A Lot Of Young Girls

Though Many Non-native Americans Have Learned Very Little About Us, Over Time We Have Had To Learn Everything About Them. We Watch Their Films, Read Their Literature, Worship In Their Churches, And Attend Their Schools. Every Third-grade Student In The United States Is Presented With The Concept Of Europeans Discovering America As A "new World" With Fertile Soil, Abundant Gifts Of Nature, And Glorious Mountains And Rivers. Only The Most Enlightened Teachers Will Explain That This World Certainly Wasn't New To The Millions Of Indigenous People Who Already Lived Here When Columbus Arrived.

We Are A Revitalized Tribe. After Every Major Upheaval, We Have Been Able To Gather Together As A People To Rebuild A Community And A Government. Individually And Collectively, Cherokee People Possess An Extraordinary Ability To Face Down Adversity And Continue Moving Forward. We Are Able To Do That Because Our Culture, Though Certainly Diminished, Has Sustained Us Since Time Inmemorial. This Cherokee Culture Is A Well-kept Secret.

Everybody Is Sitting Around Saying, 'well, Jeez, We Need Somebody To Solve This Problem Of Bias.' That Somebody Is Us. We All Have To Try To Figure Out A Better Way To Get Along.

Western Movies Always Seemed To Show Indian Women Washing Clothes At The Creek And Men With A Tomahawk Or Spear In Their Hands, Adorned With Lots Of Feathers. That Image Has Stayed In Some People's Minds. Many Think We're Either Visionaries, `noble Savages,' Squaw Drudges Or Tragic Alcoholics. We're Very Rarely Depicted As Real People Who Have Greater Tenacity In Terms Of Trying To Hang On To Our Culture And Values System Than Most People.

The Happiest People I've Ever Met, Regardless Of Their Profession, Their Social Standing, Or Their Economic Status, Are People That Are Fully Engaged In The World Around Them. The Most Fulfilled People Are The Ones Who Get Up Every Morning And Stand For Something Larger Than Themselves. They Are The People Who Care About Others, Who Will Extend A Helping Hand To Someone In Need Or Will Speak Up About An Injustice When They See It.