June 11, 2018

Now that you are here, what is your first impression of the environment in Cherokee?

     My first impression is that it is absolutely beautiful and I understand why the Native Americans hold nature so close to them, it's kind of hard not to down here. After we got to tour the Cherokee Indian museum, the Indian village, and the Cherokee hospital I understood a little bit more about the culture and why they have the certain values that they do. As stated in my previous blog post they have the highest respect for the elderly, because they passed down the traditions, they respect nature, because that is how their way of life came to be. 

What did you find most interesting about this culture's history?

     What I found to be most interesting about the Native American culture was how their way of life started. We started our day off in the Cherokee Indian museum and this is where we learned about how all the animals (the birds and the insects) could no longer "live" where they were, they wanted more. So the brave water beetle searched for something more and swam all the way to the bottom of the water and found mud, he brought the mud to the surface where it formed an island. The eagle then flew over the island and when he got closer to the ground and how his wings moved he made mountains. The animals found a tree on another island and after lighting struck the tree it caught fire and the animals tried their hardest to put out this fire, the raven tried first and was unable to succeed and because he went through the smoke this is why ravens are now black. Next was the owl he tried but was not able to succeed either and just got smoke in his eyes which he tried to wipe away and that is why owls have the white circles around their eyes, finally a water spider made his way to the tree and used his web to weave a basket and with that basket he was able to take some of the flame back. This is so unique to me and this is what the Native American culture is all about. 

Are there values and beliefs that are similar and or different to your own?

     I was raised by a family who is mostly from the south, so their belief of having respect toward elderly is very similar to my own. I am not proud to admit this but in todays world we have come to take our environment for granted, I don’t feel that we value the traditions that are passed down in our family because it is not our way of life, we have made life so easy and taking the little bit of time to remember why we do something has been forgotten and ignored. 

How is this cultures heritage integrated into the children in the community?

     I think that it is safe to say with the academy that is available that the heritage is trying to be integrated into their everyday lives, although the number has significantly gone down I think that the Native Americans are trying to bring that back so it is not lost. I also had the opportunity to watch the story of the trail of tears live by the Native Americans and found that there were many young children participating in this play by having them involved in this I feel that it is integrated into their lives as well. I think it is safe to say that the children will have other not so healthy influences as well like the substance abuse that is prevalent in this community. 

What are some common threads in this community that is similar to your community?

      This might be a bit of a stretch but I think that in my community herbal usage is becoming more common, again. People are finding ways to "heal" by using oils to sooth, and heal headaches, another common thing is the teething necklace, I have mostly seen them used with amber beads but there are also ones with bull nettle to help the pain of a teething toddler.