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.