SO, WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT NATIVE AMERICANS?
Trip Start
Dec 08, 1999
1
108
121
Trip End
Jul 21, 2012
What I did
OCONOLUFTEE INCIAN VILLIAGE
Cherokee Nation, International
Saturday, October 8, 2011
NATION WE MADE AN UNEXPECTED
CHANGE OF PLANS.; WE ORIGINALLY
CAME HERE TO GO TO THE INDIAN FESTIVAL
BUT DECIDED TO VISIT THE VILLAGE OF
THE OCONOLUFTEES I LEARNED MORE
ABOUT MY HERITAGE. I LEARNED I AM
NOT AN INDIAN. INDIANS ARE FROM INDIA.
THIS IS WHAT I NOW, CLAIM TO BE: FIRST,
I AM A CHRISTIAN; I AM ECHOTA, A NATIVE
AMERICAN, I AM A PROUD CITIZEN OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, I AM ALSO,
AN ALABAMIAN. I LEARNED NATIVE
AMERICANS ARE JUST THAT. I LEARNED
THEY ARE A PROUD PEOPLE WITH DEEP
BELIEFS AND SO MUCH MORE.
WE SAW, HERE, HOW THE PEOPLE OF
THIS VILLAGE LIVED IN THEIR DAILY LIVES.
I NEVER ASSOCIATED THEIR WAY OF LIFE
AS A COMMUNITY... JUST AS WE LIVE IN OUR
COMMUNITIES, EACH FAMILY LIVED THERE
DAILY LIVES; CONTRIBUTING TO THEIR TRIBE,
MEN TEACHING THE YOUNG BOYS, WOMEN
TEACHING THE YOUNG CHILDREN (EDUCATION),
FOOD FOR THEIR FAMILIES (FARMING), BOATS,
ANIMALS, (TRANSPORTATION). BOWS AND
ARROWS, KNIVES,( PROTECTION). CLOTHING,
SHOES,MEDICINES, (PRESERVATION). THEY
WERE A PEOPLE OF CULTURE; INSTRUMENTS
AND SONGS. THEY HAD TRIBAL; COUNCIL
MEETINGS, (A GOVERNMENT, AN HIERARCHY),
THEY WERE RELIGIOUS (BELIEF IN THE GREAT
GOD) AND SO MUCH MORE. THEY HAD
EVERYTHING THEY NEEDED, INCLUDING LUXURIES
TO LIVE OUT THEIR DAILY LIVES... BEING WISE;
SAFE, HEALTHY AND A HAPPY PEOPLE. I
LEARNED WOMEN WERE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE.
TO THEIR TRIBES... THEIR VILLAGES.. SHE COULD
BE A CHIEF.
