Speak Cherokee

Honoring the Ancestors, Part 2

2012-01-31T15:57:00.000-08:00

Osiyo!

Ancestor Ceremony

Last week's post on the Ancestor Ceremony struck a chord with many people. I'll share two responses from Cherokee expatriates in Europe:

Wado for the infoMr. Wilkes.

It comes at aneeded time as I was preparing something for this weekend to honor my ancestorswith my young daughter. Again the coincidence surprises me. I am speechless. Iwish a knew an old Cherokee prayer, to recite it properly and respectfully.
Don't know what else to say. I guess I will learn one old Cherokee story, Kanatiand the Thunder Boys, or one of the funny stories of deer and rabbit byheart... and tell them to my 5 year old daughter. Actually, thinking ofancestors it’s just down on me to tell the story of the Bear cousins and howthey went back to the forest. I think that this will be the best story to tell,showing that our ancestors never leave truly but may pass by to help if we askrespectfully and honor them.
May your days be full of blessings.
Donadagohvi.
Mattia (Italy)

Dear Mr. Wilkes,

This mailing list has helped me to learn somethingimportant about my ancestors that was lost. I will start my firstAncestor Ceremony tomorrow and never forget it every year as long as I havelife left to share. I am from a broken home. Learning these ceremonies helps meto feel connected to something bigger. Your mailing list has given so much andI wish to take the time to say thank you.

Best wishes,

Robbin Lara (Germany)

On the weekend of February 4, many people will observethe Ancestor Ceremony.

Some of you have asked how they can conduct the ceremony.While the Internet is hardly the place to teach or even discuss ceremonialpractices, this is more of a family observance. The formal ceremony is one thathas been passed down through your family. If none has been passed down, thesimplest thing to do is to set an extra place at the table. This is in additionto the "spirit plate" that is prepared and taken outside to sharehospitality with any creatures who care to partake.

Bring out the genealogies, photos, personal effects ofvarious family members who have crossed. Share stories of their lives. Play orsing their favorite music and songs, prepare their favorite foods.

Ancestor tsunigayvlige-iyu, tsunigayvliiyvlistanv

Family dudatihnavi, duhldinavi, tsidanalu, sidanelvhi

Clan tsuniyvwi, usdahlvi

The Ancestor Ceremony has become the modern replacementfor the Midwinter Ceremony, which sought to drive off the spirits of cold, hungerand disease that claimed so many lives. The spirit-repelling ceremony evolvedinto the Masked Dance, common called the Booger Dance. In that ceremony,community and family are clearly identified in an “us versus them” scenario,with a group of “demon” party-crashers parodied, satirized, and danced outsideinto the winter to go their own way in peace. The characters, originallypersonifications of hardships and diseases, evolved into hostile Indians,whites, blacks and Asians. More recent characters include an anthropologist, anda white woman on the prowl for a hot, buff Indian pow-wow dancer. I know for a fact that the Booger Dancecontinued into the late 1940s in East Kentucky and Tennessee, and have heardthat it continued into the 1960s in some communities.

Ancestor Ceremony allows us to define community andfamily on our own terms, as appropriate to our own situation. It’s you dinnertable, so select your guests wisely.

---

Several of you asked about the Calendar Analysis, whichhad been reduced in December. I’m actually planning to back away from doingthem, because each takes almost a full day to do right. But with Valentine’sDay coming up, and people looking for unique Valentine gifts, I decided to put it back upfor ONE WEEK ONLY.

YEAR 2012 Package

FOUR of my biggest selling Cherokee titlesbundled together for a bargain price!

- 2012 Cherokee Calendar & Manual
- New Cherokee Hymnal
- 13 Moons Calendar
- New Cherokee Dictionary

Over $40 if purchased separately, $29 as apackage.

Until next time,

Honoring the Ancestors

2012-01-24T18:53:00.000-08:00

Osiyo!

Ancestor Ceremony

On the weekend of February 4, or in some areas January 28, people will observe the Ancestor Ceremony. Some of you have asked how they can conduct the ceremony. While the Internet is hardly the place to teach or even discuss ceremonial practices, this is more of a family observance. The formal ceremony is one that has been passed down through your family. If none has been passed down, the simplest thing to do is to set an extra place at the table. This is in addition to the "spirit plate" that is prepared and taken outside to share hospitality with any creatures who care to partake.

This is the day in which the departed ancestors may be remembered with stories, or reviewing the photo album and family tree. It's a good day for teaching the younger generation about the ancestors they never had the chance to meet in this life, but who tradition says will be waiting on the other side to greet us. For example, I recently learned that one of my ancestors was a Confederate cavalry officer who was at the Battle of Petersburg, Virginia, the bloody encounter seen in the 2003 film “Cold Moon”. He also served with Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who led reconnaissance into the area of Marion, Kentucky, where I now live.

The important thing, according to all I've been shown, is not to "summon" the ancestors, especially not to "call" them back, but rather to let it be known that there is plenty of food, and all are welcome.One reader said this brought back memories of the family custom of holding family reunions in a graveyard, complete with table and chairs. The eldest grandmother, who was the ceremonial leader and stone carrier of the family, would say prayers in Cherokee over the headstones of the eldest ancestors. Since this was a private family cemetery, a table and chairs were set up, and a covered dish dinner held. Just why this had to be done in freezing mountain February never made sense to this reader, until she saw the mailing on the Ancestor Ceremony. She was able to recall details, even though none of the family had taken the time to explain what was happening to the youngest child.

One thing is to share parts of the ancestor’s lives… bringing out heirlooms they left. I have wooden candlesticks made by my carpenter grandfather, a steak knife from the family restaurant. Usually we’ll have cherry vanilla ice cream, because it was dad’s favorite. For those of you carrying an old tradition this weekend, bless you. For those of you renewing or initiating it, my best wishes. But either way, please take the time to explain it in ways that even the youngest among you can understand. Family gatherings and teachings, speaking, listening, hugging and sharing, are the true way to keep traditions alive. Blogs and mailing lists are a poor substitute.

NEW WORDS

Ancestor: tsunigayvlige-iyu, tsunigayvliiyvlistanv
Family: dudatihnavi, duhldinavi, tsidanalu, sidanelvhi
Clan: tsuniyvwi, usdahlvi

NEW TITLES

- 2012 Cherokee Calendar with Manual

- New Cherokee Hymnal

- 13 Moons Calendar

- New Cherokee Dictionary

Over $40 if purchased separately, $29 as a package.

http://www.Cherokee-Calendar.com/Year2012Package.htm

Donadagohvi,
Nvwadohiyada!

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

Christmas, Firecrackers, Tea Kettles, and Gifts!

2011-12-14T07:04:00.000-08:00

As you can see, my big green friend is getting into theholiday spirit! But what you may notknow is that he also sings “I’m a little teapot”, because in Cherokee the sameword is used for both a tea kettle and an alligator. If you ever saw the old hobnail-stylecast iron tea kettles that sat in a fire, you can easily see the resemblance toan alligator puffing and snorting, its breath fogging up on a coldmorning. The word written beneath him is“tsulasdi,” the word for both tea kettle and alligator. (in some areas, tsulasgi is used)

The word above him his “danistayohihv”, whicha literally means “they go shooting.” Why would Christmas be celebrated withthat phrase? Because in the old days,the big family Christmas dinner required the man to go hunting on Christmasmorning. Christmas morning was filledwith the festive sounds of children shredding and crackling gift wrappingpaper, and the sounds of hunters in the woods. Another sound of the holiday is the sound of firecrackers, especiallyhere in the South. Imagine long stringsof firecrackers and think of the similarity to long strings of flashingChristmas tree lights... which used to crackle and pop when worn out. See the similarity? So the expression they go shooting refers tohunters, firecrackers, and Christmas tree lights.

Ulihelisdi Danistayohihv!
Be Happy, They Go Shooting

Still time to save $140 on a full year of Speak Cherokee. At$20 per month, you’d pay $240 for 12 months. Until the end of December, you canhave a full 12 months access to the interactive course material for $100!

http://www.speakcherokee.com/ND.htm

Still time forChristmas delivery of a Cherokee Calendar Calculation and Analysis (20 – 25 pages).Normally $97, our holiday special is $77. Order by Saturday December 17, and I’llguarantee digital online delivery in PDF form by Dec 23.

http://www.cherokee-calendar.com/10special.htm

Until next time,
Wishing you all the best,

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

What Does Kemal Ataturk Have To Do With Sequoyah?

2011-11-14T02:08:00.000-08:00

I’m sure you recognize the name Sequoyah… he created the writing system that allowed a great body of Cherokee knowledge and history to be committed to paper, and to survive for future generations.

You may not recognize Mustafa Kemal Ataurk, the father of the modern republic of Turkey. Each, in his own way, is responsible for the literacy of his people, but through almost opposite means.

Seeing the advantage that written communication gave the US military during the 1813-14 Creek War, Sequoyah set about creating a writing system for Cherokee. With an exceptionally sharp ear, he identified the separate sounds of the language, and created 144 characters, 85 of which are used today. For those who spoke Cherokee, it was a simple matter of listening to the syllables and memorizing the characters. Osiyo is spelled o-si-yo.

Kemal Ataturk, on the other hand, grew up surrounded by literacy. A career military officer, he came to lead Turkey from empire to republic, and realized that democracy required education and literacy. He decided that Turkey’s future would be better linked to Europe than to Asia, and remade his country accordingly. While Turkish had been written and printed for centuries with the beautiful but complex Arabic script, he required it to be written with a modified Latin alphabet, as used in all the major European powers except Russia. At the same time, he began a campaign of mandatory public education, including girls, and a literacy program.

Both men succeeded in bringing widespread literacy in a short time. Sequoyah’s was to create a distinct and separate written language to accommodate what he foresaw as the separation of the Cherokee people AWAY from American society. Ataturk sought to integrate his people INTO Europe by creating a system that would not only make Turks literate in their own language, but would lower the barriers to Europeans learning Turkish and doing business with the next republic.

In my years of learning and teaching the language, I’ve come to see Sequoyah’s syllabary as a shining example of the unique Cherokee identity. Like Russian or Korean, it’s immediately recognizable to anyone who has seen it. “Don’t know what it says, but I know it’s Cherokee, and it means we're still here!” Unfortunately, for most students, it becomes an obstacle rather than an aid. many are sidetracked into learning the syllabary, only to realize that they still can’t speak very much. The real way we learn languages is by hearing them over and over. Later, after we already speak as much as we speak of a language, learning to write is comparatively easy.

The Speak Cherokee language course is audio and video based for that reason. Spoken words are matched with images. Listen again and again. It is not another wordlist or set of written lessons. On the web pages of Speak Cherokee, you will find very little syllabary. However, It is being made available in PDF form as a back-up for those who want to learn syllabary as well, because different people prefer different learning styles.

Psychologically, there is no longer “foreign” script acting as a deterrent or roadblock.

Time will tell whether this approach is more efficient, but the initial response has been positive.

Donadagohv,
Brian Wilkes

PS: Native American History Month Special - save $140 on a full year of Speak Cherokee!

The Deeper Meaning of "OSIYO"

2011-10-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Osiyo!

One of the question I frequently get is "What does Osiyo actually mean?"

The word is an emphatic variant of "Osiquu," the positive response to the question "Ositsu?"
"Is it well?" / "It is well."

The variant was popular in the 19th century as a closing to written letters. It was an equivalent to "We're all doing well." At a time when a letter from afar often brought bad news, such as a death, it gradually shifted to a salutation. "Don't worry, all's well, relax and enjoy the letter."

As time progressed, it became a spoken greeting, replacing the older "He!" and "Ka!" except in old prayers where the Holy Ones are being addressed. The late language instructor Sam Hider used to say that osiyo was the only proper greeting in Cherokee. In recent years, those whose first language is English have sought and created other greetings, such as "Osda sunalei" for good morning. However, that is really a statement of condition, and could equally be translated "The morning is good."

My own pet peeve is the practice of placing an unnecessary apostrophe in the word: O'siyo. An apostrophe indicates a place where letter had been dropped. In can't, the apostrophe shows where the letters n-o in cannot have been dropped. Yet in osiyo, nothing has been dropped. I could understand someone who speak with the Kituwa "sh" sound using os'iyo to replace the missing h.
What I think happened is that when the first widely-distributed book on the language, Holmes & Smith's Beginning Cherokee was published in the early Seventies, the font used the same character for apostrophe and accent, making Ósiyo look identical to O'siyo. I don't recall seeing it before that, and haven't found it in any earlier written resource.

A language is a living thing, so changes occur frequently. Perhaps "Osda sunalei" will gradually gain acceptance, and "O'siyo" will look less annoying.

Thought you'd like to know some of the background of one of the most common expressions!

Donadagohvi,
Brian Wilkes

Looking for a unique holiday gift? " Consider a Cherokee Calendar Calculation and Analysis.
Save $20 off the regular price.

About Greetings, a New Dictionary, and the Mother's Day Special ends tonight.

2011-05-09T04:24:00.000-07:00

Osiyo!

Greetings

The late instructor Sam Hider of Oklahoma used to say that there really is only one Cherokee greeting, "Osiyo". Modern adaptations from English, such as "osda sunalei" were actually statements, he said - "the morning is good"- rather than a wish for the listener to experience a good morning.He opined that simply borrowing English phrases and translating them word by word into Cherokee was not the same as learning the language and culture.

Of course, young people were quick to borrow English slang into Cherokee - "What's new?", "What's up?' Doing so was a definite "two-fer"... they could speak in a secret language outsiders understand, AND they could annoy their parents!

"Osiyo" actually derives from the rood word for "good," and Durbin Feeling reminds us that itwas once use as a closing in letters, just before the signature, sort of as "all is well here." Gradually, it migrated to the top of the page to become the salutation.

Then what was the salutation? The interjections "Ka!" or "Sgi!", which would translate loosely as "Hey!", a word used to get attention before conversation.

Mother's Day Special ... Just a Few Hours Left

Mother's Day has passed, and the Mother's Day Special will be taken down tonight. Until then, you can still save $20 on a Calendar Birthdate Analysis or save $93 on a full year of Cherokee instruction by following this link:

http://Cherokee-Calendar.com/mothers.htm

~ New Cherokee Dictionary - in Searchable PDF format ~

I've been studying the language for about 20 years, and have volumes of note and wordlists. It used to be much harder to get a grasp on the language, and there were few researouces available. Over the years, I've digitalized my lists, and I realized I have about 17,000 listings. Thinking these could help other students, I've been "cleaning up" the variant and "creative" spellings and duplicate listings. The result will have about 15,000 entries spanning about 300 pages.

So many of you have said you wanted this, that I decided to give you a break. The final version will run about 300 pages, and about 15,000 entries. It will be priced at about $20 for a searchable PDF download.

Several varients will be given for some words. Here's a sample:

So here's the deal: pre-order the Dictionary now, and pay only $9.97. When the dictionary is released, you'll be sent the download link. When the dictionary IS released, this $9.97 offer will be removed.

~ New Cherokee Hymnal ~

On Easter, we released the New Cherokee Hymnal, in large type for people like me. Ten of the most popular songs, and budget-priced at $5. Perfect for your local classes and signing groups! You can learn more here: http://www.SpeakCherokee.com/hymnal

That's enough for now, but there's more to come... including the 10-Day Immersion course coming up in Cherokee, NC.

Until next time, Osiyo!

Brian Wilkes

new Cherokee Hymnal Available! And, Answering Your Questions...

2011-04-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

Responses to Hymnal:

“Thank you!! I just purchased and downloaded the Hymnal. It's great!”

- BM, Wichita, KS

Get yours now!

Responses to Mother’s Day Special:

Loretta writes:

I have 3 questions:
1 - You don't indicate what the price is for the Birthday Analysis. You say it's reduced $20, but you do not give the price. Even when I clicked on the flowers & the link, you only give the price for the Speak Cherokee Level One.

Thank you, I’ve corrected that. The Analysis is reduced to $77.

2 - Also, you say that the page will come down after May 9, or after the first 10 people have subscribed. So, how will I know at the time of payment if the 10th person has just subscribed immediately before me, and then I can't get my money back from you?

