Cherokee people of St. Mary's County Maryland

[lostcherokee]

Have a person here in Ky claiming he is a Member of the Cherokee people of St. Mary's county in Maryland.
As of Aug.1 and says he has paper work with Roy P. Dyson's signiture making it legal.....
The application form that he has sent to various people address is a Ky address for the tribe...
Has any one ever heard of them..


Lost Cherokee

[frederica]

Only ones I know of with recognition are the Piscatausy. http://www.bayweekly.com/year03/issuexi47/leadxi47.html                                                    Roy Dyson's sponsored Bills for past year.  http://mlis.state.md.us/2007RS/sponsors/dyson.htm

[frederica]

I checked every where I know, can't find a Cherokee Tribe or Non-Profit that is visible in Maryland. They have nothing that is State or Federal. Still the Piscatamay are the only ones that have applied. There may be some heritage group. Maryland is like Pennsylvania, the lobbist from Atlantic City gambling will fight any type of recognition.

[gdmedicine]

i live on the Cherokee reservation in North Carolina...the motherland of all Cherokee...married to a full blood...been here many years...there is only 3 FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED AND LEGITIMATE TRIBES OF THE CHEROKEE PEOPLE.....they are as follows:
1. Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee NC
2, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, HQ in Talequah OK
3. Kituwah Band of Cherokee Indians also in Oklahoma

[One Hawk]

There is also
The Appalachian Cherokee Nation, Inc.
PO Box 288
Thornburg, VA 22565
www.appalachiancherokeenation.net

This is from a Tribal enrollment application that I was given yesterday at a powwow in MD by a man who said he was the chief of this band. The application seems legit.

I don't know if this is Federally recognized or not, I have not been to the website, but the "Inc." seems to indicate an organization.

[One Hawk]

Ok, I just went to the site.
The name of the Chief and the photo matches the man I got the application from.
In the "Who we are" link there is a staement that they are from several states including MD.
Could this be the MD band in question?

[educatedindian]

If you go to History there's a picture of their chief that doesn't inspie confidence. But they have worked with Nat'l Parks Service.

http://www.nps.gov/plants/MEDICINAL/pubs/mpwgreport2001.htm
"Conducted training for Appalachian Cherokee and Accohanock Tribes. In preparation for conducting inventory and monitoring assessments on tribal lands for plants of concern identified by the Conservation Committee, Sacred Seed Project, a PCA-MPWG member organization, provided a 2-day hands-on training for Native American tribes interested in completing plant inventories on tribal lands. The training covered plant identification, herbarium specimen development, and the PCA-MPWG inventory protocol piloted in North Carolina. The training was held at University of Maryland–Eastern Shore campus, and featured presentations by tribal members who had inventoried native plants on their tribal lands, as well as PCA-MPWG plant specialists who had conducted inventories in North Carolina. The later presenters helped to provide project consistency.
This effort helps meet Objective 2, which identifies the need for partnerships. It also provides training identified in the grant as a requirement for work with tribal people.

Inventoried 16 acres of Appalachian Cherokee tribal land in Rockingham County, Virginia, for black cohosh, blue cohosh, goldenseal, ginseng and bloodroot (species identified as conservation concerns by the Conservation Committee),  to determine the extent of its range to the east of the Appalachian Mountains. Approximately 25 plots were established during a week of field work."

They also show up on a list of tax exempt groups. And also worked with NASA.

http://www.artreachstudios.com/currentevents.html
"Bridging the Appalachian Cherokee Nation with NASA
Artreach has received a grant from NASA to begin coordinating a relationship between the Appalachian Cherokee Nation and NASA scientists and E/PO personnel. The sessions are taking place at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, MD."

A myspace page says their chief is Ray Longwolf Crouch, and that he's involved in a charity.
http://forum.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=messageboard.viewThread&entryID=50714651&groupID=100287113&adTopicID=8&Mytoken=C10DCBE4-C7B9-400C-9F3C1E53F0B076AD3689249

[One Hawk]

 When I met him, Ray seemed genuine. I got none of that "something's not right here" feeling.
Apparently his group is doing some good work, not limited to only his own people. There is some new-agey stuff mixed in with it but it is good work.
Still, this doesn't shed much light on the original question.
Maybe "lostcherokee" could call Ray and ask what he knows about it. 

[lostcherokee]

No, its not the same group.This person is to vein to share the title"chief" with any one else.Seems like it was said that he goes the the Lexington park area and has for several years,doing school programs.I believe it was around Nov. But he Bs and goes on so much a deaf person would get tired of listening to him.

[lostcherokee]

http://www.somdnews.com/stories/111407/entemor111557_32110.shtml


Cherokees 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.

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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

[lostcherokee]

Here is some of his military he is claiming

http://www.pownetwork.org/phonies/phonies1057.htm


L.     01/2005     Burlington, NC     Claims Army Major, Ranger;  Purple Hearts w/7 CLUSTERS; Bronze Star w/ V; Silver Star w/V; Vietnam Service Medal w/1Silver 2 Bronze; DSC; Federal Germany War Cross of Merit; CIB (2nd); Master Paratrooper (11 combat jumps); 7th Grp SF     One of the worst cases of altered DD214 we have every seen.

VFW National Headquarters: Dec 28, 2004, Special Order No. 136 - Voluntary termination of life membership...by reason of ineligibility....

Jan 8, 2005 TIMES NEWS: Legion Chief stripped of command... Downey 65, who had claimed to be a highly decorated Army veteran.... was immediately replaced. .. "the government is trying to get this matter straightened out" Downey said...

any one know how to check out his claims have contacted vfw in the area he is now living in but no reply
and checked with a aim chapter in n.c.
but nothing yet.