WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.200 Helly, good morning and welcome, welcome, welcome me. It's time now 2 00:00:02.240 --> 00:00:05.719 for Cherokee Chat. John Weston in the house and John, as always, 3 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:08.320 he brings fans. How you doing, I do, Tom, how are 4 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:12.119 you doing? Super doop osio and nagatostus on the lee, which just means 5 00:00:12.720 --> 00:00:17.719 hello everyone, Good morning, Welcome to another edition of Cherokee Chat. Last 6 00:00:17.760 --> 00:00:20.839 time we were here, Tom, we talked about the potential for wicked weather. 7 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:27.399 Unfortunately Oklahoma weather delivered. Well you prophi. Yeah, and we certainly 8 00:00:27.440 --> 00:00:30.000 want to keep all those folks affecting our prayers and help out where we can. 9 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:33.640 Our hearts go out to the people of Barnstall. I know several businesses 10 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:38.079 in Barnstall and the area who either organize drives for supplies or open their doors 11 00:00:38.119 --> 00:00:41.880 for people who needed shelter. We all know, the Barsels an amazing community. 12 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:44.079 When it comes to that, I can remember, you know, my 13 00:00:44.280 --> 00:00:48.560 entire life, I've lived here, so I can remember the eighty four flood 14 00:00:48.679 --> 00:00:51.359 and they wiped out part of the west side of town. And you know, 15 00:00:51.479 --> 00:00:55.799 we always, we always seem to come together and build, We come 16 00:00:55.840 --> 00:00:58.479 together as a community. I think it's great. I think I'm very fortunate 17 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:03.399 to live in a community like this. So, as always with the h 18 00:01:03.479 --> 00:01:07.159 of our episodes, we want to extend our thanks to our sponsor, Cooperative 19 00:01:07.159 --> 00:01:10.560 Crewdit Union. They are located at three thirteen West ninth Street and Coffeeville. 20 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.680 They're all about providing you with great personal financial services. They want to remind 21 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:17.439 you that when life happens, a little extra money can help. And that's 22 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:21.079 probably something people are realizing right now. Who hasn't been there. It's an 23 00:01:21.120 --> 00:01:23.280 unexpected car repair, home repair, medical bills they can really add up. 24 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.760 They want to remind you that they're here to help. Cooperative Credit Union it's 25 00:01:26.799 --> 00:01:32.280 where you belong. Check them out today on Facebook or other website at cooperativecu 26 00:01:32.400 --> 00:01:37.680 dot com. Insured by NCUA. And speaking of Coffeeville Credit Union, I 27 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:40.319 saw their president, Lyle Martin this weekend. It was at the one hundred 28 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:45.400 and twenty fifth anniversary homecoming and picnic of the Indian Women's Pokhontas Club Nice and 29 00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:48.359 it was a great event. He couldn't stay very long and he had to 30 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:52.920 head back to Bartisville because he was celebrating his parents' seventieth wedding anniversary. Now 31 00:01:52.959 --> 00:01:55.599 I can't even imagine that. In fact, I was just telling stage before 32 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:59.959 he came on that I'm going to be married for sixteen years on Saturday, 33 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:04.120 so I could not imagine being married for seventy years. That's a lifetime in 34 00:02:04.159 --> 00:02:07.799 itself. But we're going to wish the Martin's a happy anniversary. That family 35 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:10.199 is a kind and positive influence of the Cherokee Nation in our communities, and 36 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:14.680 we're happy to see the Martins reach that mile. So this past Saturday's event 37 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:17.319 was held at the Will Rogers birthplace that's near Ulaga, just off the lake. 38 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.800 Will's birthplace was the Dog Iron Ranch. In last June, Cherokee Nation 39 00:02:22.919 --> 00:02:25.759 acquired it and is in the process of restoring the house there on the grounds. 