I’ll take the link down after #10, and you won’t be able to complete such a purchase. Even if somehow you had, I only have to hit two buttons in PayPal to make a refund; that’s one reason I use it. In this case, since we’re have weather-related power outages which could prevent me from taking the links down in time, I will honor any completed purchase.

3 - How are the lessons in Speak Cherokee delivered? (internet? email? regular mail? DVD?) I have only dial-up access to the internet, so downloading a video, for ex., is extremely slow. What would I need computer-wise/software-wise to access these lessons in an efficient manner. Please clarify re the above. Thank you!

The program is delivered via a password-protected web site. To be honest, dial-up isn’t good for this. If there’s enough interest to justify the expense, I may put the material into a stand-alone program you’d download into your computer. So far, there’s only been one other request for that.

I’ve also considered reformatting some of the Speak Cherokee content for email delivery… would you be interested in something like that?

Responses to Speak Cherokee Questions:

Kim writes:

I appreciate your addressing my issue (syllabary no displaying in Mac). when will these changes take place so that I can view syllabary? Also, do you know how I record stuff on a Mac? Sorry to trouble; eager to begin but want to get my ducks in a row.
Sgi!

Kim,

Actually, when I’m finished, you won’t see syllabary on the site itself, only on PDFs and videos. Speak first, then read and write. The point of my “rainy day Russian” story was that learning a new writing system for a language you don’t really understand is a sidetrack.

Do you mean record what’s playing on the web, or record yourself? For the first, Freecorder; for the second, Audacity. Both have Mac versions.

Brian

Click the flowers for the Mother's Day Special!

Last Chance for the 2011 Cherokee Calendar.

2011-03-31T21:58:00.000-07:00

It's April 1, and as promised, the 2011 Cherokee Calendar will be taken off the market at the end of the day. The 2012 Calendar will be available no later than September 1.

It's packed with history, prophecy, cultural information, and content to help you learn the Cherokee language.

Everyone has been exposed to some degree of "2012 Hysteria"... the Calendar and Manual can help you understand what the prophecies really say, and what they might mean. But more importantly, I think the Calendar is a great way to introduce yourself, your children and grandchildren to the traditional stories and lessons of our ancestors.

So remember, this is no Kawoni-Fool's Joke... it's your last day to get this package.

All the best,
Brian

Mayan Calendar According to Non-Mayans

2011-03-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

There's a lot of chatter on the Internet today (03-09-11) about this being the start of the "Ninth Wave" or the period of "Universal Galactic Consciousness." Maybe it will be, but the Mayans said no such thing. These interpretations come from several European and American writers, NOT from fluent Mayan day-keepers, as best I can find.

All of this is based on one of the Mayan Calendars called the Long Count, which many think ends on or about December 12, 2012. A minority opinion is that it will end on October 28, 2011. However, some feel the alignment of the Long Count to the modern Gregorian Calendar is dicey at best, and may be off by as much as 52 to 520 years!

All of this is a lead-up to the day when the new cycle begins. All of the "Doomsday" scenarios are based on this inscription:

It says the at the end of the age - at the giant ceremonial New Year's Eve party in the city - "Bolon Yukte Kun," a minor deity, will "descend from heaven." An other interpretation is the BYK will be seen in his full regalia, descending from the heights. The image could have been a re-enactment similar to the annual descent of the Hopi Katsinas from the San Francisco Peaks into the town square.

If this describes a Mayan religious procession, the person portraying BYK will descend from top of the pyramid ("heaven") to ground level ("earth"), in plain sight of the people.

BYK is sometimes called "the many taloned claw" or "the many-rooted tree," which puts us in mind of the Tree of Knowledge in heaven replicated by the Tree of Peace (Harmony) here on earth. This can be a poetic way of saying that the ideal harmony of heaven will be re-established here in our world.

Still with me? Here comes Mr. Science. Some fad writers are saying that one of several galactic catastrophe scenarios will play out:

1. An alignment between the solstice sun and the geometric center of the galaxy
2. An alignment between the black hole in the center of the galaxy and the sun and earth
3. An alignment with the dark rift and the solstice sun
4. A pass through the galactic plane by the solar system.

Just as it might have been a good idea to consult genuine Mayan day-keepers about the significance of the Calendar dates, it would have been a great idea to consult with genuine scientists before speading some of these theories around and blaming them on the Mayans.

No Planet X, no Niburu. That doesn't mean a disaster won't happen at one of these dates, but if so, it will more coincidence than prophecy.

PS: The 2011 Cherokee Calendar will only remain on sale until April 1. Until then, the price has bee reduced to $13.77.

Brian Wilkes

Publish Post

A Day to Greet the Returning Fire and the Returning Sun

2011-03-05T05:29:00.000-08:00

Over the next week, many Cherokee communities will celebrate Nvda-igvyai, or First Moon. In some areas it is called Green Grass, New Fire, or New Beginnings. The end (and survival) of winter and beginning of the new growth cycle was and is a cause for celebration!

It's appropriate that this year, it falls on a Firepit Day, the third day of the 20 day cycle. Firepit is a reminder of the gentle, nourishing fire of the home and kitchen, and of the times our ancestors sought refuge in mountain caves. It is also called Abyss, House, Temple, Pyramid, Mountain. Some say all the pyramidal temples and mound sites were artificial mountains with an interior chamber containing at least a symbolic fire.

The chamber of refuge is also the tomb of the ancestors, and reminds us of the caves where our ancestors sought refuge from the elements, cyclic disasters, and adversaries. In psychoanalysis, it is a symbol of regression. It is also a symbol of the maternal womb, to a time of innocence and complete dependence in mother’s womb and after birth.

The ancestors saw the Turtle as conception, the Tornado as quickening, and Firepit as emergence, either as a birth or rebirth. The new life emerges from the cave on the third day. As in the creation story, we leave the cave/ womb/ tomb and emerge as full adults.

In the Cave of Refuge, we depend on the fire for our very existence. Once we leave and return to the outside world, our survival depends of carrying that sacred fire with us in our daily lives.

~~~~~~~

CHEROKEE DICTIONARY:

Judging by your response a searchable Cherokee dictionary would be a great aid for you. I've already started work, and plan to have it available in a few weeks.

Nvwadohiyada,
Brian Wilkes

~~~~~~~

PRICE CUT:
I had mentioned that the 2011 Cherokee Calendar will be withdrawn after April 1, and one of you asked if the price would be reduced, since we're already two month into the year. A traditional Calendar is still used in parts of the eastern mountains, especially east Tennessee and Kentucky. It clearly derives from Olmec-Mayan-Aztec sources, and its progression provides a framework for understanding ancient Cherokee tradition and the links to Central America. http://Cherokee-Calendar.com/

Looking forward to Spring Ceremonies! And to a new Cherokee Lexicon.

2011-03-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

Osiyo!

This will be a brief message. Things have been really hectic here in West Kentucky with storms, tax time and March Madness. With springtime comes thawing and often flooding in our Four Rivers area (Cumberland, Ohio, Tennessee, Mississippi).

On the first Saturday of April, our local community will celebrate the coming of spring with the ceremony known various as First Green Grass, First Moon of Spring, or New Beginnings. The timing of this ceremony varies in different communities based on local weather conditions. We will also have the Blessing of the Seeds, a ceremony that precedes the planting ceremonies, usually in May.

Based on your responses, I'm working on an interactive Cherokee dictionary (actually a lexicon or word list - a true dictionary give background, origin, and other information about each word.

Since I began working with the language in 1995, I've been compiling a lexicon. Last night I started to reorganize it... about 15,000 words and figures of speech.

I plan to release this in PDF form. Many errors and duplications have crept in over the 15 years, so I have a lot of tedious clean-up to do.

Here's my plan at the moment:

The publication will be available at a reasonable cost - probably $10 - $15; but currently enrolled students will get it without charge.

How does that sound? Let me hear from you!

Nvwadohiyada,

Brian Wilkes

The Demise of the Kutani - in Yucatan?

2011-02-15T14:24:00.000-08:00

One of the underlying stories of Cherokee identity is that the Cherokees rose against their hereditary priestly caste, the AniKutani, and destroyed them.

In this five-part series, a US researcher looks for the cause of the sudden demise of the Mayan high civilization, and finds evidence that a long drought destroyed the agriculture, leading the priests to increase human sacrifice to appease the gods. He finds evidence of the extermination of an entire family of the priestly caste. In all details found so far, this parallels the story of the destruction of the Kutani priests.

In the Cherokee story, the AniKutani re-introduced human sacrifice in an attempt to relieve a severe drought. One warrior, enraged at the sacrifice of his wife, kills a priest. To the amazement of the community, he is not immediately struck dead by lightning. The other take this as their cue, and begin an extermination of the Kutani "in a single night." Afterward and to this day, Cherokee reject any type of human sacrifice or ritual cannibalism as an abomination, and reject any concept of an inherited right to rule over them.

While the story is now told as if this all happened in the Echota area (See Robert J. Conley's novel, The Dark Way), it's long been suggested this might be a relocation of something that happened in southern Mexico before the Cherokee ancestors and others came north.

There are other nations who also claim to have come north to escape the tyranny of the human sacrifice religions, and who even give names to the main characters of the story.

Lesson 4 Complete, Test 4 Posted

2011-02-14T01:32:00.000-08:00

Osiyo!

It's Unadodaquonvi, 14 Kagali 2011

Since Christmas, I've had some dental problem that made me slur my speech, making it difficult to record new content for the lessons at www.SpeakCherokee.com. I'm happy to report that Friday I completed the Lesson Four content and posted Test Four.

There's a good bit of content here, so I'll remind you of the advice of Walker Calhoun of Big Cove: "Listen to the Elders at least 21 times before repeating."

My fluent-speaking friends tell me one thing that's being lost are the inflections that were once crucial to the language. Those who don't grow up speaking Cherokee or hearing the language spoken at home have a rough time getting this right. As a result, it now takes more uninflected words to say what could once be said with fewer inflected words.

One reason I took longer than I wanted getting Lesson Four together was that I really listened to a number of fluent speakers to improve my own inflections. A fluent speaker will either laugh or wince at my pronunciation, but it will be understood. So will yours!

New Projects

Only a handful responded to the the inquiry about future publications. Among these were:

1. A Manual on Cherokee Medicine Plants and Gardening.
2. A Cherokee Hymnal
3. An illustrated Cherokee-English Gospel or full New Testament

These would be very time-intensive projects, so there's no point to proceed if people aren't interested.

A portion of the 'Swimmer Manuscript" collected by Smithsonian anthropologist James Mooney

There is another project I'm collaborating on, which will bring out a book with various accounts of the origin of the Cherokee people... or perhaps, how the various peoples who are now known as "Cherokee" came together. This involves going back to much of the original source material, including documents and accounts from the early 18th and even 17th centuries.

One thing we're doing is transcribing these old, handwritten documents into a text version to allow easier printing and to preserve them digitally for future generations. One would think that the three federally-funded - oops, I meant federally-recognized tribes - would be interested in doing that, but one would be wrong. There are individuals cooperating, but perhaps the nations have their hands full taking care of the present day needs of their members.

VAELNTINE'S DAY SPECIAL:

Until midnight Monday night, when you buy a copy of The 2011 Cherokee Calender, you get a $4.00 rebate to celebrate the Four Winds and your four-chambered heart.

Until next time,
Witsatologi nigadv, blessings to you all!

Brian Wilkes

Restoring the Ancestor Ceremony, Part 2

2011-01-19T14:53:00.000-08:00

Suggested Ancestor Ceremony

Not everything works for every situation. What’s more important than following some “cookbook” ceremony recipe is to develop genuine connection with you departed ancestors. Now, here’s where it gets tricky. Our traditions and those of other cultures forbid “calling” the departed to return. For many, calling a departed person to return is one step away from binding them to do your bidding on the other side, and therefore sorcery. I was taught that when someone passed, it’s not proper for us to bother them. However, we can certainly let them know that they’re welcome, that a place is set for them at the table.

Ancestor Worship?

Anthropologists have suggested that all religion originates from the urge to honor or placate or communicate with departed ancestors. In the Bible, God is the father of Adam, and therefore a common ancestor of all humanity. In the Cherokee story, Skywoman or Starwoman is the child of the Lord of Heaven before she falls to earth and gives birth to humankind. Even the English word “God” comes from the proper name “Gotha,” the original ancestress of the Goths.
Those who have been deployed to Asia know what great risks rural people will take to tend the graves of their ancestors, even crossing war zones to do it. The list of examples is almost endless.

How well do you know your ancestors? How many can you name? Can you draw a quick chart of your ancestors for the past four or five generations? What do you know of their lives, their struggles, their joys? I know that my great-grandfather Sterling was a little boy when the Civil War broke out. I know that my grandmother Josephine was a farmgirl who had her only child at 17, and didn’t learn to read until years later. I know that one line of my family picked the losing side against a powerful feudal family, and was exiled to the countryside. I know who was poor, and who was dirt poor. I know that my ancestors fought both for and against the United States.

Family Shrine

In some cultures there is a formal family shrine. In America, we tend to be less formal, but the idea is still good. I know Native mixed-blood people who can trace their ancestry to Constantine and Tiberius, and to migrants who came up from the Yucatan centuries and millennia ago. Yes, genealogy is time-consuming and can be expensive, but it’s the only way to really know your ancestors. A family shrine can be as simple as a set of photos or a wall, or a few heirlooms on a shelf on in a box. Does your family have a motto or favorite saying?

Ideally, an ancestor ceremony is within the family or extended family or community. Prepare a good dinner (whether that means lunch or supper in your region!) and call the family together. If a particular dish was a favorite of an ancestor, tell people! So much is lost because of “I thought everybody knew that” or “I didn’t think anyone else cared.”

Honoring

It may be good prior to eating to honor specific ancestors, especially those who have passed in the last year. Those who are honoring an individual should come prepared with stories, photos, and mementos.

•    Gather before the meal. Set up photos, albums, heirlooms, especially of common ancestors.

•    Set an extra seat and place setting for any of the ancestors who might “arrive.” This isn’t an episode of “Ghost Hunters” – don’t expect voices and visitations. The important part isn’t that they “eat the food” or “smell the flowers,” but that you make the offer.

•    Recall events, preferences, stories of the ancestors. Recall their names. Some believe it’s wrong to speak the name of a deceased person, because it suggests calling them back. But in English we add “the late” to the name, so you can think of that as a way of changing the name. Obey your own local customs in this.

•    Sing some of their favorite songs. Most importantly, let them know that you are grateful for everything they passed on to you, including your DNA codes, and that they are welcome to drop in if they feel like it. They are still your family, and always will be.

•    After the meal and before the group breaks up, take the food from their plate outside as a spirit plate. This way, gifts are still being made for them, from them, in their name.

•    We tend to close out with our all-purpose funeral and closing song, the Cherokee version of “Amazing Grace.” Since it was probably played at their funeral, it keeps continuity. If nobody knows this song, perhaps sing another funeral song, or a song that was a favorite of an ancestor.

Conclusion

As we look at the circle of life from a Native viewpoint, there’s seldom a definite line between the living and the deceased. The other side is just “over yonder” or “toward the darkening sunset,” not “the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns” as Shakespeare calls it.

We believe that your departed family still watches. As you look around to the mementos of the departed, look again to what lessons and practices and principles you leave for your descendants.

Brian Wilkes

Restoring the Ancestor Ceremony, Part 1

2011-01-18T11:43:00.000-08:00

Ancestor Ceremony

For several years now, both online and in the annual Cherokee Calendar, I’ve mentioned the Ancestor Ceremony observed in February Midwinter as a common memorial for all who have crossed over in the winter months. This year, I’m getting a lot of questions from people who would like to revive this ceremony in their family.

Walking Through Bones

The month of February is called Kagali in Cherokee, “bony.” The crunchy snow crust makes a sound like walking through a field of bones – at least in the minds of shivering Cherokees. Those mountains get cold! It’s also a time when a few months of preserved foods, combined with occasional game meats left many people undernourished, with a “bony” look. It was also the time of year when it was (and still is) easy to die from accident, exposure, or the combined effects of a life of hardship combined with a weakened state. Those who survived until the Green Grass counted themselves a year older.

