12-03-01

Joy Smotherman gave me a clipping from the Cherokee Nation that was published about fifty years ago. It stated that President Truman had recognized and accepted the appointment of a Tribe Chief to head the Indian groups government back during 1949.

The Cherokee receiving the high honors was William Wayne Keeler. His quote in the article was, "When most Indians were still scalping in 1851, the Cherokees had the finest education system in the west, they had a school system superior to anything available to the frontier white child at that time, and the system they established in1941 was copied throughout the country."

The old and faded article of newsprint tells of the two-story, red brick Cherokee capitol building, built in 1867. It was an administrative hub of the Cherokee Nation until Oklahoma statehood in 1907, and now serves as the Cherokee County courthouse. The red brick Cherokee Supreme Court erected in 1844 is the oldest structure in Oklahoma today.

The article states that the Capitol, supreme court and sandstone Cherokee National Prison, dating back to 1874, stand in downtown Tahlequah, as a reminder of the golden years of the Cherokee Nation.

Oklahoma’s most honored citizens, Will Rogers and Sequoyah were both Cherokees. Their busts are on display at the National Hall of Fame in Washington D.C.

The write-up further states that it was Sequoyah who gave the Cherokees their giant leap forward in 1822 by devising an alphabet of 85 characters representing the various sounds in the sing-song Cherokee language.

The article further tells in the words of Dr. A.M. Gibson of the University of Oklahoma, "The effect of Sequoyah’s alphabet in itself was remarkable. It made his nation literate almost overnight." The Cherokees were the first Indians in the United States to have a written language.

The Bible and hundreds of books have been published in the Cherokee language.

But the Cherokees retain the Indian mystique. To this day the Cherokee nation guards an "eternal flame" a fire fed by wood, believed first sparked by lightning long before the coming of Columbus.

The "eternal flame" was borne along the "Trail of Tears" in an earthen vessel.

Cherokees do not divulge the tribal significance and only its keepers know its hiding place.

The article continues to say that Cherokees have made their mark in many fields.

My personal note is a great big thank you to Joy and Gordon Smotherman for the preservation of this very informative article from many years ago.

Joy and Gordon are the Music Ministers at the Aubrey Methodist Church along with Pat Brockett, all three being descendants of the Cherokee tribe.

And I would like for Joy and Jasmine Smotherman to look through their old trunks and bring something else of interest to the local’s attention, because we know you are good providers of such artifacts.

The inventor of the Cherokee alphabet, Chief Sequoyah, made his way into Texas (after his invention), and was involved with the escape of himself and many other Cherokees as they made their way to Onega and other parts of North Texas. Sequoyah eventually made his way into Mexico where he died.

I have mentioned previously about his grave being discovered on a large ranch in Mexico by the Epi and Gloria Rodriquez family. A large group of Texas Cherokees are going back into Mexico on February 1, 2002 to visit this burial ground.

One other final comment this week; as of this writing, there is a display of items that are being raffled by the Cherokees on exhibit at Jackie’s Hardware in the downtown and historical district. The proceeds from the raffle will pay for travel expenses of some of the Cherokee elders who don’t have funds available to pay their own way. So I would like to encourage you to all come in a buy a one dollar chance to help some Cherokee elders make this historical trip into Mexico.

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