Cherokee Messenger
April, 1999



Cherokee Cultural Society Meetings


Cherokee Cultural Society meetings, are held at the Tracy Gee Community Center, 3599 Westcenter, Houston, Texas, 7:30 to 9:00 p.m., the first Thursday of each month. All interested persons are invited to attend. Speaker for the May 6, 1999 meeting will be Rae Evening Earth Ott, of the North American Wolf Association, owner and operator of a wolf preserve in Conroe, Texas, who will discuss work to preserve these animals from extinction.

Other Native Activities



Coming Up


Look forward to these exciting CCS Monthly Programs:

June - Dr. Mimi Crossley, Curator of Pre-Colombian Art at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, will speak on the gathering of artifacts and stories surrounding the diggings from ancient Inca and Aztec civilizations.

July - Dr. Dorothy Lippert, Curator of Native American Artifacts and Displays at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, will speak on the gathering of sacred artifacts and the stories and controversy surrounding it.

August - Alan Taylor, author and CCS member, will discuss educating Native American youth and his latest collaboration with John Campbell on a new book.

Special Thanks...


To all who made possible The 1999 Red Nations Remembering, the third annual CCS commemoration of the Trail of Tears:
The CCS board - Wade McAlister, Judith Bruni, Carroll Cocchia; Cindy Linnenkohl, Clabert and Cyndie Menard, and Terry Thompson; CCS Past Presidents Deborah Scott and Victor Carroll; energetic CCS members, performers and supporters - artist Bob Annesley for logo design, plus B.J. Callihan, Brandy Linnenkohl, Mike Breteler, Marilyn Streeter, Joe and Patti Davis, Joe and Julie Williams, Steve Triplett, Vicki Henrichs, Dawn Westerman, Marjorie Lowe, Pat Poland, Alan Taylor, Jim Gravino, Nicole Munson, Charlie Strack, Mark Bruni; Jamie Williams, Chad Smith, Gayle Ross, Tommy Wildcat, Lawrence Sampson, Ed Cornplanter, Greg Howard, Jonathan and Rose Hook, Pat George; and Rice University's Renatta Benjamin. Thanks again to S & B Engineers and Constructors for preparing a multitude of promotional posters and flyers; and to Dayton Denton, Vice President of Traders Village, for all of his assistance. We look forward to seeing everyone at the 2000 RNR!

Web Watch


This information originally was provided in response to the Native American Heritage Month Presidential Proclamation, November, 1998, at http://www2.ihs.gov/heritage/images/proclamation.htm. Sites are courtesy of Dr. Daphne B. Moffett, CDC/Atlanta, at 770-488-4107.
  • Native American Sites: http://www.pitt.edu/~lmitten/indians.html

  • See in particular http://www.iwchildren.org/barb.htm for a discussion of the mascot issue.

  • Bureau of Indian Affairs with the Department of Interior: http://www.doi.gov/bureau-indian-affairs.html

  • Zitkala-Sa at http://web-cr05.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/amex/1900/peopleevents/pande35.html Zitkala-Sa is the pen name of Gertrude Simmons Bonin, the daughter of a Sioux mother and a white father, who wrote a number of short stories about her native tradition in the 19th century and was active in the local affairs of her reservation.

  • Online the Rice University Native American Student Association at http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~natamer/ They conducted their first pow wow April 9. We look forward to meaningful ties with this group.

    Poetry Corner


    From an e-mail received March 19, 1999:
    My name is Marshanna Dickens and I'm sending you this poem because I wish to share it with the world. I wrote it upon finding a picture of my great grandfather, who was a full blooded Seminole Indian. Although I never knew him, I think of this as my personal way of honoring him and the way of life that has been lost.


    WITHIN ME
    By Marshanna Dickens
    Who am I ?
    Does red blood
    Flow through my veins
    And a red heart
    Beat in my chest

    How can I, I like a flower
    Survive without roots
    Sweet nourishment from my Mother Earth
    And Father Sky

    Red blood, Yes Red blood
    Flows through in my veins
    And a red heart
    Beats in my chest
    Because the Mind and Spirit
    Of a red women lives within me


    Cherokee Historical Note


    Did you know... CCS member and renowned Cherokee artist Bob Annesley designed for the 1999 RNR what could become a genuine "collector's" t-shirt, using a gripping vision of the Trail of Tears. This item sold quickly at the March 28 event. The scene highlights two figures: on the left, an aging Choctaw woman, and an elderly Cherokee man on the right. His face is that of Rufus Hamby, who had married the sister of the artist's grandmother. The "spirit line" that runs through the scene, which depicts the sorrowful trek of the infamous trail, is a specialty of Bob Annesley.