It’s not clear just when Cherokees and other mountain people began this observance. It may have been linked to the ceremony to repel harmful outside spiritual influences. In that ceremony, the group is “invaded” by masked characters originally representing malevolent disease-carrying spirit creatures, and later representing intrusive non-Cherokees. They are placated by the Cherokee hosts, and tricked into leaving. This is called in Cherokee “They Wear Masks”, or more commonly in English the “Booger (boogeyman) Dance.”

Feeding the Ancestors

Gifting or feeding departed ancestors is a common theme worldwide. Some cultures do it through fire, others place offerings in the rivers.

Among some nations, the gravesite resembles a miniature house, and food and water are left for those times when the spirit of the deceased chooses to visit. In one famous exchange, a missionary insensitively asked a Creek elder just when he thought his ancestors would return to eat the food he was always leaving for them. “The same day YOUR ancestors come back to smell those flowers YOU keep leaving for them,” was the reply.

Recent Example

A Cherokee mixed-blood woman with whom I work described her family’s tradition from about 1970:

On a day in February determined by her grandmother, the family would gather and take tables and chairs out to the family cemetery, which was on the property. They would set up for a typical covered dish – typical, except that they were sitting in a cemetery in the cold. A meal was eaten, an empty chair would be added to the table to which full portions of food were added and left at each grave. Many are familiar with the “spirit plate” practice; this is just a little more individualized.

The grandmother was also a calendar-keeper, and had her calendar stones in a small leather bag that nobody else was allowed to touch. She went to each of the headstones, and set out certain of the calendar stones and crystals atop each headstone. A first glance, this would be similar to the European custom of leaving a pebble atop a headstone when visiting. But there was some significance to the stones, and she remembers that the most senior ancestor in the graveyard received decoration of the greatest number of stones. One possibility is that the calendar keeper, the eldest elder present, was spelling out an important date on the headstone of each of the deceased, perhaps their birth date.

My source was rather young at the time, and understood all of this as her family being “weird,” doing something to humor grandma, and wanting it to be over so she and her young cousins could go inside, get warm, play and watch cartoons. The deeper meanings were never explained to her. Today, of course, she wishes she had listened and observed more closely, as her grandmother is embraced within her mother.

Don’t we all wish we had listened more?

NEXT TIME:
Suggested procedure to restore the Ancestor Ceremony within your family.

On A Dark Anniversary, Many Forms of Survival

2010-12-29T08:11:00.000-08:00

Osiyo.

Today is December 29, 2010. Twenty years ago I invited to be was part of a ceremony commemorating the centennial of the Wounded Knee Massacre. In the cold night, we gathered for the inipi. At least two of the men were descendants of those who were there on that awful day. The ground was frozen solid, and the first seven red hot rocks did little more then to fall the ground into cold mud. It was like we were being rebuilt from the ground up; whatever other terrors that day had seen, we could now identify with the frozen ground and the very real possibility of death by freezing.

This week I began to see how many names I could remember, reaching out those who had participated that day in 1990. It was a small intertribal group, perhaps a dozen or so participants. As I had expected, in 20 years several of the people had crossed over. I just found today that the ceremonial leader is alive and well.

In the past 20 years, I’ve learned much more about the events of the Massacre, including errors of judgment on both sides over the preceding month. I have learned of the aftermath, of reprisals on both sides. And I have learned much more about the ceremony that was at least nominally at the center of it all.

Not freezing to death in the winter is one marker of physical survival. Continuing to speak a language that was targeted for extinction is another. Today, there are about 40,000 Sioux (Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota), about 14,000 of whom can speak the language. Despite all that has been thrown at them, they endure.

A news story was recirculated this week about Apple enabling the iPhone for Cherokee language. Deep in the story was an appreciation by Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. He spoke of how will this would be received by the 8,000 fluent speakers in the Cherokee Nation, and what this could mean to promote the new generation to use the language.

Chief Smith in 2002

EIGHT thousand?

Fifteen years ago, I began teaching the language in live monthly classes in a church in New Jersey. I wasn’t fluent then, and I’m not fluent now, but I believe that we can’t wait, that each of us has to do what we can, now. People would drive from as far as Albany, New York and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the chance to learn the language that their grandparents had been forbidden. At that time, the Cherokee Nation boasted 15,000 fluent speakers. In some of the teaching materials we used, which were almost 20 years old, it referred to 20,000 fluent speakers. When I traveled to Tahlequah, Oklahoma in 2002 and met several of the people from the Cultural Affairs Office, and with Chief Smith, they had just made a disturbing discovery. There were 10,000 fluent speakers, and yet testing of children just starting school showed that none were fluent, and few heard any Cherokee spoken of home. What could be the source of this contradiction?

They looked deeper, and found that there was not a fluent speaker in the CNO under age 40. Do the math – that would mean extinction of the language in another generation. Emergency plans were implemented to make Cherokee language available to all Cherokee elementary students. After eight years of intense efforts, there are 2,000 fewer speakers. It would be easy to look quickly and say “the program isn’t working”. But it’s likely that most of the loss is from fluent Elders crossing, something no governmental program or tribal program can stop. In other words, it could have been worse.

Survival takes many forms. It may be physical, spiritual, cultural, community, tribal/ethnic, environmental, or global.

What commitment do you make, what action do you take, to see that the Cherokee language survives and thrives for the next generations?

Before I forget, there are only three days left for the holiday specials. You can save $93.00 for a full year of SpeakCherokee language instruction.

Until 2011,

Sta yu (be strong / hang tough / endure)

Brian Wilkes

A few questions from students...

2010-12-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

Osiyo!

More of you are starting to ask questions and understand that this course only work when the student and teacher interact. Today, I want to answer several questions sent by one of our California students.

At this size, they can also drill for oil!

Q: Does gugu describe any kind of bottle (baby, liquor, plastic & stainless steel water bottles, etc.)?
A: Yes! In fact, it describes almost any smaller liquid container – a mosquito, for instance (a flying blood bottle) or a gourd IF used to hold a liquid.

Q: Is there a difference between hayulasdi (Labels 1) and hayelasdi (Labels 2)?
A: No. There is still no standardized spelling in Cherokee.

Q: In the crossword, you have pigeon as "woyi" but show pictures of pigeons in the video as gule disgonihi. Is there much of a difference on how they're used in Cherokee?
A: Yes, that was a goof on my part. Gule disgonihi really refers to the mourning dove, while woya or woyi is a more general term applied to all doves and pigeons.

Holiday specials coming to an end:

Right night, you can still get one full year of Speak Cherokee access for $147, reduced from the regular annual price of $200, or $240 if paid monthly. It’s a great deal, and it ends on January 1.

The Cherokee Calendar Calculation and Analysis for any birth date is still $77, reduced from the regular $97.

More to come tomorrow, Christmas Eve!

Until then, Danistayohihv!

Brian

PS: In preparation for 2011 -

More lessons, more videos!
A Cherokee Language New Testament, large print, in syllabary + phonetic + English.
A Cherokee Hymnal
A new translation of a portion of the Cherokee migration saga and prophecy, first committed to writing in the 19th century.
A Medicine Garden Manual focusing on the most commonly used Cherokee medicine plants.

The "Cyber Monday" deal is being repeated, because ol' fumble-fingers botched the links!

2010-12-03T19:40:00.000-08:00

On "Cyber Monday" I sent this message. I was really surprised that I didn't get any reply, and today I realized why... I entered the wrong link! So here's a make-good, with my apologies...

Would you rather save $112.99 or $39.99 today?

If you’ve been on this list for a while, you know that I offer three Cherokee-related products:

[1] The Speak Cherokee online interactive language instruction program. This is regularly $200 per year or $20 per month(= $240 per year).

[2] The annual Cherokee Calendar, an illustrated calendar showing a wealth of information based on the old Calendar. This is regularly $19.99.

[3] Detailed individual ANALYSIS based on the old Cherokee Calendar. These run about 24 pages, and people have found them valuable tools for understanding their lives. www.Cherokee-Calendar.com/analysis.htm These are regularly $97.

As you probably know, the Speak Cherokee program is already discounted to $147 until the end of the year.
The Calculation and Analysis is marked down to $77 until FRIDAY, December 10. After December 10, completion in time for Christmas becomes questionable.

So here’s your Cyber Monday Super Special:

Get EITHER the Calculation & Analysis for $77 or the full year of Speak Cherokee for $147, and I’ll GIVE you the 2011 Cherokee Calendar as a bonus! That’s a $19.99 value for acting today.Think of it as an early gift!

So you save $93 +$19.99 = $112.99 with the Speak Cherokee package, and $20 + $19.99 = $39.99 with the Analysis package.

If you had considered getting an Analysis done as a holiday gift, now you can also give the Calendar.

And because of my error in the previous mailing and blog, this special will be good through FRIDAY, December 10.

Nvwadohiyada,

Brian Wilkes

Holiday Special - Your Christmas Card and Enclosed Gift!

2010-11-22T08:33:00.000-08:00

Hello again!

You’ve told me that you are interested in having another full-year special, and so I’ve posted the links.

Click on the link to see how to get $220 of membership benefits for $147. This offer will be removed no later than January 1, 2011. I know that the economy is tough, so I’m making this available for five full weeks so to allow as many people as possible from my mailing list the chance to take advantage of it. Consider this your Cherokee Christmas gift card for the year - and shake that card until the real gift drops out!

As you can see, my big green friend is getting into the holiday spirit! But what you may not know is that he also sings “I’m a little teapot,” because in Cherokee the same word is used for both of tea kettle and an alligator . If you’ve ever seen the old hobnail style cast iron tea kettles that sat in a fire, you can easily see the resemblance to an alligator puffing and snorting, its breath fogging up on a cold morning. The word written beneath him is “tsulasdi,” the word for both tea kettle and alligator.

The word above him his “danistayohihv”, which a literally means “they go shooting.” Why would Christmas be celebrated with that phrase? Because in the old days, the big family Christmas dinner required the men to go hunting on Christmas morning. Christmas morning was filled with the festive sounds of children shredding and crackling gift wrapping paper, and the sounds of hunters in the woods. Another sound of the holiday is the sound of firecrackers, especially here in the South. Imagine long strings of firecrackers and think of the similarity to long strings of flashing Christmas tree lights. See the similarity? So the expression "they go shooting" refers to hunters, firecrackers, and Christmas tree lights.

The Christmas season is a feast of sights and sounds, colors and flavors. It's my hope that by this time next year, you will be able to describe some of that experience in Cherokee!

Nvwadohiyada, healing and peace to you,

Brian Wilkes

www.SpeakCherokee.com

"Scratcher", a New Path, and Holiday Gift Ideas.

2010-11-14T12:07:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody!

In case you're wondering what happened to me, I've been fighting with a hard drive crash. The backup computer is in place and functioning, so everything should be back to normal and a few days.

Today, Monday November 15 is a day of the Scratcher. The Cherokee word kanuga simply means the brier thorn. Thorns were used in a type of ritual comb that was raked across the surface of the skin to draw blood. This created a series of openings in the skin upon which medicinal poultices could be applied.

But the word also has a symbolic meaning… rattlesnake fang or tooth. Some scratchers were made of snake teeth, and in some cases the scratching was done with an eagle claw. (Snake and Eagle are opposing day signs in the traditional calendar.)

Since rattlesnakes were once thought to only strike and kill those people who for some reason deserved it, it was considered bad luck to admit out loud that you had been struck by a snake. The euphemism was to be "scratched by a thorn." Even today, Cherokees will sometimes speak of being "scratched," even though they will admit that they were scratched by a snake.

The scratching ceremony was done either as a preparation for medical treatment or as a preparation for another ceremony. In that sense, it was considered the end of one cycle and the beginning of another, a fork in the road that represented both a continuation of the old path and the beginning of a new one.

We are soon coming to the beginning of a new year. We hope that you will take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about Cherokee tradition and language, and more importantly, to pass that on to your children and grandchildren. Both the language and the calendar are complex, and require long study before they seem familiar. However, both provide you with new ways of seeing and describing the world that we inhabit and share.

The 2011 Cherokee Calendar is now available in a download version.

The Cherokee Calendar Calculation and Analysis makes a unique Christmas gift. Because you were part of this mailing list, you can have one researched and composed for you for a $20.00 discount. That's the regular price with Andrew Jackson removed! Let's see how he likes being removed!

Just one thing to be aware of, because of the hours required to research, analyze and compose each report, I can only work so fast. That means that the deadline for orders with guaranteed Christmas digital delivery will be Friday, December 10. After that, it's iffy.

That's all for now! I wish everyone of you as safe and happy holiday season with your families.

Brian Wilkes

A New Month, and the 2011 Calendar Upgrade is available!

2010-11-01T11:09:00.000-07:00


Olmec Figurines with miniature stelae

ANOTHER MONTH, ANOTHER PEACE

Monday (Nov 1) begins the month of Nvdatequa (Big Moon), considered the end of summer and beginning of winter. In the old days, this was considered the start of a new year, the time when God had created the world in its most brilliant colors. We give thanks for the creation of this beautiful Earth, and give thanks for being honored to be part of this creation.

Tuesday (Nov 2) is a Flower (Atsilvsgi) Day, the end of a 20-day cycle, and a time for additional prayers for reconciliation of conflicts with other people and with nature itself.

UPGRADED 2011 CALENDAR IS READY!

As before, it includes the 2011 Cherokee Calendar, Manual, and even the 2010 Calendar.

I listened to your comments on the original July release, and have added several features.

There is a more thorough explanation of the Bird or Wind Signs.
There is an explanation of the Olmec origins of the Calendar, and a commentary of the Olmec view of the 20 day signs as a long journey of the soul, not unlike the Egyptian “Book of the Dead” or the Tibetan “Bardo Thodol”. (Physical birth, life, and death are concluded by the 6th sign, and then the REAL journey begins!)
The Upgrade includes a page of bonuses, including discounts on Calendar Analysis Reports and DNA testing.

If you purchased the July release and for some reason did NOT yet receive the Upgrade, please contact me.

HAVEN’T RECEIVED YOUR ACCESS CODE FOR THE COURSE?

For those who are enrolling in Speak Cherokee, please remember that I send the access information by email, and I use the email address attached to your PayPal account unless otherwise requested. If that email in no longer valid, it won’t reach you. If you have not white-listed my email address, it will bounce or go to your junk mail file. This has happened a few times, and it’s been very frustrating, since I couldn’t reach the student right away. In one case, the student had a business, and I was able to look up the phone number online.

If you are trying to reach me to complain about this, please include a telephone number, since we’ve established that email isn’t working for some reason.

Nvwadohiyada,
Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

"Old Calendar" New Year

2010-10-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

One things so confusing about the old Cherokee Calendar is the fact that it is any overlay of several different cycles which have little apparent relation to each other. By comparison, the modern Gregorian calendar is simple, streamlines, and straightforward, which is probably why it fostered the explosion of technology while the older calendars fell into disuse.

The basic unit of measure is a solar day (iga). But since there are other cycles of 9, 13, 18, and 20, the multiples 260 and 360 become important. The personal or “human” calendar has 260 days. The Community calendar has 360 days, and the “real” solar year has 365 days. The difference between the 360 and 365 calendar is five days, which this year run from October 2 through October 6, with October 7 being the first day of the new solar year, Purple Martin Reed.

These are known in Cherokee as “Un-Time,” “Forbidden Days,” or “Useless Days”. These are the days when the veil between the worlds grows thin, and the weird quotient goes off the scale. In some cultures, all foodstuffs and clutter were trashed to avoid carrying rot and clutter over into the new year, and it may seem like your lives are on a loss cycle. If you feel your life is going to pieces right now, it may be because you have enough sensitivity to recognize it while others are self-medicated into oblivious ignorance.

October 7, 2010 begins the Year of the Reed of the Purple Martin Wind. According to the Day and Week signs, it will be the year to build community, develop outreach programs, and also to develop information/intelligence gathering programs in your communities and families. For example, this Saturday here in Kentucky, we will meet to consider for our diverse Native American community can best deal with the issues facing us in the coming year.

