Pat and James R. Johnson were playing the song as James was tuning his mandolin to the church piano. It was a treat within itself just to watch and hum along as James was tuning the stringed instrument.

"The Cherokee Indian Maiden" song was an old song that Granny Harmon used to sing when I visited her as a youngster.

During the Sunday worship service, it has become a custom of Pastor Lyle Benson to call for a time when all in the church introduce themselves and greet everyone in attendance. This portion of the service is such a lively welcome; it allows everyone to get out of their pews and give each other a great big welcome. It has become a necessity in the morning worship.

The 1940 photo that I am using this week is of our one and only Granny Rachel D. Harmon as she appeared in her last few years. According to the old church records, Granny Harmon was one of the early day members. She joined the church in 1884. The church will celebrate 150 years in 2008. The church was established a little more than twenty years before Granny joined. It was in a log house that was used for one of the county’s three or four free schools that were in operation before the Civil War.

The Cherokee Indian Maiden song was no doubt sung by Granny and others as they walked across the open pastures and fields on their way to church. Granny made her way to church this way many time between 1884 and 1947.

One of the Indian tricks Granny (my great-grandmother) taught me was how to tell if someone (friend or enemy) had walked up to her house in her absence, by using a broom or a tree limb. She would sweep her yard before she left. No grass was allowed to grow in the yard. When she swept the yard, she eliminated any tracks that were present, and upon her return she taught us how to closely examine the tracks left in the sand to reveal the foot imprints to determine who had been there while she was gone. The pathway of the tracks would indicate whether someone was still in the house and if not the prints would tell her where they went.

Many of the photos that I have in my collection were printed and processed in the attic of Granny Harmon’s house. Tom West, who married Opal Harmon, one of Uncle Will’s daughters, built a darkroom in Granny’s attic around the turn of the 1900's.

One of my favorite times was eating breakfast, lunch and supper at Granny’s house. She lost her husband, James Andrew Harmon, when her two boys were just three or four years old. He died of a spider bite in the corn crib, which was a log house built by him to store the corn and homemade wine. Portions of the log crib house still remain, but are very decayed.

Granny Harmon made Cherokee fry bread that would melt in your mouth. She served it with fresh churned butter and her own brand of buttermilk and sorghum molasses that she also made.

I recall one time when I was told about an incident when Granny was walking with her long-billed bonnet pulled down over her face with her walking stick. She was walking to town when some unknown creature attempted to molest her. She whipped the "HELL" out of the old boy with her walking stick and left him lying in the ditch. When she returned from the store on her way back home, the old boy was still in the ditch, moaning and groaning. She proceeded on with a gracious walk singing her song all of the way home. She was only approached one time. After news circulated about her defense methods, she was left alone. She was our tribe’s "Christian Wonder Woman" and she knew it.

Yes indeed, Cousin Billie at Galveston Island and the other Cherokee cousins just don’t know what they are missing with this group of church going family of cousins of the Cherokee family.

It is difficult to describe the beautiful harmony of the Indian voices, especially when Pat and J.R. are leading the music, one at the piano and the other with his well-tuned mandolin. Our own Pat Brockett, the church pianist, is also the office manager of the Aubrey Area Chamber of Commerce. She is doing a fantastic job in this position as well. She has enlisted a record-breaking number of members into this 20-year-old organization.

Pat reminded me of a Halloween party that is scheduled at the TiPi this Saturday night in her neighborhood. The TiPi was built her dad, James Arthur Harmon some few years ago. The Indian heritage of Aubrey is one that goes back to Granny’s life. She was proud of her Native American ancestry. She lived her entire life in the Onega Settlement.