    And about those t-shirts...back in 1960 Bob Annesley was the artist who first introduced individually designed images on t-shirts, when he was co-manager of a Norman, Oklahoma T.G.&Y. store. Previously, the only decorative sweat shirts or t-shirts sported school or fraternity emblems and were available only through very controlled channels such as college-operated stores. Bob's original t-shirt designs were launched with emblems from beer companies as well as humorous renditions of bulls or chickens (an eye-catching contrast to "official" school emblems). The T.G.&Y. store, located across the street from the University of Oklahoma campus store, was quite an alternative success. Free publicity arrived one day with demonstrators from the ultraconservative John Birch Society, who transferred the store's t-shirts from racks to the center of the intersection. With that notoriety, the public demand was off and running.

    It was the beginning of an American tradition that we all take for granted, since anything now goes on cotton-polyester "t's" and "sweats". RNR t-shirts anyone? A must for each of us! Contact our webpage to order yours. Oh yes, one of those early Annesley t-shirts landed in the Smithsonian Museum - heartland folk art to be remembered!

    Educational/Activist Tool


    As many readers know, a major trend Native Americans work to reverse is the use of images and names from Native Indian traditions for school mascots, athletic team names, etc. CCS member and activist Lawrence Sampson has been working toward greater public awareness and negotiating efforts to reduce mascot use. "In Whose Honor?" is the title of the video of a mascot dispute in Illinois. Says Lawrence, ..."for presentation's sake, it is all cohesive. It has a nice flow to it...I have tried to have information in this volume that answers every conceivable question." It received high praises also from Efrain Martinez, Senior Conciliation Specialist and Director, Houston Field Office, Community Relations Service, United States Department of Justice, who was the February CCS monthly program speaker. To learn more about the video or to assist in this effort, contact: Lawrence Sampson, e-mail lsampson@soldonhold.com or phone 281-550-7081.

    Buffalo Aid


    At the CCS April monthly meeting, Pat Poland showed the clip of an award winning documentary film on ravages to the western buffalo population, "WHERE BUFFALO ROAM". Many people asked how to help in the buffalo preservation effort. Film producer Elizabeth Gaylynn Baker sent Pat the following information:
    "Rosalie [an activist shown in the film] can be e-mailed at Rosalie@enetis.com. Money can be donated to the 7th generation foundation in her name. Or they can send money to Mike Mease at Cold Mountains, Cold Rivers, e-mail cmcr@wildrockies.org. Mike and his volunteers are actually the ones out in the field putting their bodies between the buffalo and the bullets. Or they can support the film by buying the tape for $18.00. Those orders can be sent to Deep Spirit Productions at 516 S. St. Andrews Place, #102, LA, CA 90020. Or they can request the video and press package (shown at the meeting by Pat Poland) by phoning 213-265-6006, to try to get funding for the longer version of this film." *Further inquiries can go to Pat Poland, e-mail spirtwnd@lcc.net, or Elizabeth Gaylynn Baker at elizabethg@earthlink.net.

    Voting WILL Make the Difference...


    May 22, 1999, the General Election Day for the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is YOUR day to help shape the future of the Cherokee Nation. Voting eligibility requires Cherokee Nation citizenship, voter registration and the completed Absentee Ballot Request. (Absentee ballot requests were due April 9, 1999, and March 1, 1999 was the deadline to register to vote.)

    THE CHEROKEE NATION OF OKLAHOMA:
    Election Commission Office
    1-800-353-2895 or 918-458-5899
    Cherokee Nation
    P. O. Box 1188, Tahlequah, OK 74465-0948
    918-458-5899 or 1-800-353-2895; fax 918-458-6101
    http://www.cherokee.org

    Copyright © The Cherokee Cultural Society of Houston