Now, if you’re not confused yet… What’s usually called “Cherokee New Year” is a harvest festival and meal celebrated on the full moon of the month Nvdadequa or Nvwatitequa – “Big Moon” or “Big Healing”. This year, that’s November 21.

LORD’S PRAYER

Lesson Four includes a series of instructional videos for the Lord’s Prayer. These are broken into segments, and pronounced a super-slow speed. There’s also a video with the entire prayer recited super-slow, so you can follow along. I have one more video to do, a recording of the entire prayer at conversational speed, with the words contracted as you would normally hear it spoken.

Recitation of prayers and songs is one of the best ways to learn and RETAIN a language. To really grasp any language, you must make a point of using it every day. Songs and prayers are a great way to do that.

That's it for now, friends!

Nvwadohiyada, True Peace and Health be with you!
Brian Wilkes

PS: I recently spend some time with a man from the Tuscarora Nation, who also speaks Cayuga-Mohawk. It was fascinating to hear the similarities and differences between Cherokee and the closely related Tuscarora, and more distantly related Mohawk. Sgi!

Contractions and Elongations

2010-09-14T23:33:00.000-07:00

Osiyo, 'ginali!

CONTRACTIONS AND ELONGATIONS

One thing that confuses students is the Cherokee practice of contracting words.The contracted version, the way people really speak, is sometimes called "conversational" Cherokee, while pronouncing all the syllables is called "formal" Cherokee.

The late instructor Sam Hider used to say that the practice of speaking only contracted or conversational Cherokee verges on laziness, and erodes the language.

I try to use formal Cherokee to start, sometimes using the elegant Cherokee of the New Testament, and then give several examples of how a word may sound when actually spoken to you. This confuses some students who ask me "You gave it several different ways - which is correct?" The answer is, ALL of them are correct.

What's not as well know is the opposite effect: elongation. In some parts of Elizabethan Britain, the practice developed of adding or elongating syllables to raise the "status" of the word. Today, the most common survival of this in America is the Southern preacher who says "Je-sus-suh" or "Holy Ghost-tuh."Listen to a few backwoods preachers when they get a good preach goin' on, and you'll hear many syllables that are not there in the written language.

It also occurs in proper names. As a person grows older, their name may sprout extra syllables, and even more as they crossed the threshold into Elder status. One friend grew up thinking her father's name was Ira, two syllables. After years away from home, she noticed people were now calling him "I-yeh-rah," and eventually "I-yer-rah-huh" before he passed.

It appears this English practice carried over into spoken Cherokee in some parts of Southern hill country. I've spotted it in East Tennessee, East Kentucky, and West Virginia. I've heard very little of it in Oklahoma, but it just may be a question of whom I've spoken with.

The point is, as I've told you here before, there are not just two dialects of Cherokee, Eastern and Western. There are at least nine recognized sub-dialects, and there are "family versions" of the language as well.

Sometimes "family versions" develop from the tradition of not speaking the name of the deceased. In more extreme cases, if the name was a common word, that word must be replaced in everyday conversation. For example, if the deceased was named Crow, the bird now becomes a "dark-wing" or a "corn-thief." In a few generations, a wide variety of new words and usages developed. Like any living thing, a language grows and changes.

LORD'S PRAYER VIDEOS POSTED

The Cherokee used for the New Testament is the most elegant form of the language known in the early 19th century. I think it's a great practice to do a few minutes of songs and recitation each day. The key to learning any language is joyful (not grudging) repetition.

As we mentioned last time, Eastern Band Elder and teacher Walker Calhoun advises that you listen to a new word or phrase 21 times before trying to say it. I've recorded a series of nine videos showing the lyrics as I pronounce the words very slowly. This is part of Lesson Four.

Some have complained, and some newsletter subscribers have actually canceled because I make references to the Bible.

First, there's a long-standing tradition that we treat others and what they consider sacred with respect, even if we don't think much of it.

There's the famous story of the Eagle of Eufala. When the Creek people came into the area of Eufala, Alabama, they found long-deserted towns. In one, they found a carved golden eagle. They didn't know who made it or exactly what it represented, but from the way it was stored, they could tell if was a sacred item. They kept it with the respect it had been given before they found it, preserved it, and took it with them when they were removed to Oklahoma. The "Eagle of Eufala" is still being kept in case one day, the descendants of its creators arrive and ask to have it back.

Second, it's a simple fact that the great majority of Cherokee people are at least nominally Christian, and have been for generations. If you aren't, that's fine with me. If you're upset because I present Christian hymns and prayers rather than Stomp Dance songs, my reply is that maybe I will, when I know some well enough AND have permission from Stomp Dance leaders to share them (not likely any time soon, sorry). Until then, I will say with Geronimo, "I am not ashamed to be a Christian."

Nvwadohiyada,
Brian Wilkes

New Moon, Prayer Videos Posted, Calendar Healing

2010-09-08T09:51:00.000-07:00

Osiyo, my dear students and friends! First some good news.

In the next month we may see the restoration of two ceremonies that have been missing for a while. Plans are underway once again to begin a Stomp Dance ground in West Kentucky. I’m overjoyed that this plan is moving forward once again, and hope to have more information for you soon. To my knowledge, the only authorized and recognized Stomp Ground in the East is the one at Big Cove, but that may have change since I last checked about seven years ago. Speaking of seven years, it’s been that long since I relocated here to beautiful West Kentucky. Another ceremony is being restored this weekend, one brought back by the prophet Smohalla after his four years with the ancestral Elders in Yucatan. Not only Cherokee and Creeks, but other nations have oral traditions of coming up from Mexico and Central America, although some in the west came up the pacific Coast and Colorado River. The original version of this ceremony has not been done for centuries. As with the Stomp Dance, I regret that I can’t say more until authorized to do so.

LANGUAGE ADVICE FROM WALKER CALHOUN:

It’s pretty simple: “Listen to each word at least 21 times before you attempt to say it.” That’s why SpeakCherokee.com is audio and video-based, rather than text-based. Could you read English before you learned to speak it as a child? NO! You listened to your parents, grandparents, and other “big people” over and over before you even tried to say it. Years later, when you started school, you learned to read. Yes, I know that new methods allow 2 year olds to begin reading, but if you’re anywhere near my age, that wasn’t the path available.

PRAYERS:

I’ve just re-recorded the first two teaching videos for the Lord’s Prayer, which are part of Lesson Four in Speak Cherokee. The sound was a little muddy before.

I’ll warn you now: part of the fourth test will be a clear recitation of the prayer. I’m working on the rest of the segments today and tomorrow. Log in to your account to see.

CALENDAR:

Today (Wednesday, September 08, 2010) is a new moon, the start of the Cherokee lunar month Udatanv, and the start of the 13-day Week of the Snake (Inadv). Snakes represent both healing and danger, so it’s a good time to re-examine the choices that come your way. The most colorful and attractive snakes are often the most poisonous. The first day of the Week give that Week its name, so today is a Snake day. The first day is influenced by the Hummingbird, an aggressive and fast little bird that represents new beginnings. They are so small and fast, they are almost invisible at times, as often are the influences that set things into motion in our lives. A good day to initiate new health and fitness practices, for example – not that there’s ever a bad day for that!

Recently, a good friend had major surgery. It was scheduled for the waxing moon on a Flint Knife (as in scalpel) day. Tradition says that had it been schedule for the waning moon, and on a River day, there may have been problems with loss of blood or internal bleeding. But of course, if we really believed those traditions, we’re be ignorant superstitious savages, wouldn’t we? My friend is making what her doctors consider a remarkable recovery. Perhaps the fact that surgery was scheduled for the most opportune day on the Calendar was just a coincidence. Or, perhaps our ancestors were on to something.

Until next time, Nvwadohiyada!
Brian Wilkes

PS: Get the REAL story on 2012!

Cherokee Word Wakens Comatose Soldier!

2010-08-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

The code word Gen. Petraeus used, "currahee" is from the old Alati or Lowland dialect, no longer spoken outside of old prayers and songs. in Middle and Overhill dialects, it's ᏊᏩᎯ (quu-wa-hi), and means "stand alone among others"... be an "Army of One" if that's what it takes. And some of you wonder WHY we spend years ...learning our ancient language?

New Songs and Related Languages

2010-08-03T08:22:00.000-07:00

Osiyo, nigada! Greetings, all!

I posted a video of the Tutelo-Saponi song, Mahk Jchi (Our Hearts).

It was released almost 20 years ago by Ulali, and for most people, it will be their only experience of a language that was spoken by tens of thousands between Virginia and Ontario. The same album, Robbie Robertson’s “Red Road Ensemble,” included Walela’s mis-titled “Cherokee Morning Song,” which for most people will be their only experience of the fading Tihanama language.

The 2011 Cherokee Calendar Package is now available for instant download. Besides showing how complex our traditional worldview was and is, I think it’s a great aid for seeing and using the Cherokee language in context. Simple questions each morning like “What day is it?” can be answered in Cherokee.

http://www.Cherokee-Calendar.com/SpeakCherokee-special.htm

There’s also a new page of content in the SpeakCherokee.com course material, the first page of words commonly used in prayer. Soon, there will be a line-by-line slow instructional video on the Lord’s Prayer, and on some older prayers.

The three songs most associated with the Trail of Tears are [1] Amazing Grace, [2] Guide Us, Great Jehovah, and [3] One Drop of Blood. These songs will each be produced as videos: slow talking speed for teaching, and as slow singing speed for sing-along.

Donadagohvi, Until we're together again
Brian Wilkes

PS: Follow the Speak Cherokee group on Facebook! You can also follow me on Facebook.

"Cosmic Convergence" Is Really "Double Hummingbird Reed"

2010-07-17T08:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 18 is a “Double Hummingbird Reed Day”

It’s both a Reed Day and a Reed Week, and both the Week and Day also have Hummingbird influence.

Here’s why this symbolism is important:

In the creation story, Sky Woman or Star Woman falls to Earth through a hole at the base of the Tree of Wisdom, or from the Pleiades (possibly two ways of saying the same thing). She is pregnant, and close to her delivery time.

The firstborn, Flint Knife, has burst from her side his impatience to see the world. He walks away from his mortally wounded mother after he is born.

The second son, Reed, is born the natural way, and stays with his mother to care for her, and follows her instructions for her burial. He is rewarded with the gift of medicine and vision, gifts denied to Flint Knife.

In the Cherokee version of this story, Flint Knife is not evil, just inconsiderate and selfish. His wants and needs come first, just like a child.

Flint finds its purpose in being rigid, solid, hard. It fractures easily, and can be worked to an edge for blades.

Reed has rigidity also, but finds its true purpose in being hollow… as a flute, pipe stem, bubbling stick, blowgun.

Both Flint and Reed have their legitimate purposes and value. In the stories, Reed cannot accomplish one of his heroic works alone, and must call on Flint to join forces to defeat greater and greater opponents. An arrow can be made only of reed, but it penetrates farther with a flint arrowhead.

Flint Knife walks off, and builds a small house by the beach. He sees only himself, and if always depicted singly.

Reed, however, stays with his Mother, and meets the Four Sisters, one of whom becomes his wife. Reed sees the needs of others, and sees himself in constant relationship. Reed is usually depicted as a pair of reeds.

The pipe stem, the bubbling stick (a tube used to blow the healer’s breath into a medicine liquid), the sucking tube (a tube used to extract malicious influences from a patient) are all signs of the healer, and find their value in their emptiness. The scepter of authority carried by a chief was at one time made of reed. Some of the Lakotas speak of aspiring to be a “hollow bone,” a veiled reference to the stem of the first Pipe brought to them, which was fashioned from the thighbone of a buffalo.

The First Wind, Bird, or Influence of the Cherokee Calendar (there are 13) is the Hummingbird… small, fast, resourceful, and amazingly aggressive for its size. It is the initiator, the first volunteer. “One Reed” was the name of an important Mayan king, a reformer, who opposed the tyranny of “Flint Knife.” This may be the origin of the story, that this human pair was somehow reincarnations of the twins in the Creation story.

With both the Week and Day set at “One Reed” or “Hummingbird Reed”, part of the message is clear – this is the day to start a new cycle: don’t just pray for renewal, for reconciliation, for healing, for peace, but follow the example of the tiny hummingbird. Get up and Do something, fly as fast as possible, challenge adversaries much larger than yourself and drive them out of your life!

All the while, remain a hollow reed/bone, an open conduit of the Divine Will.
Raise your pipes, raise your flutes… if that doesn’t work, raise your bagpipes. It’s not going to be a “sit and reflect” day, it’s going to be a “get off the bench and into the game” day.

NvWADOhiyada!

Cherokee words:

Reed, Ihiya ee-HEE-yah

Flint, Dawisgala dah-WISS-gah-LAH

Earth, Elohi ey-loh-HEE

Heaven, Galvlati gah-luhn-LAH-tee

Healing peace, Nvwadohiyada,
nuh-WAH-doh-HEE-yah-DAH

may you path be blessed,
Brian Wilkes

Reminder: the 2010 Cherokee Calendar should be available by October

New Moon, Eclipse, Day of Twins...

2010-07-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

Today (Sunday) is the New Moon and a solar eclipse, which unfortunately, will not be visible in the northern hemisphere.

The New Moon is the beginning of the Cherokee month, a day of quiet reflection, fasting, prayer and purification. Observant Cherokees will fast up to four days. This particular New Moon/Eclipse combination is associated with emotion changes, mood swings, clearing out the clutter of the past - time to send your 'baggage' to the auction house or trash bin!!

Think of New moon as a monthly sabbath instead of a weekly. In the dark of the new moon, you reflect on what you did in the previous month, and what you need to do in the coming month to be in harmony (dohi) with the order of things.. Divine Will, righteousness/justice. In the old days, the elders might remain "separate" for a day or two, putting aside the normal business of the world. Part of that was separating yourself from food gathering and preparation, which took a big chunk of time in the old days. It was also a gentle internal bathing. As you know, some ceremonies were preceded by purging. Fasting is a gentler way of cleaning our your innards.
Full moon, on the other hand, was party time because the lights were on all night! This was the time of the gatiyo or stomp dance ceremony in the Southeast, and widely regarded as the best time to conduct healing because of the additional dose of solar energy reflected from the moon.
Today is a “Twins” Day on the old Calendar. The Twins Flint Knife and Reed, the first Real People born on this earth after we came from our old home, represent many things. They represent choices, alternatives

In the creation story, the firstborn Flint Knife walks away from his mortally wounded mother after he is born. In his impatience to see the world, he has burst from her side. The second son, Reed, stays with her and follows her instructions for her burial. He is rewarded with the gift of medicine and vision, gifts denied to Flint Knife.

In the Cherokee version of this story, Flint Knife is not evil, just inconsiderate, His wants and needs come first, just like a child.

Our Mother the Earth is mortally wounded, and the arterial bleeding in the Gulf of Mexico will affect the entire world. No other species did that, just us.

Flint finds its purpose in being rigid, solid, hard. Reed has rigidity also, but finds its true purpose in being hollow… as a flute, pipe stem, bubbling stick, blowgun. Both have their legitimate purposes and value. I the stories, Reed must call on Flint, and they must join forces to defeat greater and greater opponents. An arrow can be made only of reed, but it penetrates farther with a flint arrowhead.

So today, as the moon covers the sun, which Twin are you? This is a day to examine the difference; both Reed and Flint also have their own days. Take a second look: foraged foods are wonderful, but so many have a nearly-identical twin that's poisonous. Take a third look at your decisions.

A Special Offer ONLY for My Mailing List!

As many of you know, I've spent years working with the Cherokee Calendar, re-assembling it from bits and pieces of oral teachings. It forms a wonderful framework in the form of day-signs and week-signs for understanding at least part of the sweep of Cherokee oral tradition, especially creation stories.

I also offer birth date analyses based on the calendar. In ancient times, the elders would consider the implications of a child birth date when selecting a name. That tradition continues at least into the 20th century in some remote communities of East Tennessee, and possibly elsewhere.

