Monday June 6

First impression of the environment of Cherokee was it seemed friendly and welcoming, it was definitely a touristy area but full of information or art about Cherokee like painted bears throughout the town..a little different from home but overall the people I came into counter with were nice and helpful. Anyone can come here but I feel blessed to be around the Cherokee and on the boundary.

We don't learn much about the Native American's history, only what the "white man" has said or written in our history books. I don’t believe it has anything to do with their history but more our own is when we got to privately talk with one of the Cherokee Indians and he mentioned that he served our country. He was in WWII and actually today was D day back then. He spoke a little about where he was and what he did in the service. He was in the Navy and told us he was there in Pearl Harbor when the signing of the peace treaty happened. Another thing I found interesting was the marriage of man and woman in the tribe. The ceremony usually took place during the Green Corn festival. The man would present meat as a gift to the wife to prove he was capable of taking care of her and also symbolized his manhood. The woman in return gave an ear of corn or a pot containing food that she had prepared herself to represent her womanhood and her ability to care for her husband. The couple would then tie blankets together to literally representing “tying the knot”.

There was also something I never knew but thought was interesting was the 5 civilized tribes. These tribes included the Cherokee, Creeks, Choctaws, Chickasaws, and the Seminoles. Between 1820 and 1830 these tribes were removed from their homeland and moved out west. They learned how to farm instead of hunting, sent their kids to white schools, wrote their own laws and government, and had converted to Christianity. Of course during the removal, these tribes suffered great losses. The Choctaws lost approximately 15% of their people and Chickasaws were about the same. Seminoles and the Creeks tribe were hit the hardest losing half of their tribe. For the Cherokees they lost between 4 and 8 thousand of their own.

Their values and beliefs that are similar or different from your own I feel we have some similarities and differences. I’m a Christian and raising my child to be just that but in a nondenominational church. I don’t want to ever force the issue so if he ever didn’t want to participate in church, I wouldn’t make him. I feel very strongly that it is his decision to make. Another similarity is family is the center. I rely on them so much for help and support with everything in life and I feel that I can relate that to the Cherokees. Story telling is also done in my family. The difference is it usually is for laughs not to make a point or turn it into a lesson like the Cherokee do with their stories. I feel I am a passionate person about a lot of things. Today I was saying don’t kill that spider because it’s back luck. Throw it out the window for the birds to eat but unfortunately it did get smushed. That’s being close with nature right? But really I care a lot about nature; I just don’t make it encompass my life like the Cherokee do.

This culture’s heritage integrates their children in the community. There are numerous stories made for generations to learn about their history, heritage, make lessons out of failures. They even make jokes about life and nature. Children rely heavily on the elders and look up to them for support, guidance, and life lessons. The elders are highly respected and these children look to them to grow and hopefully become as great as the elders. These children are their future of the Cherokee.

Other influences that affect the Cherokee culture I believe that today’s society is a huge influence on the Cherokee Indian. Their way of life is so interesting but it doesn’t make it easy for them at all for numerous reasons. Some Cherokee are completely against Casinos being on the reservation and others don’t want the government to help them. White man has definitely changed the Native American from what they should have been years ago.

Some common threads in this community that is similar to my community is that I noticed they have a lot of the same things we do like movie theatres, grocery stores,  festivals, marriage, hospitals, healthcare, making money doing what you’re good at for some people like basket weaving, they have schools, and churches like us as well. 

 
Overall I learned a lot today while on tour at the hospital, eating lunch at the local Mexican joint, engaging with a Cherokee Indian-(Jerry Wolfe), and touring the museum. At the hospital, I learned about heart to head to heart communication. It was nothing new but the information was shown differently. As nurses we already need to be caring and listening with our heart and head. It’s what makes a good nurse is to be able to do both for a pt/customer. I learned that the Cherokee like it when you look at them when they speak but they may not always look at you square in the eye. They sometimes look peripherally and the exchange of tobacco is a sign of respect. There was nothing interesting about eating at a Mexican restaurant because we do have those back home but what I found different is the way they treat you. It’s not a big deal but I am a LEMON water lover. When I ask for lemon I would like a bunch and back home when I go to a Mexican restaurant, they give me one slice of a lemon and ignore me when I ask for more. I basically give up when at those restaurants but today the waiter gladly got me more. I was taken aback by that and very thankful for the accommodations. I made sure to extra thank him because it was very nice and made by day. Another event was getting to engage with a Cherokee Indian. It was really cool how he took the time to privately sit down with us and talk about things. He had jokes, he shared stories, and the funniest thing was when we asked for a picture with him and he said, “I was waiting for you to ask”. Hilarious!