She shared that 17,000 Cherokees were rounded up and placed in stockades until they were forced to march over twelve hundred miles to Oklahoma Territory, in an act of cultural abuse known to us as the Trail of Tears. She touched on a few of the historical events that resulted in much of the trauma and that still plague many of the members even today. The trauma occurred on many levels psychologically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally. Patty was there to talk about the Cherokee Journey to Forgiveness and the historical grief and trauma inflicted by our European ancestors for several generations. Patty Grant, member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians as well as a founding member of the Cherokee Healing and Wellness Coalition, was there to tell a hard story of violence, fear, hatred and injustice, of grief and loss, and of a forgiveness that only comes with true courage, the power of ceremony, and open-hearted sharing. This was a special fire with an important focus. But there was something very different going on: for one thing, 33 people - three times the usual number than on a normal fire night - showed up for this gathering. On the night of July 21, at first it might have looked like a familiar Sacred Fire Community fire for the people who showed up at the Maggie Valley, NC, USA home and hearth of Firekeeper Cindy Fogle. Charles Hicks, Tsalagi (Cherokee) Vice Chief on the Trail of Tears, AugA delicious potluck, friendly faces of new friends and old, and a warm fire to follow. “We are now about to take our leave and kind farewell to our native land, the country that the Great Spirit gave our Fathers, that gave us birth… It is with sorrow we are forced to quit the scenes of our childhood… We bid farewell to it and all we hold dear.” Cindy and I are grateful for Patty’s patience and grace and her assistance, which has allowed us not only to share this experience, but to do it in a way that the telling of it reflects her voice and perspective. The article that appears here is a collaboration between the three of us. I took notes during the fire, and, with her permission and the collaboration of Cindy Fogle, our Firekeeper who organized this important event, I wrote an article about the event, Patty’s talk and the sharing afterward.Ĭindy added a few details, and we sent it off to Patty, inviting her to correct our ignorance and white perspective. Patty Grant, member of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians as well as a founding member of the Cherokee Healing and Wellness Coalition, was the special guest. On Saturday, July 21, I attended a special fire offered by the Sacred Fire Community and our Maggie Valley, NC, USA hamlet featuring the story of the recent work of the Cherokee on moving toward forgiveness of centuries of oppression by the white dominant culture. The stories encompass strands of the past and present, and represent transformations in lives, minds, and landscapes.By Erin Everett, Patty Grant and Cindy Fogle And that's the way I do."Īmong Cherokees, women have been the primary makers and users of baskets.The story of Cherokee basketry and the story of Cherokee women are like a doublewoven basket, interwoven, inseparable, and complex. My mother never had no names or no meaning to her designs. "Well now," she says, "I'll tell you just like I've told everybody else. The pattern she was weaving is sometimes called "Flowing Water", but the name has no meaning to Rowena Bradley. She has woven rivercane baskets most of her life. She knew without looking how the pattern would develop in the basket. Occasionally selecting a cane split from a bucket half-filled with water, she wove quickly, scarcely pausing to examine her work.
Looking out toward the mountains as she wove a rivercane basket, Rowena Bradley followed with her fingers a pattern that lives in her memory. Dogs slept fitfully nearby, a cat stared from the window, and hens pecked nervously at the ground. That spring morning, Rowena Bradley was sitting in a kitchen chair at the edge of her front yard.