I usually charge $97 for a report that averages 20 - 24 pages. If you follow the link above, I'll give you a $20 discount. AND, if you are getting this as a Father's Day gift, I'll guarantee you'll have it by next Friday as a PDF file -- IF you order by Tuesday. It takes HOURS for me to research and compile one of these, so it's a real bargain.

And if you're not already Speak Cherokee student, now's the time!

Why I Don’t Give or Translate Names

2010-06-13T11:34:00.000-07:00

Q: How can I learn my Indian name?
A: Look at your driver’s license. Or birth certificate. Or ask your mother.

WHO GIVES NAMES?

Although I’m mixed-blood with lineage from many nations, I identify as Cherokee, and do my best to adhere to Cherokee tradition. In Cherokee custom, a child receives its name between the fourth and seventh day, and is presented to the Seven Directions and the Creator, and introduced by that name. The name is chosen by the grandparents, who will also raise the child, based on several factors: family history, significance of the birth date, and any characteristics the child has shown in its few days of life. It may be a variation on the name of an ancestor. The name is given early, because infant mortality was a big problem, and if the child died without a name, it was believed that it would be harder for the parents to call him and be united in the next world.

A second name might also be given, a spirit or ceremonial name, spoken only in ceremonies, and rarely at that. The result is a “public name” which conceals the “private name.”
The only time that this name is changed, and rarely at that, is in the case of a life-threatening illness. A new name is an attempt to divert the illness or bad fortune away from the patient. “You came to kill Fred? Nope, no Fred around here, don’t know any Fred…”

Parents and grandparents give names. If you ask someone to give you a name, you are asking them to step into that role. You are accepting them as foster parents, and they are accepting you as a foster child. Are you willing to live out that commitment? What if you are given a name that means “Gives His Life For The People”… are you really willing to live up to that? Or will you go shopping for another name?

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

All languages are living things, which evolve. Names, like other phrases, fall in and out of fashion.

Let me give you an example from a European language, English. You meet someone who tells you he’s from England. He speaks English with the appropriate accent, so, it could be true.
He tells you his name is John. Still cool, John is a common name in England.

Then he tells you that, while he usually keeps it to himself, he’s actually 17th in succession to be king of England.

Alarms should go off now! There’s a procedural rule, well known by a certain class in the UK but not well known elsewhere, that no king may have the name John. There was a King John once, and he was such a disaster, the rule was made that there would never be another. No male child in succession for the throne is given the name John.

Names have histories and meanings. Just as the pretender John would be immediately spotted as a phony by any Brit of a certain status, Native people will spot someone using a name they made up, or given to them by somebody who didn’t understand naming protocols.

Among the Lakota, the eldest daughter was called Winona, more of a title than a name. This was adopted by some of their neighbors. I once went to a séance where a woman claimed to channel the spirit of a recently departed Ojibwe spiritual leader. Suspecting a high level of organic fertilizer, I asked “him” the name of his eldest daughter. “He” replied with the public name, Winona. I said “Not the name she’s known by today, the name YOU gave her as an infant.” The psychic was stumped. Then I asked a few simple questions – in Ojibwe. Strangely, after just a few months of death, the Elder had forgotten even the basics of his Native language.

As Adam and Jamie would say, “Busted!!”

Oh, the parallel Cherokee custom is to name the eldest daughter “Pearl.” She is the treasure of the family. The is originally “Pirl,” borrowed from the Tihanama language, and sometimes also spelled “Purl”.

I once described a prominent Elder named Redwing to another prominent Elder. The first thing the second Elder said was “Redwing isn’t a Cherokee name.” There was no accusation in her tone, just a flat statement. She was right; the man I described was Lumbee/Shawnee. I know another Redwing as well, a Mohawk; both circulate within the Cherokee mixed-blood community, but both were named by non-Cherokee relatives. In the same way, using a made-up name with no legacy in the community will immediately brand you as a pretender. And I’ve heard some doozies!

A woman at a powwow handed me a card that introduced her as “Princess Pocahontas Shining Moon Everlasting,” a medicine woman, healer, and sharmon (sic).

A Cherokee politician was given a belt buckle that appeared to say “Cherokee” in syllabary. The middle letter was actually a very similar letter with a different sound. Instead of “Cherokee”, it spelled out “chicken”. He wore it for months before anybody told him.

DICTIONARY NAMES

People have started giving themselves (or others) names based on baby name books or dictionaries. Unfortunately, they weren’t familiar enough with the language do this. I’ve met several named “Flying Eagle” and “Flying Hawk.” The word they used for “fly” was dvgv which does mean fly – but the insect, not the verb. An “eagle fly” or a “hawk fly” is the parasite that lives on the body of raptors; Cherokees have a four-day procedure to cleanse the bodies of these birds before any part can be used in ceremony, so that the diseases carried by these parasites don’t transfer to the humans. Perhaps their name really was intended to be “blood-sucking parasite.”

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THE NAME YOU HAVE?

The name you have, your legal name, was probably given to you by your family. Why do you need another one? Oh, because yours doesn’t “sound Indian” enough.

My parents named me Brian Wilkes. Brian comes from the Gaelic for raven, Wilkes is a contracted diminutive for wolf. I could translate these into modern English as “Raven Little Wolf.” But if I did that, what would I be claiming, or trying to claim? That I’m suddenly more Indian, more traditional, more full of ancient wisdom than the person called Brian Wilkes? Or perhaps my drums and artwork and writing would sell better if they came from “Raven Little Wolf.”

The time for role-playing has long past. If I change my name, am I not suggesting that my parents got it wrong?

There are semantic layers in all languages, and because names are often drawn from older and historical levels of the language, even archaic variants, names can be a mine field. For example, Frank, Francis, Fran, Francesca and variants all come from a Germanic root word for “free”. If you go by Frank or Fran, fine. Francois or Francesca tell a slightly different story. But if your given name is Free, you were probably conceived at a Grateful Dead concert.

“BUT I HAVE NO INDIAN NAME”

Even parents screw it up sometimes. I met one couple who named their daughter Dhyani after a Cherokee-ish author, thinking it was a Cherokee name. It’s actually a Sanskrit name; the author is a Buddhist, and the five Dhyani Buddhas figure prominently in that denomination.

Sometimes parent name a child from a baby names books. These are notoriously inaccurate on meanings. I met a black-Indian woman who named her daughter Kasha, thinking it was a Cherokee name. Since the adolescent girl was there, I restrained my outburst, which would have been “You named your daughter BUCKWHEAT??” The girl will learn the truth one day, and would have been much happier as Beverley or Betty. One can only but think of Moon Unit Zappa, who once dreamed of changing her name to Mary.

Sometimes Cherokee names are translated or transliterated. The name Asgayadihi has been transliterated as Outacity and translated as Mankiller.

If you weren’t given a Cherokee name by Day 7, it’s possible to have one later, But understand that you’re forming a parent/child bond with the Elder you approach. The name will be given in Cherokee. If it’s given to you in English, accept it as such… to attempt to translate it and use the translation instead shows disrespect.

Someone asked me to translate his name into Cherokee, and claimed he had been given the name in ceremony at Cherokee, NC. I asked who gave him the name. “The head shaman.” Say what? And what was his name “I don’t know everybody just called him ‘Grandfather.’” So, you took a name from somebody you didn’t know, whose name you don’t remember, while you were passing through Qualla on your motorcycle? Something’s definitely missing here.

Another time, an Elder from Cherokee gave a name to a friend’s daughter – in English. Mom asked me to translate it back to Cherokee. I explain why it was in appropriate for me to do that, and that she should try to get back in touch with the Elder who gave the name. The name was Wind Song. While I was going through various options depending on the true meaning, (A song carried in the wind, the wind sings, she sings into the wind, she sings with the wind), she was able to reach the Elder. The Cherokee name was one I might have translated to English as Bird Song rather than Wind Song! Had I given her any of my translations, I would have truly interfered.

My elder sister, who wasn’t given a Cherokee name, jokes that she really wants to be “Princess Summer Fall Winter Spring,” after a puppet on the old Howdy Doody show.

NICKNAMES

You really want an Indian name? Very simple: do something embarrassing in front of an Indian. You may have pictured yourself as “Grandmother Medicine Eagle Spirit Keeper”, but one moment of flatulence and you’ll be stuck with “Queen Fart-zina” for the rest of your natural life. Eventually, it will even be said in front of you.

Some nicknames will be complimentary, but remember that they are only nicknames. The Creeks and Seminoles in Florida called me Halpattah Hadjo, “Alligator Warrior”, after an incident with a gator when I was a teenager. My Anglo friends simply called me “Gator.” One of my Seminole teachers now calls me “Speaker of Languages” from my humble attempts to learn and teach.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “If I re-name a sheep’s tail a ‘leg’, how many legs does a sheep have? FOUR! Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it a leg.”

Changing the label on a bottle doesn’t change the contents. If you want to gain respect in the Native community, improve the contents.

Brian Wilkes

Full Moon, New Cycle, Dying Computer

2010-05-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

Osiyo!

Sorry not to have been in touch more, but I've been having computer problems. My 5 year old Dell is finally giving up. Each day is an adventure, as it alternately forgets how to open MS Office, play and audio or video, or connect to the Internet. Only several restarts bring back it's memory. This makes it difficult to create the new video and audio instructionals for Lesson 4. But it's coming along.

Today is a full moon, AND the start of another 260 day cycle on the old Calendar. A great time for new beginnings. This evening, I'll take part in a healing ceremony for someone I haven't seen in about 12 years. If you have someone in need, this is a very good time to send them prayers, and whatever other resources you have.

I've been asked about [1] giving or translating names for people, [2] doing a special for Fathers' Day and I did for Mothers' Day on the Calendar Calculations and Analysis, [3] more on the strange flag I showed last month, and hint that it refers to Cherokee origins, [4] the medicinal garden booklet I mentioned (most of you said you DID want to have something like that).

All of that and more coming, computer spirits willing and the Creeks don't rise. Until then, all the best!

Brian

The Free People, and How Not To Be a Wannabee, Part 1

2010-04-28T14:40:00.000-07:00

This does NOT mean “people who talk funny,” it means “The free people.” This flag – which is NOT a flag of any Cherokee community - ties in with a vision and oral tradition shared with me in 1998 by medicine elders in Peru. It also ties in with current DNA research, and with written records kept by Keetoowahs in Oklahoma. I’ll bring more of it out over the next weeks.

As some of you know, I’ve face health challenges including surgeries and hospitalization this year. This has delayed me from getting more content up on the Speak Cherokee web site, but be assured that’s my top priority. If you’re a student and have sent me a question that I haven’t answered, please send it again.

Some time ago I asked the members of this mailing list WHY you want to learn the language. Many answers amounted to “Because I AM Cherokee,” or “Because it’s part of my ancestry and heritage.” That’s fine, but is that really a reason that will make you go back to the course material over and over again when you’re frustrated at your lack of progress? Less than 10% of the people who sign up for the free list ever go on to subscribe to the classes. Of those, only a minority ever complete the tests. I’d love to bring out improvements such as a Cherokee-language-only chat room, but I can’t afford do it for a handful of people.

How Not To Be A Wannabee, Lesson 1:

I knew someone who grew up in Kenya, which was then a colony in British East Africa. When speaking English he called it “KEEN-ya,” as the British called the colony, but while speaking Kikuyu he pronounced it “KENN-ya.” He did it so automatically, he wasn’t even aware that he was making the distinction until it was brought to his attention. That’s simply the way each community and each language in Kenya handled it. (NOTE: since independence, the official pronunciation is KENN-ya in every language, so some of you younger people may have never heard it pronounced KEEN-ya)

Cherokee speakers use the word “Tsalagi” or “Jalagi” only when speaking that language. When speaking English they say “Cherokee”. If somebody asks what nation you’re from and you answer Tsalagi rather than Cherokee, expect to be placed in the wannabee column. You’re showing off that you know the word, but you’re not using it as a native speaker would.

More to come!
Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

New Moon, Flower Day --- Dandelions!

2010-04-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Osiyo, nigada!

Thursday was the new moon, a day that some still mark with fasting and reflection. Friday is a Flower Day, the final day of the 20-day cycle, which symbolically contains the seeds of the next 20 days. Have you given any thought to how your life will change over the 20 days? For example, will you make a serious commitment to learn the Cherokee language?

Kawoni (April) is the month of fertility, and the humble dandelion, the herald of spring, has already come and gone in some areas. If dandelions in your area have already gone to seed and floated away, you need to pick the greens before they become bitter, and dry the roots. It’s one of the most nutrient dense foods in the world, and almost zero-calorie.

Dandelion was welcomed by many of the First Nations as the first healer of spring, quickly replacing the nutrients that had been missing over a winter with little fresh produce. I had heard story this years ago from Mohegan and Delawares, so I researched the Cherokee word. Can’t find one! A little more research told me why: dandelions are not native to North America, they were introduced by settlers as a food source! The wind has spread them across the land, where they are available to any with the work ethic to pick or dig them. Astonishing that we live in a nation with so much surplus food, some people actually poison a food source as weeds that interrupt the pattern of their lawns.

In March, our local Native American Church dedicated a medicinal garden. I began thinking of what plants the ancestors used, to develop that information as a lesson. We’ll begin with that vocabulary in the lessons soon. If I get enough response, we may also create a download of common medicinal plants with Cherokee names and uses. If that sounds like something you want, just email me and say “I want the Cherokee medicinal plants download.”

Why You Can't Find "Wendeyaho" in a Cherokee Dictionary

2010-04-09T16:09:00.000-07:00

Q: I hear people singing something they call the "Cherokee Morning Song," but none of the words appear in my Cherokee dictionary.

A: The song, popularized by Walela, is legitimate. It was sung by women only as part of the morning prayers, facing the rising sun, welcoming the new day. The men sang a different song that could be blended or even done as a "round" with the women's song; I've heard it exactly once.

I've spoken to Elders who actually remember hearing it sung in the mornings. However, the words are NOT Cherokee. Opinion differs on whether the words are:

[1] Saponi, a Siouan language of the Virginia-Carolina panhandle,

[2] one of the Algonquin languages of the Virginia/Ohio Valley, such as Delaware, Shawnee or Mattaponi, or

[3] Tihanama, a linguistic isolate spoken by a nomadic trading group that migrated annually from lower Michigan to the Florida Panhandle.

[4] Yet another highly dubious source calls it "ancient Cherokee," which is doubtful. The same source claims that there were actually over 30 Cherokee clans.

The only research on it by recognized academics points to Tihanama. According to one of the remaining fluent speakers, the phrase means “Our hearts (spirits) are strong.” There is no evidence for the claim often repeated on the Internet that it means “I am of the Great Spirit, aho.”

One Elder told us the song was actually brought by "the help," those who tended fields for the Cherokee landowners. These could have been refugees from any of the groups mentioned, who sought refuge in the Cherokee highlands after the destruction of the coastal and lowland nations. It could also refer to the Tihanama, who often hired out as seasonal farm labor. That would also explain why the Coolidge sisters and my own sources remember hearing it in the mountain communities of eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, in areas along the migratory route of the Tihanama.

Over the years, it has been adopted by many Cherokees, especially in the eastern portions of Tennessee and Kentucky. So despite its pedigree and linguistics, it has become a Cherokee song. Because of the song's popularity, the phrase may survive the impending demise of the Tihanama language.

Q: But I've been to presentations where Native elders have sung and even taught the song. Why would they do that?

A: Because [1] it's a pretty song, [2] thanks to the recordings, people may already be familiar with it, [3] it's simple enough for beginners to learn, and [4] the presenter doesn't speak Cherokee or know any real Cherokee prayer songs.

Someone ACED Test Three! Study Cherokee and Help the Elders

2010-03-08T08:51:00.000-08:00

Osiyo!

We have a few landmarks to celebrate! First, this mailing list has passed the 700 mark. Second, Eve Brown of Washington State is the first person to attempt Test 3 – and she aced it! She says it’s a matter of returning to a “beginner’s mind” and just replaying the audio and video instructional. As we say in Cherokee, “Tsalagi gayotli goliga” – I speak Cherokee like a child.

Today is a Turtle (Dagasi) day on the old Calendar, the first day of the cycle of twenty. It’s a day of new beginnings, and the last Turtle day before spring begins.