40 00:02:25.960 --> 00:02:30.039 I have to say, as a Cherokee, seeing that Cherokee Nation flag 41 00:02:30.080 --> 00:02:32.280 when I pulled in, it gave me a boost of pride. Honestly, 42 00:02:34.120 --> 00:02:36.680 it gives you a good feeling. The ladies of the club did a wonderful 43 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:39.039 job organizing the event. It's always good to seeing some of our friends from 44 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:43.080 that club. Manta Ewing, the club president, was there, Ali Starr, 45 00:02:43.240 --> 00:02:46.120 she was the main organizer. Celest Tillery and of course Chris Crane from 46 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:50.919 Fried Bread Journey. She's been on the show before and a secretary at Native 47 00:02:50.919 --> 00:02:53.319 American Fellowship. Manta is actually going to be on our show with us here 48 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:58.199 on Cherokee Chat in June seventeenth, we were able to catch up with Shella 49 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.400 Bolin, who's our Secretary of State from Cherokee Nation Can Duncan or Undersecretary. 50 00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:06.520 It's always good to see them. I spoke with counselors Poindexter and Kevin Easley 51 00:03:06.639 --> 00:03:09.240 and our former counselor over there, Keith Austin, and he's helping to oversee 52 00:03:09.280 --> 00:03:13.919 the restoration project, and he said, we would guys talk a little bit 53 00:03:13.919 --> 00:03:16.120 about the efforts to have going on there, and he said something I thought 54 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:21.039 was pretty profound about the whole process. He said, one of the difficulties 55 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:25.479 restoring a historical building that needs work is you're restoring some of the main elements 56 00:03:25.520 --> 00:03:30.919 of the building without actually disturbing certain aspects of it. So, for example, 57 00:03:30.000 --> 00:03:32.400 the roof is in desperate need of repair. He said, there were 58 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:35.800 just tons of leaks that were in the roof, and say that they've got 59 00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:38.319 the shingling stripped off and everything, and he said, but the problem is 60 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:44.879 in some of the repair efforts. They have log hewned rafters, so you 61 00:03:44.919 --> 00:03:49.319 want to make sure you keep those things in their place and undisturb when you're 62 00:03:49.319 --> 00:03:52.879 actually trying to build around it. And he said, so that's going to 63 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.840 be a long and tricky process. It's that's going to be a little tedious 64 00:03:55.879 --> 00:04:00.719 exactly if anyone knows, if anyone's ever worked on their home and done something 65 00:04:00.800 --> 00:04:04.080 major like that, replacing flooring or replacing a roof, Yeah, it's going 66 00:04:04.159 --> 00:04:08.319 to be. It's a job without having to worry about that. Yeah. 67 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:11.919 Set the event, there were several vendors, There was live music. We 68 00:04:11.960 --> 00:04:15.800 had traditional games such as hatchet throwing, cornstock shooting Cherokee marbles, and I 69 00:04:15.959 --> 00:04:23.360 tried my hand for the first time of my life at at at laddle. 70 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:27.560 I have a hard time saying that at laddle for those that don't know, 71 00:04:27.680 --> 00:04:30.600 well, before the invention of the bow, at laddles were used to throw 72 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:33.399 spears. It's basically a piece of wood with a hook on one end and 73 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:38.360 sometimes it has a rest on the other and the hook goes into the blunt 74 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:41.759 end of the arrow or spear, and you study it and then you get 75 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:46.480 it lined up with your target and then you overthrow. You basically you throw 76 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:48.839 it just kind of like you would a ball, and what it does is 77 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:55.079 your arm and the at laddle actually act as a It actually gives you leverage 78 00:04:55.319 --> 00:04:58.040 to give you a little more speed and power as you try to whip. 79 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:01.040 Actually exactly, that's exactly where right. And the cool thing is, I 80 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:05.480 mean, they have discovered that this was technology that was used all around the 81 00:05:05.560 --> 00:05:09.959 world. In fact, I think they it went back as far as they 82 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:14.079 found one that was like thirty two thousand years old, and they actually found 83 00:05:14.600 --> 00:05:17.360 the skull to arms of some of the prehistoric people. They call