History: Decoration Day, Memorial Day, or Decoration Month?
This past May, the CNCV volunteers held our annual maintenance at the John Rollin Ridge Family Cemetery Plot located in the Greenwood Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Grass Valley, California. The CNCV buys lunch for our volunteers. Traditionally, we eat at Maria’s Mexican Restaurant in Grass Valley. During lunch, our most loyal and original volunteer, Ted Richardson informed us that in Oklahoma and the Cherokee Nation, Cherokee communities recognize May as Decoration Month, a month of remembrance. Not all Cherokee communities commemorate on the same day or weekend. Relatives and families will attend, decorate graves, and recognize loved ones. They decorate graves, visit, pray, remember, recall and share stories, sing, cry, and laugh, hold potlucks, play games, commune, reconnect with family and friends, and celebrate their profound “generosity of spirit”.
Some form of this event is recognized by many peoples in many countries all over the world. These events most likely have ancient roots in our human history. Our Sister Community, Marble City Activity Organization, holds theirs on Memorial Day weekend. Not all Cherokee communities hold their commemorations on the same day or weekend. They run throughout May. Historically, Decoration Day is a Southern tradition. It’s unclear when this started. I remember as a kid in Oildale, California, my mother, aunts, uncles, and families would visit my grandmother’s grave and decorate it with flowers on Decoration Day. To my surprise, my wife Liz’s family (Liz is a 5th generation Californian) in Northern California, recognized Decoration Day as well. One source claims that a group of formerly enslaved people held commemorations less than one month after the surrender of the confederacy in April of 1865, in Charleston, South Carolina.
When did Decoration Day become Memorial Day and what’s the difference? The first modern Memorial Day took place at Arlington National cemetery on May 30, 1868, and was called Decoration Day. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Act Holiday, which went into action on the Federal level in 1971. An act of congress declared Memorial Day to be the last Monday of May, and declared it to be a holiday for federal employees. Memorial Day honors all who have died in military service. Not to be confused with Veterans Day, which honors all veterans living and dead in November. In my opinion, Decoration Day in Oklahoma and Cherokee Nation communities honor our families, friends, and military connections. The reason the CNCV chose May to do our annual maintenance was solely based on the time of the year, betting on good weather conditions. It was dumb luck that it was happening at the same time as Cherokee Nation Decoration Month. Now we know we’re in step with the Cherokee Nation and families. Wado to the Creator, who works in mysterious ways to guide us.
Respectfully,
Mike Webb, proud Cherokee Nation Citizen
