. He's had no behavior problems with him at all. Granted, he doesn't have that much interaction with other humans and is being kept separate from the other dogs for now. It sounds promising and I am hopeful. I plan to go out and see him next month. Incidentally, I intend to contribute to the cost of his upkeep. I am so very grateful to Derek. Thank you.

Enjoying life in the mountains...finally!

Ever since I decided I may try to move back to Seattlle, life here has been much more tolerable and enjoyable. The other day, Kali & I went for a hike up to mile marker 418 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, past Mt. Pisgah to an area called Graveyard Fields. It was beautiful with a meandering big stream that Kali laid in and drank from and two nice waterfalls, see http://www.hikewnc.info/trailheads/pisgah/pisgah/guidedhikes/graveyardfields.html. It starts out by climbing down several hundred feet from the parkway into a lovely blueberry valley which spreads out far & wide. There was such an open but safe and secure feeling down there, I could have stayed there all day.

My dear friend Shanna will be here in a few weeks and we will definitely be heading to Smoky Mtns Nat'l Park. We will try to hike a little bit of the Appalachian Trail or, as the cool people call it out here, the "AT."

Last Thursday, I went with my friend Kelley (who started out as the dog woman)to Jack of the Wood, a cool low key club downtown, to hear the bluegrass jam. I'm really starting to love bluegrass and listen to it all the time (listen to www.wncw.org ) from an NPR station at Isothermal Community College - don't you just love that name! Sorry for the short posting but maybe it's a nice change for the reader!