it at 84 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:24.759 lettle elbow because of the repetitive nature of using that to hunt and probably to 85 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:29.040 go to battle. I would imagine they actually saw repetitive stress injuries for those 86 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:31.040 folks. Wow. And the cool thing is the guy that was running it. 87 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:35.439 He told me that the world record for the longest spear throw was two 88 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:39.600 hundred and eighty six yards, So, I mean you think about that for 89 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:44.079 a minute. I mean this's almost three football fields, man. Yeah. 90 00:05:45.560 --> 00:05:48.399 So anyway, we had a great time at the hatchet throwing contest as well. 91 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:54.279 Bill Davis, Chris Crane, Harry Howard and I. We all played 92 00:05:54.319 --> 00:05:58.120 for Naffy because we kind of vited up into communities. And today I brought 93 00:05:58.199 --> 00:06:03.519 somebody with me who's nonger to stickball or hatchet throwing, blowguns or anything Cherokee 94 00:06:03.639 --> 00:06:09.319 related or really and that's Sage Ellison of Sage Brush Beads. How are you, 95 00:06:09.399 --> 00:06:12.920 Sage? I'm good, great. So we had talked about you coming 96 00:06:13.000 --> 00:06:16.759 on today before the show, and I wanted to mention before we get started 97 00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:21.040 that Sage helped out at our last cultural day. She helped with beating and 98 00:06:21.480 --> 00:06:26.040 just taught. We had probably about one hundred and twenty people out there so 99 00:06:26.240 --> 00:06:29.000 for our Cultural Day, and it was great. But she had a little 100 00:06:29.000 --> 00:06:31.519 booth set up out there and she would help with beating. And what I 101 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:36.199 came away with was a better understanding of the ability of some of the kids, 102 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:42.240 some kids who had never beat it before. Yeah. I was just 103 00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:45.199 amazed at what they were able to do. So have you seen that before? 104 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:46.759 I mean, do you see that very often the kids are able to 105 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.120 maybe do a little better than some of the adults when they're trying it out. 106 00:06:49.399 --> 00:06:54.720 I haven't until that day. Like I had taught my sisters and they 107 00:06:54.759 --> 00:06:58.120 struggled with it a little bit, but there was one kid and he really 108 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:01.040 understood it. He sat there with me all day and he did just about 109 00:07:01.079 --> 00:07:03.600 as good as I did. A few months in. Yeah, I was 110 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.279 amazed he made a keych either it was a key chain or something. Yeah. 111 00:07:06.480 --> 00:07:10.040 Yeah. So, and then the other thing I got to kind of 112 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:13.759 brag on her about is we had some kids, and of course we were 113 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:18.800 being safe. But she's really great with some of the younger people. And 114 00:07:19.279 --> 00:07:23.040 I just want to ask you, you know, I try to ask everybody 115 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:25.759 this because not everyone comes to it in the same way. Some people are 116 00:07:25.839 --> 00:07:30.199 born into it, some people discover their identity through it native culture. But 117 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:33.399 how did you become interested in your Cherokee culture. I've always been around it, 118 00:07:33.560 --> 00:07:36.519 really. I spent a lot of time with my grandma growing up, 119 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:41.720 and she always took us to the elder nutrition and I spent a lot of 120 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:46.879 time with elders growing up. I heard their stories. She instilled it in 121 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:50.920 us really early on that on oor year elders and everything. So that's a 122 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:57.040 mindset that's I've carried on for twenty years and everything. Yeah, and her 123 00:07:57.040 --> 00:08:01.480 grandmother was Barbara Ellison, just a sweet lady. Everyone I've ever talked to 124 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:03.920 has nothing the nice things to say about her. And she showed me a 125 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:09.319 picture one time over and she's a little five foot grandmother. I