Is there a venture you’ve been thinking of starting? Let me suggest enrolling in Speak Cherokee Level 1. For all you begin in March, your first month’s tuition ($20) will be donated to heating assistance for the Lakota elders at Wounded Knee, where a brutal winter has brought increased hardship. So far, two of you on this list have done that, which means $40 in heating assistance. If you ever needed another incentive to begin to study the Cherokee language (and tell the truth, you DO claim to be Cherokee at powwow time, don’t you?) you owe it to yourself and your children to become more familiar with the language.

In the coming weeks, I hope to offer some insights into one of the great luminaries of the efforts to renew the Cherokee language and culture, the late Chief Hastings Shade, who passed in February after decades of fragile health. I was blessed to spend a few days with Chief Shade in Tahlequah in 2002, and I’ll share some of what I learned… definitely a major awakening for me!
As Chief Wilma Mankiller prepares to make her crossing, give a thought to the elders who have crossed in the last few years. Who stands up to take their place?

You can’t turn back the clock and be raised in the traditional culture, but you CAN at least study and use the beautiful and multi-layered Cherokee language.

Nvwadohiyada, peace and healing to you,
Brian Wilkes

PS: Some of you have asked for more content of a spiritual nature, such as prayers. I will begin creating that content, starting with instructional videos for the Lord’s Prayer and a few shorter prayers.

Chief Wilma Prepares to Cross

2010-03-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

As many of you have already heard, former Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Wilma Pearl Mankiller has been diagnoses with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Since it's been 15 years since she left office (1985-1995), many younger people know her as a speaker, author, and Beloved Woman, but appearing as a frail survivor. In her younger days growing up in San Francisco, she was an activist, and the photo I chose is from the early 1970's, when she was youthful, energetic, and about 27.

I had the good fortune to meet Chief Mankiller at the 2000 "Flames of Hope" Gala, the annual fundraiser for the American Indian College Fund. She had just endured a second kidney transplant. The first transplant, necessitated by a near-fatal car crash, had been destroyed by chemotherapy when she was first diagnosed with cancer. She was gracious, but looked very tired.

She has led a full life, and sends this statement:

“I decided to issue this statement because I want my family and friends to know that I am mentally and spiritually prepared for this journey; a journey that all human beings will take at one time or another. I learned a long time ago that I can’t control the challenges the Creator sends my way but I can control the way I think about them and deal with them. On balance, I have been blessed with an extraordinarily rich and wonderful life, filled with incredible experiences. And I am grateful to have a support team composed of loving family and friends. I will be spending my time with my family and close friends and engaging in activities I enjoy. It’s been my privilege to meet and be touched by thousands of people in my life and I regret not being able to deliver this message personally to so many of you. If anyone wants to send a message to me, it is best to email me at wilmapmankiller@yahoo.com.”

MARCH SPECIAL: LEARN CHEROKEE, AND HELP THE ELDERS AT PINE RIDGE

2010-02-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

Osiyo,
As we approach the Sixth World, the prophetic increase in earthquakes and other natural disasters is being fulfilled. It’s hard to watch coverage of the devastation in Haiti and now Chile without feeling the urge to open our wallets, and the wish that we had bigger wallets and deeper pockets.

But there’s been a quieter devastation this winter in the Lakota country, where winter storms have knocked out electric, water treatment plants, plumbing, and have made re-supply difficult. Anyone who has experienced a Dakota winter can imagine how bad it might get if there was also no heat.

The Elders at Wounded Knee still endure brutal winter conditions, often in woefully sub-standard housing. Losing heat, even for a few days, is life-threatening.

I hope your pockets are deep enough to help the victims in Haiti and Chile. Mine aren’t, so I’ve concentrated my efforts on helping the Elders at Pine Ridge.

HERE’S THE DEAL:

For each new or returning student who signs up in March, your first month subscription/tuition fee of $20 will go to heating assistance. Other than the PayPal service charge, ALL of it will go for heating, without any overhead or “management” charges. I’m dealing with people there whom I know personally.

If you’ve been putting off beginning to learn the Cherokee language, or if you’re a former student who’s been thinking of coming back, now you can get started and know that your tuition will help some of our cousins who are in greatest need right now, right here in the United States.

Before he passed the late ceremonial chief Frank Fools Crow left his pipe and part of his regalia to a Cherokee (mis-identified in some books as a white man), with the prayer that this would start the process of healing the centuries-old animosity between our peoples. This is you chance to be part of that healing, and also to begin your part of the effort to keep our language alive and vibrant. You will still get a seven-day free trial.

So there’s no time like the present: Honor our Ancestors, Speak our Language, and Help our cousins survive a cruel winter.

Nvwadohiyada, healing peace to you,

Brian Wilkes
SpeakCherokee.com

The Redbird Begins Its Ascent From the Underworld Today

2010-01-12T12:18:00.000-08:00

Sun's Daughter, Venus, has completed her descent in the form of the Great Rabbit (Noquis'equa) and now begins her ascent from the Underworld as the Redbird (Dotsuwa), rescued by the Twins (Dinitliwa), who had accidentally killed her. On the old Calendar, today is also a Twins Day, when the opposite unite to fulfill a greater purpose. The Redbird is a promise to us that Spring will return.

This is a remnant of a ceremonial cycle brought north by Cherokee ancestors from the Mayan communities of the south.

The old Calendar has been kept in isolated mountain communities in Eastern Tennessee and Kentucky, and the Carolina panhandle, but it is almost gone. It’s a complicated, multi-layered system that had little advantage in the modern technological world, where linear rather than cyclical thought dominates. I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s completely gone in another generation.

Sometimes cultural features like a calendar or a custom fade away because it’s just their time. We could call it cultural Darwinism… it’s just time for something to go extinct. Preventing that extinction will take a good deal of sweat.

Who wants to help?

Brian Wilkes

Cherokee Language Immersion Class, Eastern Dialect, in July

2010-01-12T11:34:00.000-08:00

One reason I created SpeakCherokee.com is to reverse or at least slow down the decline in the use of the Cherokee language. If the basics are in the heart and minds and mouths of a greater and greater number of people, there’s a better chance of cultural survival.

If you’ve been on the list for a while, you know I offer Natural Method instruction as opposed to Classical Method (traditional classroom instruction). We start by hearing and speaking the language, not by analyzing grammar or written tests. We include the syllabary as a reference for those who are more visually oriented, but we don’t dwell on it. A Classical Method class might start with everyone reciting and even memorizing the syllabary. Natural Method starts with hearing words and phrases in context, often with a visual link, such as a photo. We I was getting my education degree almost 40 years ago, the apostles of Natural Method, mostly French and Danes, were touring the colleges trying to convince language departments to at least include NM in the curriculum.

I’m happy to see that the Museum of the Cherokee Indian is following that course with more recent improvements to the method.

The Cherokee language immersion class will be offered July 20 – 31, 2009. This ten-day class will teach conversational Cherokee language using the Total Physical Response Method and the Rassius Method developed at Darmouth. Open to the general public ages 16 and up, the class costs $500. For information, contact Bo Taylor at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian by phone at 1-828-497-3481 or by email at botaylor@cherokeemuseum.org. To register and pay, contact Sharon Littlejohn by phone or by email at littlejohn@cherokeemuseum.org.

Previous immersion classes have been available to tribal members only. A friend who attended reports “It’s wonderful and amazing!”

The ten-day class focuses on immersing participants in Cherokee language through classroom activities, interaction with elders, and field trips. Participants will be responsible for their own room and board.

Since I’m dedicated to the preservation and promotion and Cherokee culture, I’m going to do whatever I can to be there: tuition, ten days lost income, plus ten days room and board. Realistically, it will cost me about $2,000. I encourage all of you to go or at least investigate going.

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

Appreciations for the "Speak Cherokee" Program

2009-12-21T10:20:00.000-08:00

A respected Kentucky leader in the Native American community endorses "Speak Cherokee!"

We will also have live, in-person classes this spring in Marion, Kentucky. Details soon.

Lost in Translation; Cherokee Calendar Bonus Ends Monday

2009-10-29T10:09:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, I had the good fortune to spend a few hours with Keetoowah News editor, photographer, and language instructor Sammy Still and his wife Dama. I had last seen Sammy in 2002 during a trip to Tahlequah.

We spoke briefly on teaching the language. He mentioned that one of the problems is that for the past three decades, the field has been dominated by talented linguists, who have dissected, analyzed and re-assembled parts of the Cherokee language. This is great for another linguist, giving them the schematic diagrams for the language. This is sometimes called “classical method,” and is the way languages have been taught in schools for centuries.

But, he said, Cherokee is more complex than that. Exact word to word translations are difficult, and often imprecise. The English word automobile, “self-moving”, is translated into Cherokee with several other words depending on locality. These mean “big eyes,” “it stares back”, and “rubber touches road”. The first two translations refer to the headlights, the last to the wheels. The English concept of “self-moving” or “self-propelled” isn’t there. The meanings are also lost going from Cherokee to English.

Still said that Cherokee needs to be learned in context of the culture and community. This is known as “natural method,” because it’s the way we learn our first language as babies.

I don’t mean to belittle in any way those teachers who use the classical method. When I was planning Speak Cherokee, I thought that the new technology offered a great chance to use the natural method. Push a button, hear a word, repeat until your pronunciation sounds close. It’s why the curriculum is moving to more use of video as well as audio. It’s also why Test 2 and above require you to record your tests answers, so I can correct your pronunciation.

BONUS PERIOD EXTENDED:
Since I’ll bee out of the office for a few days, I’m extending the Cherokee Calendar bonus deadline to Monday, November 2. Select any of our three paid subscriptions to the course this Sunday or Monday, and you’ll receive as a bonus the 2010 Cherokee Calendar. The Calendar is no longer available as a separate product, but only as a bonus for passing Test 3. So now through Monday, you can get one just for enrolling at http://www.SpeakCherokee.com/purchase.htm

Talk to you next week!
Nvwadohiyada, Healing and peace to you.
Brian Wilkes

Mitochondrial DNA in Cherokees - Egyptian, Greek, Phoenician and Hebrew Origins?

2009-10-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

We have always had an oral tradition that at least part of our people came by boat from a land across the waters to the East. Modern science suggests those stories told by the Elders are more than fairy tales.

READ MORE

Dr. Yates can also advise you on the best DNA test to meet your needs, depending on just where in your ancestry, your family tree, you suspect that 'bird' is hiding!

[The woman in the photo is wearing a tradition Cherokee style dress, finishing a traditional Cherokee design in the pot. But she's not Cherokee, she's Berber from Morocco - the "land across the sea"? Many linguistic and cultural clues suggest early contact with the Mediterranean, including Berber Mauritania, Carthage, Etruria, Minoan Greece, Troy, and Phoenicia.]

Brian Wilkes

Tradition, Diet, and Longevity

2009-10-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies:

1. The Japanese eat very little fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

3. The Chinese drink very little red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats
And suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.

CONCLUSION
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.

SPEAK CHEROKEE, LIVE LONGER!

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

Harvest Month, and You Can Harvest a 2010 Calendar

2009-10-01T07:33:00.000-07:00

Osiyo! Greetings!

Gohi-iga nvgineiga, igvyi-iga Duninvdi.
Today (is) Thursday, first day (of) October.

Duninvdi (doo-NEEN-dee) come from a word meaning harvest, and this is the time we harvest the crops and medicines that let us survive the coming winter. It’s the time we show thanks to our Creator and Provider, to the Earth, and to each other for the harvest.

This mailing list is approaching 600, so to celebrate the milestone there will be gifts! All of those enrolled in Speak Cherokee Level One for any portion of the month of October will receive the 2010 Cherokee Calendar. I had not planned to do another calendar because sales demand didn’t justify it, but several students told me it helped them as a learning tool. So this will be my Harvest Thanks giveaway.

After October 31st, the 2010 Calendar will be a reward for correctly completing Test 3.

So if you needed another incentive to begin your study of the Cherokee language, here it is!

Until next time,
All the best,

Brian Wilkes

Lighting Fires - A Week of Peace and Reconciliation

2009-09-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 8 , is a Flower Day on the old calendar. For those of you who are new to this, Flower is the last of the 20 day-sign, and contains the seeds of the next 20 day. This is the day to pray for the changes you want to see in the the next 20 days, while they are still in seed. The Mayan priests have asked all people of good conscience to add extra prayers on Flower Days for world peace and the reconciliation of humanity with the natural order.

Wednesday, September 9, is the Day of the Turtle, beginning a week of Turtle. It is also 09/09/09, and people worldwide are lighting fires for peace and healing.

Thursday, September 10, is a Tornado Day. Tornado is a highly focused wind, and the sign of communications as well as power.

Friday, September 11, is a Firepit Day, a sign also known as the Cavern of Refuge, Temple, or Pyramid. In the distant past, it represented our survival of disaster by taking refuge in fire-lit caves. Today, it is the symbol of the kitchen hearth. As we feed and protect the fire, the fire feeds and protects us.

On Wednesday, o9/09/09, representatives of different indigenous nations and traditions will gather at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago to light the fire for a three-day observance. You are invited to join in whatever way you can, even lighting a candle to carry your prayers. You can participate by signing their guestbook… just tell them you heard about the event through SpeakCherokee.com

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut...

2009-09-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

Dulisdi the month of nuts. So if I seem a little more nuts than usual, I’m just in keeping with the season!

And if you visit the Smokies, don’t park under the oak trees.

Influenza _ Keep an Eye on the World!

2009-09-01T10:33:00.000-07:00

I've posted a link to a real-time global flu map... what's your area's risk? http://bit.ly/AKPRY

Nvwdohiyada!

WARNING: Trac-Fone Sucks!

2009-08-26T09:01:00.000-07:00

I will NEVER us Trac-Fone again. Customer service is non-existent.
Cancellation of a lost or stolen phone is a nightmare.
What are your experiences with cellular phone carriers?

Cleaning Out Our Houses and Our Lives

2009-08-20T08:26:00.000-07:00

Osiyo!

Today through the weekend, many Cherokees will be celebrating Agawela Seluutsi, the Green Corn Ceremony and Feast. Even though the corn became in June, which is “Green Corn” month in Cherokee.

In recent years, the Green Corn observance, when the corn was developed enough to mean there was a good chance of a harvest, and the Ripe Corn Ceremony, when the corn was developed enough to assure a harvest, have been combined. The months of June and July are called “Green Corn” and “Tasseling Corn” in Cherokee.

Today, Thursday is the new moon, the traditional start of the Cherokee month. In the old days, this was a time for new beginnings – one of several times in the course of a year to re-evaluate your life. People might destroy all their furniture and build new. It was definitely a time to clean out your closets and give away the things you didn’t really need… surplus clothing, food, and today, all those things that accumulate and clutter our lives. Time to give away or throw away!

Among the stress-generating things we also get rid of: debts, grudges, bad habits. In my case, about 50 pounds of weight would be good to get rid of!

The underlying teaching is to get rid of the old, broken, or unnecessary in your life to make room for the new blessings that are on the way. That includes making your home presentable and ready for company.

The harvest is almost ready, and there will be plenty for everyone. We won’t starve this coming winter. Seems assured today; but centuries ago, just getting through the winter alive was an accomplishment.

Today, we have different challenges. The economy has people worried because we need cash to pay our bills. But how much worse could it be if our nation’s crops failed? Green Corn is a reminder that Divine Providence will take care of our needs, but not all of our wants. That’s a matter of each of us cleaning out our own heart.
Witsatologi nihi, Many Blessings to You!

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

"Carrying a Burden" on Four Legs

2009-08-19T20:31:00.000-07:00

I’ve been distracted for the past week by a death in the family. Yes, she had big loving blue eyes, four legs and a tail, and a compulsion for cookies. Kayla was a beagle-husky-whatever mix, rescued from a shelter on the last day before euthanasia. That was ten years ago. Last week her cancer became so bad that the long-delayed needle could be delayed no longer.

