November 9th, 2006 by: Ashley
Did you pass a Cherokee Indian Chief on your way to the office?
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6″ x 8″ watercolor, $60 ($10 donated to the Wolakota Foundation).
See all paintings available for sale.
Downtown and surrounded by office buildings; not a setting where you would expect to see a Chief Cherokee Indian fully outfitted in authentic clothing. Today was an exception. This week marks the Center for Interfaith Relation’s 11th annual Festival of Faiths. One of the many events scheduled for the festival was the tree planting ceremony I attended this morning, summarized in the Festival of Faith’s program as, “Many of the sacred mounds of the Cherokee in the area that is now Louisville were destroyed during building construction. Several of these sites are downtown. Chief Arvol Looking Horse and the local Cherokee and Iroquois communities will lead the tree planting in honor of Native People.”
Chief Arvol Looking Horse is quite the recognized leader as founder of the Wolakota Foundation, which has established spiritually grounded “programs for sustaining traditional teachings of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nation as well as researching and demonstrating practices for sustainable, ecologically-balanced living.”
An eclectic mix of participants (Buddhists monks to businessmen) gathered in a circle to watch the ceremony, which closed by the circle folding in on itself as one person initiate a chain by turning to the left and shaking the hand of each person down the line. A great way to start any morning.
2 Comments
December 7th, 2006 at 2:39 am
OSiYo (hello),
This is a comment on fact and not in regards to any single individual. There are three Chiefs of Cherokee in the United States: Principle Chief Chad Smith, Cherokee Nation (Tahlequah, OK), Chief Michelle Hicks, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina (Cherokee, NC) and Chief George Wickliffe, United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma (Tahlequah, OK). While others may call themselves “chief” it would be like going around saying you were the president of the United States, while we all know there is only one elected offical with that title. This is the same for Cherokee, for being Cherokee is a matter of citizenship and not racial blood (however, it should be noted the UKB and the Eastern Band have blood quantum requirements to be members, while at this time, the Cherokee Nation does not.)
It is not acceptable to many of us whom are citizens of the Cherokee Nation for others to call themselves representives of the Cherokee. That would be the same as an Irish American, returning to where his ancestor’s came from and saying he was a citizen of Ireland and begin telling the citizens of Ireland what there culture was, etc.
Thank you for you time.
Tutsi or Roy
December 14th, 2006 at 6:41 pm
Roy,
I greatly appreciate your comment. I did double check the Wolakota Foundation’s website and “chief” was the title used. I will admit my ignorance on the topic, and maybe therefore not as sensitive to the intracacies. But I hope that Arvol Looking Horse would be aware of your point. I’m going to trust that chief is an appropriate title.
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