SPOKESPERSON MESSAGE: May 2024
ᎣᏏᏲ ᏂᎦᏛ osiyo nigad! (hello, everyone!)
We have an information-packed newsletter for you this month. I hope everyone enjoyed the Chief’s Annual Visit and Picnic last month! This was another record-breaking year, with at least 937 attendees and 263 guests registered for their Cherokee Nation ID cards coming from throughout Northern California.
We owe a debt of gratitude to our incredible volunteers from our community, Cherokees of Northern Central Valley, and neighboring Cherokee Society of the Greater Bay Area. These volunteers worked hard throughout the day to serve our community in the spirit of our core value ᎦᏚᎩ gadugi (coming together as one and working to help one another). Enjoy photos and information from the recent visit.
We have our annual campout coming up on August 23rd through 25th! We are grateful to have Cherokee Nation National Treasure Robert Lewis join us! We will have storytelling, crafts, games, and great food. You’ll want to reserve your campsite or lodging early.
We have a membership gathering and potluck coming up on June 22 as well. We look forward to coming together in community.
Also in this month’s newsletter, we highlight our recent annual cleanup of the John Rollin Ridge Family cemetery plot in Grass Valley, our Cherokee Language Study Group newly formed twice-monthly meetings, heirloom gardening using the Three Sisters and Seed Bank, a local baby owl’s hopeful rescue and importance to Cherokee culture, and a new rotating article to showcase moments from CNCV history. This month, we share information on our newly awarded Honored Elder, Kay (Paden) Griffin.
The CNCV also has a new resource webpage for you with many informative links for citizenship, language, culture, history, health, education, veterans, and more. It's a work in progress and we'll be adding to it as time goes on. Let us know if you'd like to see something specifically there.
We hope to see everyone at the gathering next month and at the campout!
ᏙᏓᏓᎪᎲᎢ dodadagohvi ‘til we meet again,
-- Sabrina McKinney
