Many of our members came to us through outreach at other Native American events, and this contact is always important. The powwow schedules are usually the 2nd and 3rd Saturdays of the month, and the location varies. If you are willing to help staff the table, please call Deborah Scott at (713) 668-9998.
Julie visited our group last spring, and we are delighted with her success and wish her well!
The request comes after the Cherokee council rejected the Shawnees’ proposal to build a bingo hall and casino Kansas during their regular meeting July 15.
Greg Pitcher, a member of the Loyal Shawnee council and a former Cherokee Nation council member, assured the committee the request for separation is not a result of the council’s refusal to allow the bingo hall and casino.
"If anything, it’s just the opposite," he said. "The purpose of the gaming proposal was to help us seek federal recognition."
If allowed to separate from the Cherokee Nation, the 7,000 Loyal Shawnee will then request federal recognition from the U.S. government, Pitcher said.
"The more tribes we have that are federally-recognized the better off we all are as an Indian people," Principal Chief Joe Byrd said at the meeting.
Pitcher also informed the council his tribe would not be seeking anything from the Cherokee Nation, including land.
"This is not the end of the journey this is only the first step," said Pitcher. "We want you to help us make this first step," he told the committee.
Byrd and the committee members supported the resolution to let the Shawnees leave the tribe especially since land will not be in question. The executive and finance agreed to bring the Shawnee resolution before full council on August 12.
"We are not expecting to have a land base in Oklahoma or anywhere else," Pitcher said.
Because the Cherokee Nation has been negotiating with the Delaware Tribe of Indians for a number of years trying to reach a compromise on their request for separation, Byrd said the Shawnee separation should be an easier process than the Delaware request has been.
Pitcher was asked by members of the committee about the Loyal Shawnees who may wish to remain a tribal member of the Cherokee Nation. He said the Shawnee will not require anyone to be one of them, and it would be up to the individual to stay with the Cherokee Nation or give up Shawnee tribal membership.
The Loyal Shawnee have headquarters in White Oak, OK.
For his historic efforts, Sequoyah has been honored time and time again in paintings and sculptures and the Sequoia National Forest, honoring a man who wanted his people to have their own "talking leaves."
Once again he will be honored. During the Cherokee National Holiday this year, a statue of Sequoyah will be unveiled in downtown Tahlequah. The hero-sized statue was created by Claremore artist Ed Rackleff, a full-blood Cherokee from the Rocky Ford community in northern Cherokee County.
The statue is an 8-foot tall bronze. Inscribed on the leaves, in Cherokee, is the title of the statue: "The Leaves Say It." In his left hand, crossed over his body, Sequoyah holds a scroll of leather partly inscribed with his syllabary. In his right he holds his ever-present smoking pipe.
With his voice shaking with emotion, Deputy Chief Garland Eagle proudly accepted the 1996 Olympic Torch for all people--past and present--of the Cherokee Nation. "I cannot express the feelings on what an honor this is, " Eagle said. "If you are Cherokee, I am representing you."
Others in attendance were Principal Chief Joyce Dugan of the Eastern Band of Cherokees and Principal Chief John Ross of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees.
Stickball is a version of the older East-West game which is somewhat similar to lacrosse in that two opposing goals are used, at the east and west ends of the field.
East-West stickball was used primarily as a war game for battle training. It also was a way of settling disputes between clans, tribes and towns. Only men participated in the East-West games.
"The modern game played by Cherokees today isn’t as rough as traditional stickball due to the liabilities and courtesy rules, " Victor Wildcat, coordinator, said.
Today the social game of stickball is always played with men and women on opposing teams. Points are scored by using a small ball to hit a target, often a wooden fish, mounted on top of a trimmed cedar tree which can be 25 to 40 feet tall. Points can also be scored by hitting the pole with the ball within three or four feet of the fish.
According to traditional rules, each man uses two wooden sticks, from two to four feet in length, each with a cup-shaped pocket at one end. The sticks are used to hold, catch and throw the ball. Women always use their hands.
Traditionally, the ball was a round rock covered with deer or cow hair inside a sewn leather covering. A bean bag or Hackey Sack is used today for safety purposes during game presentations.
There are even number of players on each team, which can consist of 20 to 60 people depending on the individual game. The playing field for the pole game must be large enough for at least 60 people and is larger than a regulation basketball court.
"Stickball is kept alive by traditional groups of Cherokees in the southern portion of the Cherokee Nation," Wildcat said. "Many versions of the stickball game are played by the Creeks."
Members of the organization work in community, school and market gardens throughout the entire Metropolitan Houston regions. It is currently affiliated with over 60 gardens in seven counties, the majority in inner city Houston.
Community gardens are distinguished from other gardens because they are mainly operated to benefit the community in some significant way. They produce a variety of vegetables, fruits and/or flowers and thrive in a variety of settings. To find out more about Urban Harvest, call (713) 880-5540.