CHAIRPERSON MESSAGE: January 2025
ᎣᏏᏲ ᏂᎦᏛ osiyo nigad! (hello, everyone!)
ᎤᎵᎮᎵᏍᏗ ᎢᏤ ᎠᏕᏘᏱᏍᎬᎢ ulihelisdi itse adetiyisgvi or Happy New Year!
We are looking forward to a great year filled with Cherokee fellowship, our wonderful community, and Cherokee cultural and language events.
Please join us at our upcoming membership meeting on Saturday, February 15. As storytelling and community are foundational to us as Cherokees, we plan to begin a project sharing stories about how our Cherokee families came to California and map them out together. We hope to see you there!
Speaking of the power of storytelling:
We share information on an impactful new novel by Cherokee Nation citizen and award-winning journalist Rebecca Nagle titled By the Fire We Carry. It is well worth a read or listen!
Enjoy the retelling of an old story about the Origin of the Pleiades and the Pine from James Mooney’s 1902 publication, Myths of the Cherokees.
And, the “ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ Dadiwonisi (We Will Speak)” film is now available to watch on demand through Kanopy! This platform is available on your computer, tablet, or as an app through streaming devices like Apple TV or Roku. It is completely free with a library card or university login! This 1 hour and 35 minute video highlights the critical work of language activists, artists, youth, and elders who are now leading a growing movement of urgent radical revitalization efforts to help save the Cherokee language from the brink of extinction. The film also delves into the history of the Cherokee syllabary, the destructive assimilationist legacy of boarding schools, the lasting impacts of the Trail of Tears, and the ways in which members of the Cherokee tribe reconcile their relationship to American identity.
The CNCV is finalizing a recipe book as part of a collaborative project with our Sister City, Marble City Activity Organization. We could use a few more recipes from our members. Please feel free to share a family recipe, picture, and a short story or commentary on it for inclusion in the book. We want to showcase a variety from our wonderful Cherokee community! Please send to cncv.communications@gmail.com.
Make sure to mark your calendars now for our biggest events of the year:
Cherokee Nation Community & Cultural Outreach Annual Meeting and Chief's Picnic on Sunday, April 27 (location to be announced). We are excited to visit with our Principal Chief and other Cherokee Nation representatives. We expect that Registration will also be on site to provide photo ID cards for registered citizens. There will be plenty of fellow Cherokees to visit with and crafts for the kids!
CNCV Annual Campout held August 1-3. You can make your reservations now!
It's the beginning of the year, which means it's time to pay our annual dues, which cover from January 1 to December 31. We respectfully ask you to please renew your membership to keep our Cherokee community strong! Membership dues go to events, outreach, scholarships, and strengthen our community’s connection to the Cherokee Nation back home. Here’s how to renew.
Our hearts are with all those impacted by the devastating wildfires in Southern California this month. We are saddened to see the destruction of Will Rogers’ historic home and ranch in the Palisades wildfire, known as the Will Rogers State Historic Park. Will Rogers is known as one of our most famous Cherokee Nation citizens and this loss is felt by all. Our friend, great-granddaughter of Will Rogers, and family spokesperson, Jennifer Rogers Etcheverry said, “While the loss to the Will Rogers Ranch is devastating, it pales in comparison to the loss of the property and businesses, and more importantly, the lives of those in the surrounding area. The Rogers family is devastated by the loss of the California ranch and the overwhelming loss of the community. Our hearts go out to all those neighbors who have lost their homes.”
Channeling the legacy and generosity of Will Rogers, Jennifer also shared, “Several of the Will Rogers State Historic Park family members, including docents, rangers, and our WRRF co-founder have lost everything. Many escaped with only the clothes on their back. The Will Rogers Ranch Foundation is accepting donations that will go to help our WRSHP family in their time of crisis.”
Finally, the CNCV has a resource webpage for you with many informative links for citizenship, language, culture, history, health, education, veterans, and more. Let us know if you'd like to see something specifically there.
We’re looking forward to visiting together at these events throughout the year and enjoying community, culture, history, and language with you!
ᏙᏓᏓᎪᎲᎢ dodadagohvi (‘til we meet again),
-- Sabrina McKinney