All the way back to the story of the dog that sacrificed his life to warn his human family of the coming great flood, we Cherokees have always held a deep love for dogs. We’re told that when we cross the River of Death (the Milky Way) to enter Heaven, we will be met on the other shore by all the dogs we have befriended or rescued in this life. If our right to enter Heaven is questioned, they will testify on our behalf.

To this day, some observant Cherokees are buried with dog biscuits so they can give treats to their long-lost friends who will come to escort them, who will greet them even before their ancestors.

Are there dogs in Heaven? God’s a dog person! We say that when God painted the sky, his dog licked up some of the drips, and has blue spots on his tongue to this day. Cherokee/Carolina dogs, bears, and some wolves share this trait.

The word for dog is gitli (GEE-tlee), sometimes pronounced gihli (GEE-hlee) or even gikli (GEE-klee) depending on the community. But at one time they were called “burden-carrier”: soquili. When Europeans came, that word was gradually applied to the magical creature they brought, the horse, and dogs were used less and less as pack animals.

Today, the burden dogs carry is their devotion to us. They will risk their lives for us without hesitation; they will share our hardship as well as happiness, they will love unconditionally and forgive unremittingly.

Even on her way to the vet for the last time, Kayla continued the role that had become her main duty in later years; showing none of the pain that was devouring her, she was the jester entertaining every one of her crying human family right up to the end.

Years ago, a well-known Lakota traditionalist asked why I’m Christian.

“Because I believe in the healing power of love, of forgiveness, and I believe that these were woven into the fabric of the universe at the creation,” I answered.

He sneered, “There is no forgiveness in nature.”

All I could think of was, poor guy – he never had a dog. But I suddenly understood Pine Ridge a little better.

Don’t know what my future holds or the number of my days, but there will be plenty of cookies and dog treats in my coffin. That will be a small burden to carry.

After all, you can’t disappoint your best friends.

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

New Course Content, and Kentucky Native News

2009-08-11T09:51:00.000-07:00

WHY
I'll be posting some of the responses I got to the question "WHY do you
want to learn Cherokee?" Most of the answers are not reasons, but
justifications, and it becomes increasingly clear to me why many of you
aren't learning.

VIDEOS
The first of the instructional course videos will be published today on
the free page. It's part of the Lesson 3 material. Tests 3 through 10
will be posted as videos.

VOYAGE OF NATIVE AMERICAN AWARENESS
A month ago, a group of Kentucky Indians put their canoes into the Ohio
River where it first touches Kentucky, up by the West Virginia border.
Their mission was to canoe the Kentucky's stretch of the Ohio, stopping
at towns along the way to tell people about issues and initiatives for
this state's Native community. This past Saturday, they finished their
voyage at Wickliffe Mounds, a few miles downriver from the junction
where the Ohio joins the Mississippi. It was a daunting and draining
undertaking, and I'm very proud to say that at least four of the
organizers, Jerry TwoFeather Thornton, his wife Vicki, Nighthawk
Troutman, and Mike Dunn (recently appointed to the state's Native
American Heritage Commission) are all current or former Cherokee
students. In fact, voyage leader Jerry Thornton organized live classes
in Taylorsville, KY two years ago after several years of trying to find
an instructor.
So congratulations to all for this impressive undertaking!

POWWOWS
A few have invited me to set up as a vendor at their powwow, telling
people about the Speak Cherokee program. Because of the expense and time
commitment, I seldom go to powwows, and certainly not as a vendor.
However, if you are a powwow-er, I have business cards which you can put
out or hand out. In fact, I'd be grateful if you did. Just send me your
mailing address.
Incidentally, one reason I'm not big on powwows is that they have little
or nothing to do with our Southeastern cultures. While Gen. Sherman once
said "The only good Indian is a dead Indian," the powwow circuit follows
Hollywood in preaching "The only REAL Indian is a plains Indian."

Brian Wilkes
*/www.SpeakCherokee.com /*

Meteor Showers Wednesday Morning

2009-08-11T06:04:00.000-07:00

August 12, 2009 Perseid Meteor Showers begin Wednesday morning….

And when we say August 12, we mean that morning … not that night. These typically fast and bright meteors radiate from a point in the constellation Perseus, and, like all meteors in annual showers, they cover a large part of the sky. The Perseids are considered by many people to be the year’s best shower when the moon is out of the way during the shower’s peak. Unfortnately, this year’s moon is not totally out of the way during the Perseids. The slightly waning gibbous moon rises around midnight – just as the Perseids start to pick up steam. Nonetheless, you should be able to catch some Perseid meteors before moonrise – and even after . The Perseids tend to strengthen in number as midnight ebbs toward dawn. Although not a favorable year, these meteors are often bright and frequently leave persistent trains. What’s more, enhanced activity may be in the works, so perhaps enough brighter meteors can overcome the moonlit glare to make this year’s production worthwhile. From late night on Tuesday, August 11 till dawn on Wednesday, August 12, a decent sprinkling of Perseid meteors may adorn this summer night, despite the pesky moon. Lie back and watch meteors until dawn’s light washes the stars, moon and planets from the sky.

WHY Do You Want To Learn Cherokee?

2009-07-31T10:46:00.001-07:00

In any struggle, it’s important to keep your “why” in mind. Nowhere is this more important than in the study of what many consider a dead or dying language.

Cherokee lives! But on a respirator.

Here’s an e-mail I received recently from someone who truly wants to study the language, but can’t access the program because she doesn’t have a computer:

“I have tried to take your course of speak Cherokee but I don’t have any luck. I can’t get the payment part to work.

I would love to buy a calendar I want to learn more than breathe. I don’t know what to do -- please tell me how to send the money and to get the calendar. Can I send a money order? A lot of things won’t work because it says ‘too large to display’ on my phone.

I am confused about it. I truly with all my heart want to learn.”

Turns out she was trying to access the course through a cell phone! I explained that I hadn’t designed the course to be accessible by cell phone. Perhaps it can be accessed through something like an iPhone, I don’t know.

“Wado!  You are great teacher.. thank you! I will get a computer, then I will be good learner. I will save the money and I will get to join to learn! Thank you for telling me. I can’t get to where there is a computer. My legs are bad. I’m in wheelchair.

I will join soon -- thank you for the wonderful gift you have given me! Please keep teaching. I will find a way to get computer to learn in your class.”

And I have no doubt she will; she has a strong heart and a strong determined spirit. She has her reason:

“My parents went on their journey (i.e., crossed over) and to honor them, I want more than my breath of air to learn our language.”

So tell me… what is the real, emotionally wrenching reason YOU want to put out the effort to learn Cherokee?

Nvwadohiyada,

Brian Wilkes

Your Holiday Gift!

2009-07-03T10:23:00.000-07:00

Guyequoni Tsoinei ko'iga
Today is July 3rd

Osiyo!

For Memorial Day, I posted a video of the Cherokee version of America The Beautiful. I've posted the song with full lyrics so you can follow along and learn. That's right, a Cherokee Karaoke channel! (Chero-yokee?)

My computer is near the end of its lifespan, and I'm hearing skips in the audio that I don't remember in the original. Can't tell if it's my computer or the video, so if it sounds skippy to you, please let me know.

Also, I had a question this week:

“I have tried to take your course of Speak Cherokee but I don't have any luck. I can't get the payment part to work. I don't have a computer, only a phone. It says "too large" and won't work."

Unfortunately, Speak Cherokee was not designed to be accessed from an iPhone or Smart Phone, only from a computer. Without a computer, there's not a good way to make online payment. Yes, I take checks or money orders for 6 or 12 month enrollments, but without a computer, you still won't be able to access the course.

Lesson Three and Test Three will be completed in July, my target to finish all ten lessons and tests is the end of the year. One of the keys to learning and retention is to USE the language everyday. Sheer repetition, and linkage of the words to the environment you see every day make the difference. Lessons three and four will be keyed to vocabulary you may use around the house and surrounding outdoors.

Have a wonderful, safe Fourth of July!

Brian Wilkes www.SpeakCherokee.com

New Geniuses, and Mighty Hunter Has Only Six Months Til Christmas

2009-06-25T09:40:00.000-07:00

As we approach our second year online, SpeakCherokee.com has reached a crossroad.
In the past weeks, some really sharp people have enrolled for the course material. Not to say people who enrolled previously haven’t been sharp. But some of the new people are also motivated to learn quickly!

Among the points of Speak Cherokee, it’s self-directed and self-paced. It’s online 24-7, so you study when it best fits your schedule. Over the years some have said the material was too confusing, or too difficult, and I’ve tried to adjust things according to your feedback. That’s one reason all ten lessons and tests aren’t posted yet; I’ve been re-writing and re-evaluating based on your feedback.

One woman signed up, and blasted the first two tests in about two weeks. Another did it in one week. I think we’ve established the material isn’t too hard, if you take a little time and work with it.

Another point of Speak Cherokee is that it’s interactive. I’ve gone so far as to get on the phone with people to help with their pronunciation. It’s the same kind of instruction I’d give in a live classroom setting. This is also why I’ve set an upper limit on the number of students that can be enrolled at any time.

HUNTERS

Who are the most efficient hunters of the animal world? As much as I’m a dog person, they’re sloppy hunters, a problem they make up for with teamwork. Big cats are by far more efficient. And yet wildlife experts tell us that even the big cats only take down their prey in 1 out of 10 chases. That’s a 10 per cent success rate. I don’t feel so bad now when I introduce a product that doesn’t find its market. If I get 2 out of 10 into profit, I'm a marketing TIGER!

As some of you know, for three years now I’ve produced a Cherokee calendar each year. Not only does it have the modern months and days shown in their Cherokee names, but it has the old Cherokee day-signs and wind-signs, moon phases, seasonal starts and mid-points, and much more information. Everybody said they wanted it… until it was time to pay. I’ve learned some lessons on market research!

There’s not enough interest to justify publishing the calendar, and yet I feel it is still a valuable tool for those learning the language, history and culture.

So effective July 1, enrolled language students will receive the Calendar and each annual update as a bonus. Learning to give the time and date in Cherokee will help you gain familiarity with the language.

Today is June 25, making it six months until Christmas. So consider this notice of an early Christmas gift! The 2010 Cherokee Calendar is now being researched and compiled. Only my students will have it.!

So if you haven’t enrolled, go here and select the plan that best suits you.

All the best,
Brian Wilkes

COMING: More links to natural health and home-based business information.

Friday! And Operational Notes for Students

2009-06-12T01:27:00.000-07:00

Tsunagilosdi gesv! It’s Friday!

Thank you for the response to the “America the Beautiful” video I posted last Saturday. It’s also raised some questions about Code Talkers, which I’ll address soon. For those of you who haven’t found it yet, there’s a page of sing-along videos. Spending some time with these daily will quickly increase your familiarity with the spoken language.

Today, just a few operational notes.

More people are joining this list every day, and may wonder just what we do here. To get on this mailing list, you’ve signed up at either the SpeakCherokee.com page or here on the SpeakCherokee blog page. Some of you no doubt want to poke around a bit before making a commitment to enroll in the course. Some of you may also be financially stressed, especially in the current economy, and trying to see what you can learn first without charge. Hey, nothing wrong with that, I do it all the time, too.

When you are ready to enroll, we’ll be ready.

When you enroll, I get a notification from PayPal, and I set a user name and password for you. I do this manually, because there just aren’t enough of you to justify paying for the automation. So I advise that it will be within 24 hours of the time I get the notification; but even I don’t live in front of the computer. I occasionally take a day off.

However, if you’ve enrolled through PayPal and haven’t heard back from me within 24 hours (if you enroll on a weekend, it could be longer), something could be wrong. If you send me e-mail about this please INCLUDE A PHONE NUMBER! Because so many e-mail systems have filters these days, there’s a chance you won’t receive my e-mail reply. You system may send me to the junk bin. I may need clarification on the problem. Recently, I helped to talk a student through a browser plug-in upgrade to allow her to hear the audios. So if you’re sending a question about access and passwords, please include a phone number.

SPEAK FIRST, WRITE LATER

The teaching approach we use duplicates the way a child learns his or her first language: by imitating the adult hundreds and thousands of times with no real grasp of the rules of grammar. This is an online, audio-based approach. We show the Cherokee syllabary only to provide familiarity; in Level 1 we won’t really be dealing with the written language.

ABOUT PAYPAL:

When your renewal is due, PayPal attempts to make the payment, If you haven’t funded your account, or don’t haven't it linked to your bank account or credit card, the payment fails. PayPal makes another attempt within a week. After three failed attempts at payment, your subscription is automatically canceled by PayPal.

TIGHT ON MONEY?

Trust me, as President Clinton used to say, “I feel your pain.” I make my living online, and help people do the same. I have a system that will let you start an online business with no money, utilizing free online resources and software. Yes it’s work, but that’s one of those four-letter words: life, work, pain, love. You can learn more over on my business blog, Stimulus Package. You can sign up for the newsletter, or just check the blog from time to time.

Until next time, SpeakCherokee!

Brian Wilkes

Honoring D-Day Vets: America the Beautiful in Cherokee

2009-06-06T00:36:00.000-07:00

Osiyo!

I've been backed up this week, but I wanted to get this video out for D-Day, or at least by Flag Day, two holidays the mass media has forgotten. I grew up in a community where everyone's dad was a WW2 veteran, including mine. He piloted a landing craft at Normandy until it was shelled out from under him. It was 30 years before he could speak out loud about what he went through that day.

I mention that because we are surrounded by veterans who keep so much to themselves about what they went through... Vietnam, the Balkans, Desert Storm, and now Iraq and Afghanistan. I live up the road from Ft. Campbell, KY, which ordered a stand-down last week to deal with the epidemic of veteran suicides.

"Support The Troops" is more than just a slogan on a car magnet! It means reaching out to the vets, helping them to find the help they need. In my role as a pastor, I'm dealing more and more with current and former military personnel and contractors who are carrying, as one admitted this week, "more baggage than the Titanic." And we all know what happened to the Titanic.

Four years ago, I was asked to translate America the Beautiful into Cherokee for a patriotic event. The lyric sheet is posted in both the student and non-student sections of www.SpeakCherokee.com . I'll have a teaching-speed version with lyrics posted soon.

If you start learning and singing today, D-Day, you should have it pretty clear by June 16, Flag Day.

Like our nation, our language will survive only as a result of our work and sacrifice. If the British had won the Revolutionary War, we'd all be speaking English today. (Yes, that's a joke).

Sermon's over. Enjoy the weekend. But please remember our language and remember our veterans.

nvwdohiyada,
Brian Wilkes

PS: For those of you who only know the history you see on the screen, it was the battle at the beginning of "Saving Private Ryan."

Corn months, Dreams, and Financial Help

2009-06-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

Osiyo!

Go’hi iga Unadodaquinvi, igvgai Dehaluyi!
It’s Monday, first day of June!

Monday is considered the start of the week. Cherokees call Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are called Second Day, Third Day, and Fourth Day.
It’s also a Turtle day, beginning the cycle of twenty day-signs again.
First or the week, first of the month, first of the 20-Day cycle. A good day for new beginnings!

Yesterday we ended An’sgvti, the month of “They Plant.” And just what did they plant? Selu, of course! We now start months with Corn names: Green Corn and Ripe Corn.

They development of a corn-based agriculture was a major step for our ancestors. The plant requires human intervention to propogate. Although it provides the ability to produce a surplus of food, there are several drawbacks:

[1] Grains provide poor nourishment compared to wild plants and game animals. You don’t worry so much about starving, but you aren’t as healthy.

[2] Agriculture requires communities to be rooted to the land, to protect the crop.

[3] Agricultural societies are more complex than hunter-gatherer societies, and those socieites develop more complex worldviews and languages to express that worldview.

[4] Farm labor is HARD! Farmers go hunting and fishing for recreation; professional hunters never say “I’m going to take the week off and hoe out a truck farm.”

Corn is so central to Cherokee life that we are said to descend from a woman who developed from an ear of corn. Of the six major public ceremonies, three are linked to the growth cycle of corn.

So, what corn do you grow? This question once meant “What results do you produce?”
Give that one some thought.

READY TO START STUDYING? NEW GIFT!