think everyone 126 00:08:09.360 --> 00:08:13.800 could say that's kind of about their grandma's But she was trying to load her 127 00:08:13.920 --> 00:08:16.439 up with food when she was over at her house, and I said that, 128 00:08:16.680 --> 00:08:20.759 just that's a typical Cherokee or a really typical grandma anywhere you go, 129 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:26.199 right always thinking their grandkids are going hungry for some reason. So, you 130 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:30.000 know, embracing your Cherokee heritage. What are make some of the values you 131 00:08:30.040 --> 00:08:35.519 think you've learned from it. I've never really thought about that. Like my 132 00:08:35.639 --> 00:08:39.799 grandma instilled in me, like honoring elders and anything. That's something that I 133 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:45.000 always try to carry with me. Please remember that as we get older. 134 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:52.840 I don't really know. Well. I think one of the things, one 135 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:56.279 of the things I've learned from it is it's just the aspect of community. 136 00:08:56.559 --> 00:08:58.879 Yeah, always given back, you know, and always helping each other out. 137 00:09:00.279 --> 00:09:03.240 I mean, just like we saw in the aftermath of tornadoes, you 138 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:07.000 know, always going around helping each other out. So what led you to 139 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:09.159 become How did you become interested in beating, is what I want to know. 140 00:09:09.240 --> 00:09:11.559 Did your grandma teach you that? Or is that? Okay? I 141 00:09:11.720 --> 00:09:15.679 was the first person in my family that was interested in anything like that. 142 00:09:16.399 --> 00:09:18.679 I was going through a really hard time. My mental health was non existent, 143 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:22.120 and I needed something to do other than sit at home crying around. 144 00:09:22.840 --> 00:09:28.120 So I turned to that. I taught myself with YouTube and TikTok and whatever 145 00:09:28.200 --> 00:09:31.759 else I could find, and eventually I got a little bit better, and 146 00:09:31.960 --> 00:09:37.879 I started buying better supplies, and I've just kept going now. So you 147 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:39.919 really turned that into a positive I did, really. I mean, that's 148 00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:43.279 great. Nice so as an artist, because I really I consider you an 149 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:48.080 artist beating your art farms and you know, like you know, songs, 150 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:52.360 songs are an art, you know, of writing poetry is art very much 151 00:09:52.399 --> 00:09:54.919 in art, especially in the Native communities. How do you see it as 152 00:09:54.960 --> 00:09:58.679 a way to represent, you know, Native culture to the public and other 153 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:01.320 natives? I mean, do you see it as a way to sort of 154 00:10:01.440 --> 00:10:05.559 open up about your Cherokee Here we're a monolith, but we're all the same 155 00:10:05.720 --> 00:10:09.960 and everything exactly. You know. I always think it's funny to watch some 156 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:11.600 of the older mooiners. I still like that movie, but you know, 157 00:10:13.120 --> 00:10:16.600 as tribal citizen, she's still well. And the funny thing is, you 158 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:20.879 know I'd mentioned that he had been a squad overcoming on Cherokee Chat and for 159 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:24.919 everything you do to keep our cultural Cherokee, I'm sorry, Washington County Cherokee 160 00:10:24.960 --> 00:10:31.039 Association Facebook of and two this month's prize giveaways two coffee cups and Blaze with 161 00:10:31.159 --> 00:10:35.080 Cherokee Nation Seal. You can actually drop the Cherokee word for coffee, Cowie 162 00:10:35.679 --> 00:10:39.600 or the emoji coffee in the comment section on our Facebook page. You can 163 00:10:39.679 --> 00:10:43.480 also tune in to catch the next edition of Cherokee Chat May twenty fourth, 164 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:46.600 at eight thirty in the morning with my guest, Cherokee tribal member and Washington 165 00:10:46.600 --> 00:10:50.279 County Commissioner MIT Channel. You can follow us on Facebook at Cherokee Chat, 166 00:10:50.360 --> 00:10:54.720 or catch us our show on the Barzel Radio Facebook page or on demand to 167 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:58.440 the Barswel Radio app available in the Apple Store. A big Wado to my 168 00:10:58.519 --> 00:11:03.759 guest, sa Jellison and to all of you Doha until we meet again.