http://www.somdnews.com/stories/111407/entemor111557_32110.shtmlCherokees share traditions, culture with young students
Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007
By Meagan Boswell
Staff Writer
Click here to enlarge this photo
Staff Photo by Meagan Boswell
Cheryl Downey, with the Cherokee People of St. Mary’s County, gives a presentation at Mechanicsville Elementary School. Downey and her husband, Randy, along with Ray White and Brenda Reynolds, background, visited last week to educate fourth- and fifth-graders on Cherokee traditions and culture.
E-Mail This Article | Print This Story
Cherokee drums, shawls, weapons, pouches, instrument, fans, breastplates, prayer blankets and a talking stick lined a table at Mechanicsville Elementary School last week as members of the Cherokee People of St. Mary’s County spoke to fourth- and fifth-graders.
‘‘We’re just delighted these guys are here to share their heritage with us,??? said Barbara Abell, principal at Mechanicsville Elementary School. Abell said it was a way to celebrate November as Native American Indian Heritage Month.
‘‘What an honor to have you here,??? Abell said after the group’s presentation.
School presentations are an essential part of what members of the Cherokee tribe does, according to Cheryl Downey, one of the native group’s presenters.
‘‘In local areas, part of our duties are to work with children and elders,??? she said.
She’s part of a group that has been coming to St. Mary’s County from throughout the East Coast for the past 17 years, beginning with a Veterans Day parade they were invited to almost two decades ago.
‘‘We’ve been coming ever since,??? Cheryl Downey said. The group started visiting schools and giving cultural presentations three years ago.
‘‘We love working with children,??? Cheryl Downey said. ‘‘We encourage members, no matter where they are, to work??? and teach others.
Part of that emphasis on children comes from a desire to help youth understand real American Indian traditions and culture.
‘‘We are not portrayed as on TV and movies,??? said Randy Downey, Cheryl’s husband. ‘‘We did not live in teepees. We lived in houses. We were farmers by profession, and hunters.
According to Randy Downey, Cherokee girls spent their time cooking, serving, learning to make clothes, gathering firewood, planting and harvesting crops, baby-sitting and taking classes with Cherokee elders. Boys in Cherokee society hunted, fished, sat around campfires and helped provide for the lodge.
Randy Downey also said that Cherokee people were not painted and did not ‘‘know the word war until the coming of white man.
‘‘We were never cannibals,??? Randy Downey said. ‘‘To our people life was very sacred. ... To us life is very special and sacred. ... We did not take it... It was a long, hard decision to go to war.
Other traditions and customs discussed at the school last week included dowries for brides, which Cheryl Downey said were an important part of Cherokee society.
‘‘If he did not offer what the family thought their daughter was worth, he would offend them,??? she said. ‘‘It also showed how bad he wanted her as his wife.
‘‘Women were treated better than people think,??? she said. ‘‘They always had an equal voice ... The woman owned everything in the house, including the house. Men only owned their moccasins and weapons.
Divorce was easy within Cherokee tribes as well.
‘‘If a woman wanted to divorce her husband she put his moccasins outside the lodge,??? Cheryl Downey said, adding that sometimes women who were angry would also put their husband’s weapons outside the home as well — women generally did not touch a man’s weapons because of a ‘‘woman’s spirit is very strong.
One student asked Randy Downey how much all of the gear a member of a Cherokee tribe would wear weighed.
‘‘About 80 pounds,??? he said.
After Randy Downey explained that a person had to be holding a wooden rod referred to as a talking stick in order to be permitted to speak, one student asked what happened if someone was to break the talking stick. Randy Downey replied that a new one would be made.
‘‘Did you all have regular phones?
asked one student.
‘‘We do now,??? Cheryl Downey said. ‘‘In modern times we’re like everybody else. We’re no different. We walk a separate road where we teach traditions.
Cheryl Downey said that the death of a family member or friend is mourned for one or two years, depending on the relation of the deceased. Members of the Cherokee tribe cut their hair and send a portion of it with the dead, and also do not participate in traditional dances during the mourning period.
‘‘Everything we do is based on respect,??? Cheryl Downey said.
Randy Downey also told the students ‘‘we are a sovereign nation,??? and that when someone visits a reservation they are guests.
‘‘It was cool,??? said 9-year-old Brett Lagana, a fourth-grader at Mechanicsville who liked the deer horns on display last week at the presentation.
‘‘I like the pouches things and the rattles with the turtle shell on it,??? said Samantha Youmans, 9, also a fourth-grader. ‘‘It was pretty cool.
Part of Cherokee culture is the stories used to teach lessons to others, particularly children, Cheryl Downey said. She told a story of a bird that learned that passing a test meant being well prepared and doing its best.
‘‘[The test was about] could you do the best you could,??? Cheryl Downey said. ‘‘When you get ready for something you need to figure out what you need to do. ...You have to know that ‘if I do my very best, the very, very best I can do, you passed the test. If you work hard, you prepare, you have a plan, that was the main test.
Randy Downey claims to also be lakota and thought by frank fools crow if you go to the link he is the heavy set one in the corner