I’ve been thinking of specials I can offer to get more of you to try the language course. After my recent posting about the linguistic nature of dreams, I had several requests to explain strange or troubling dreams. So how’s this? The next 50 people who enroll will have my humble analysis of a dream or waking vision. Please allow a few weeks.

FINANCIAL MELTDOWN

Some of you have recently left the program, citing financial hardship. I certainly understand, and I’ve been looking for solutions. Things are tight on my end as well!

For the past year, I’ve been working on a product that teaches people with little or no technical skill how to use their computers to make money online with no cash expenditure required. No hosting fee, no domain fee, no adverstising expenses. I was just wrapping it up when I found a new software (somebody beat me to market) that does everything I had designed, and more… and at a price so low I can’t compete.

So after I kicked myself for not getting my product out faster, I decided to promote the better product. The package is 30 instructional videos, full written instructions, all for $8.
You really can’t beat this deal, I’ve tried: http://hopurl.com/64005

So grow some corn, work toward results. Make changes. We’re here to help.

Nvwadohiyada,

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

Flutes and songs

2009-05-31T15:02:00.000-07:00

Osiyo!

As I write this, it's the last day of An'sgvti (They Plant, i.e. May). It's time to shift into the "corn" months. More on that later.

I mentioned the outstanding flutes made by one of our Cherokee students - and you know I LOVE to brag on my students! I actually own two of them now, and here I am with one of them. The bloodwood seems to match my coloring, huh?

Want to know how you can get one of these exceptional instruments? Just visit RunningBear Flutes for details.

I'm putting the finishing touches on teaching videos for the Cherokee version of "America The Beautiful." These will be in both normal speed and very slow teaching speed. With a little work, you can be presentable by Fourth of July.

Check back often ... more to come!

Cherokee Language Student Named to State Board

2009-05-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

I always love to hear when my students achieve something exceptional.

Mike Dunn has been appointed to Kentucky’s Native American Heritage Commission, our equivalent of an Indian Affairs Commission.

Mike has been very active in Native affairs and veteran affairs here in Kentucky for years, and I think he’ll be a great asset to the commission.

When I did live Cherokee language classes two years ago in Taylorsville, KY (near Louisville), Several of the Dunns attended, and put in a lot of effort.

So congratulations to Mike Dunn, I’m sure you’ll make us all proud!

By the way, as I visit the Heritage Commission web page, it feels like a family reunion...

The woman who designed the Native American license plate is one of my students...

The three children who sang Cherokee songs for the event, along with their mother, were my students...

Perhaps people who make the effort to learn the language are just high achievers!

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

What Do Your Dreams Speak?

2009-05-19T20:52:00.000-07:00

Freud said "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." I'll add that sometime an otter is just a sprouted seed.

A strange case of linguistic dream analysis...

One of my Cherokee students called with a question. Knowing that I’m on the medicine path, she asked me to help her understand a vision that confused her.

She mentioned entering a body of water where there were two otters. As she said that, the Cherokee word for otter flashed through my mind. Tsiya, pronounced CHEE-ah. As the sound of that word echoed in my skull, I thought of the Aztec chia, a tiny seed that sprouts much like alfalfa. These are the living component of “chia pets,” and the root of the name of the Mexican state of Chiapas. Knowing that my caller had a connection to an Apache elder who had recently crossed over, I knew this was more than coincidence. As we continued to talk, I received the message that she was to begin stockpiling chia seeds, as the Apache and Aztec did, as an emergency food source and intestinal medicine.

I never would have “connected the dots” between the word “otter” and the humble salvia hispanica had I not known the Cherokee word, and had I not also known the Nahual word.

The former deputy principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, Hastings Shade, used to tell me that one reason modern people can’t hear the voices of the spirits as well as when he was a child is because we don’t listen anymore. We’re too busy talking, or driving our cars with the radios blasting. It may also be because as we get farther from our ancestral languages, we can’t understand even when spoken to!

So here’s one more reason to begin speak Cherokee again: to actually hear the spirits of the places in which we live, and who speak to us in our dreams and visions.

We’re ready when you are. Enroll!

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

Some of our students won't see this for a few days...

2009-05-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

About 100 miles north of me, friends in Illinois are still without power or phones after a windstorm hit Friday afternoon. Meteorologists say these were straight-line winds, not tornadoes. But winds that reach 100 mph are damaging no matter what shape they take. Trees down, cars destroyed, houses damaged.

Part of the Cherokee prophecies for the final few years before the start of the Sixth World in December 2012 include sustained winds up to 200 mph, but we’ll save that for another time.

For today, we’ll deal with weather language:

Wind is unole (oo-NO-ley).
Tornado is agaluga (a-ga-LOO-gah), often contracted to gah-LOOG.

Some weather terms are present-tense only. For example, “It’s sunny", “It’s raining”, “It’s snowing.” Because these are expressed as verbs, and single words in each example, the word itself changes if you aren’t speaking about conditions in the present moment.

This is one example of how familiarity with the language alters the way you conceive and interact with the forces around you, and why it is so important to USE the language every day.

As I write this, I hear the songs of birds outside the window. Part of my mind recognizes tsisquoquo, tlutlu and even dotsuwa this morning. The other part of my mind calls them robin, jay, and cardinal, and understands why the cardinal was named for the archbishop’s red regalia, but wonders why two boy’s nicknames are used for the others.

What language you speak influences how you organize your thoughts. If you want to start think Cherokee, you have to speak Cherokee every day.

Brian Wilkes
SpeakCherokee.com

Cherokee Language Instructor Gregg Howard Crosses Over

2009-04-25T11:22:00.000-07:00

Sad News from Oklahoma…

Lari Howard from Tahlequah just notified me that her husband, noted Cherokee language teacher Gregg Howard, crossed over Thursday morning after a long bout with cancer. I had spoken with them by phone just a few weeks ago, and he was upbeat as ever.

The memorial service will be at Park Hill Presbyterian Church on Sunday, May 3 at 11:00. Another memorial will be held this summer in Dallas. If you make it to either, tell Lari that you’re my student, give her a big hug from me, and that

Gregg was from Central City, Kentucky, between Hopkinsville and Bowling Green, but had lived for years in Dallas, and more recently in Tahlequah. He appears on several of the Rich-Heape videos, including “Trail of Tears,” in which he portrays Sequoyah.

Over the decades, Gregg’s publications on Cherokee language and culture, as well as workd on Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and others, have reached tens of thousands, if not more. He called his company VIP, for Various Indian Peoples, but as far as anyone in the field cared, Gregg Howard was the VIP of Native American language education.

My cousins and friends, the number of fluent Cherokee speakers has dropped 20% in the past seven years alone. If you are interested in preserving our ancestral language, no matter whether it’s through SpeakCherokee.com or some other means, then please start today. Do something, don’t just think about it. Say something, anything, in Cherokee. Sing a song. Go to www.SpeakCherokee.com/sing.htm and follow along with the video. More songs will be added shortly.

We don’t have Gregg to lean on anymore like a walking stick. It’s time for you to stand up.

Nvwadohiyada,
Brian Wilkes

"You can be a warrior, or you can be a victim, but you can't be both."

2009-04-15T08:10:00.001-07:00

Last week I sent a message about the rapid decline of fluent Cherokee speakers. I had my wake- up call when told that a group revising the Eastern Band constitution had trouble reading older printed constitutions well enough to understand the nuances of legal aspects – original intent, and so forth.

Monday, I had another awakening. The new PBS Series “We Shall Remain” lists on their web site the statistic that there are now fewer than 8,000 fluent Cherokee speakers

That means that despite the best efforts of tribal governments and schools, and dozens of people like me “crying in the wilderness” on the Internet, we’re losing ground quickly.

One speaker in the video sums it up: “There is no tomorrow.”

Go to any powwow, and you’ll hear Cherokee spoken - usually osiyo, wado, uh-huh, perhaps sgi, dohitsu and osda. You may even hear people singing “Wendeyaho” and thinking the words are Cherokee.

When I did live classes here in west Kentucky, I joked with United Keetoowah friends that I was also starting an advanced Cherokee course, “Beyond Osiyo”.

There’s a big difference between starting to learn a language and becoming fluent. Speak Cherokee Level One will not magically make you a fluent speaker. Duh, that’s why it’s called Level One.

So if you’ve been putting off starting the journey, remember, “There is no tomorrow.”

SpeakCherokee.com isn’t just about learning the language; it’s about forming a community of students and speakers. One feature we offer is an exchange page, where we’ll promote the businesses of currently enrolled students. I’m also planning forum page when we reach a certain number of students.

I’m working to add more video instruction, including songs and prayers, to make the learning process as enjoyable as possible. PLEASE make suggestions; I don’t claim to have all the answers. I’m one person in a remote corner of Kentucky.

One of the Keetoowah teachers, Choogie Kingfisher, said that “WE are the new warriors, we who work to preserve the language and culture.” So I’m challenging you, don’t be a victim, don’t just be a student, but become a warrior. The language is LOSING ground – will you just sit there and watch it happen?

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T14:39:00.001-07:00

Osiyo!

For those of you still in the holiday mood, here's your digital Easter Card

Here's a linguistic oddity: the word for offspring, seed, and egg are the same in Cherokee: Jesus is called God's uwetsi...

Does that make him the original Easter egg?

All the best,

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

April Flowers

2009-03-31T23:53:00.000-07:00

Osiyo, digusdi!
It's good (to be with you), cousins!

Ko'iga tsoine-iga, kawoni igvgai.
Today is Third Day (Tuesday), April first.

Ko'iga atsilvsgi-iga, dohiyi gesesdi.
Today is a Flower day, may there be peace and harmony.

It's the month of blooming flowers, and here in west Kentucky, what trees remain after the devastating winter storm are sprouting blossoms.

It's fitting that the first day of the flowering month should also have the day-sign Flower.
This is the final sign of twenty, and is considered to hold in its blossom the seeds of the next twenty-day cycle.

The Elders have asked us to mark each Flower Day with additional prayers for peace, healing , and reconciliation.

A quick scan of the recent news reveals an alarming rise in mass murders here in the US.

One stressor has to be the economic uncertainty, even panic, in many homes.

To help, "Speak Cherokee" will continue it's family member special: If you are subscribed for the course, a family member can join you, complete the tests and eventually receive a certificate of completion. We already Have one husband and wife team taking advantage of this.

By The Way: The Cherokee word for money, adelv, originally referred to beadwork sections or 'wampum' formerly used for exchange.

CONGRATULATIONS to Van Bevil of Alabama. After a week in the course, he aced the first test. He's also an amazing talent as an artist and craftsman, and we may be showing you some of his work shortly.
http://kickingbear.etsy.com/

Another one of the students, Edinburgh-based singer Talitha Mackenzie, has scheduled appearances here in the US starting in late spring... we'll have details.
http://www.talithamackenzie.com

LAST CHANCE: The 2009 Cherokee Calendar will remain on sale for instant download only until Tuesday, April 7.
It's a great way to become familiar with the names of the months, days, and day-signs.
http://www.cherokee-calendar.com

And remember, there's more on the blog:
http://speakcherokee.blogspot.com

To all

PS: Ever notice how some men in the South or Southwest address each other as "Goose"? Strange nickname?
Not really. Look at my opening line. Digusdi is plural for gusdi, "cousin". Since the final vowels are often dropped, it sounds more like "goosd". It's old Cherokee custom to address a Cherokee you've never met before as cousin, to acknowledge some possibility of blood kinship. It simply sounds like the English word for a big loud bird.

Dodadagohvi!
Until next time!

Brian Wilkes
http://www.SpeakCherokee.com

Definition of Powwow

2009-03-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

Two weeks ago I promised to give you the literal meaning of powwow. There have been some interesting opinions, but in fact, it's a Narragansett word meaning "he dreams" or "dreamer". In parts of New England and as far south as Virginia, some languages use the spelling pauwau. The New Jersey city of Mahwah, usually translated as "meeting place", takes its name from the same root.

Centuries ago, people who had dreams that might be important visions went to elders to have the dream interpreted. This review session evolved into an annual or semi-annual group event. As people were waiting to have their dreams interpreted, they had to eat. As long as people were gathered together, might as well get some trading done. And while the elders heard the dreams and visions out of sight of the crowd, this was also an opportunity to conduct ceremonial and healing dances.

Some say the term dreamer refers equally to the person having the vision, and to the person interpreting it, and so another reasonable definition is "a gathering of spiritual leaders and/or spiritual seekers." One anonymous reader suggested "gathering of spirits," which isn't far off.

While our Cherokee ancestors traditionally held six annual public ceremonies, these were not powwows. It has been suggested that the Stomp Dance is predecessor to the powwow, but that's quite a stretch. So no, there is no Cherokee word for powwow.

What we call a powwow today developed at the beginning of the 20th century, and really took hold in the 1950's. After the misunderstanding of the Ghost Dance that led to the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, Indians were forbidden to gather to dance and sing... except to educate or entertain white people. What evolved was a combination of elements drawn from genuine tradition, circus, traveling carnivals, minstrel shows, and the famed Wild West shows. Indians both pandered to and lampooned white pre-conceptions.

Today, powwows can be roughly divided into traditional gatherings, which may even avoid the use of the word powwow, and competition powwows, which are centered on dance competitions, often for cash prizes. If you see dance outfits made of day-glo yarn and lamee cloth, good chance you're not at a traditional event!

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

Wolves and Coyotes

2009-03-01T23:39:00.000-08:00

Osiyo, nigada! Greetings, all!

Ko’iga Unadodaquinvi, Anayilisv taline, Iga Kanati
Today is Monday, March 2nd, Day of the Wolf

Some have asked about these words that open many of these mailings, so I’ll break it down for you:

"Osiyo" is the traditional Cherokee greeting, “It’s good (to see you).” According to some fluent elders, it’s really the ONLY Cherokee greeting. Constructions such as “Osda sunalei” good + morning, are actually statements rather than greetings. But a truth about any living language is that it changes.

Oh, one thing that annoys me is when people insert an apostrophe in osiyo, making it o’siyo. This may have come about because the first widely available book on the language, “Beginning Cherokee,” used a typeface in which the apostrophe and accent mark were identical. Apostrophes are used to show where letter have been intentionally dropped, such as “don’t.” Osi is the root for “good”, so nothing has been dropped between the “o” and the “si”. If you drop the first syllable, then ‘Siyo is fine.

I’m also annoyed by people who hyphenate powwow, but I regard that as advertising misuse like Krispy Kreme. Public praise to the first person who can tell me what the word ‘powwow’ means.

Ko’iga is contracted from kohi iga or now + day, today.

Some of you have noticed that the word Kanati is not the more common word for wolf, waya or wahaya. Kanati is a proper name, usually translated as lucky or fortunate hunter. It is the name of the day-sign symbolized by the wolf. Several of the 20 daysign names are not literal.

Wolves have made their presence known recently...

At the end of January, my region of Kentucky suffered a devastating ice storm that’s being called the worst disaster in a century. The entire power grid was knocked out in one night, and some people were without electricity for weeks. The rain froze on the trees, creating hundreds of pounds of weight that brought limbs crashing down on utility lines, roads, and even buildings. We’re still digging out.

So is the wildlife. Recently, I’ve heard many more wolves and coyotes near my windows at night. Their winter dens were destroyed, and they are struggling to find food and new lodgings. Turf wars are brewing, all the lines are being re-drawn. It’s denning time in advance of the birth of the wolf and coyote litters. They are preying on the newborn fawns and anything else they can find.

For those of you more familiar with the urban life, wolves don’t tolerate coyotes in their territory. Wolves are about three times their size, so smart coyotes flee, and dumb or slow coyotes die. The result, as Darwin would tell you, is smarter and faster coyotes. Perhaps this is the origin of their “trickster” status… they had to be faster and smarter to survive.

I live in a very rural area. My friends around the country sometimes wonder how I can live in a place with no movies, theaters, art museums, bookstores, shopping malls.

I wonder how they can live in a place where they can’t hear the choral song of the wolves in the night, even if the wolves are arguing with the coyotes. As one of the medicine people says, "How lonely is the night without the song of the wolves.”

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

Uktena Day: Look for A Comet

2009-02-24T16:38:00.000-08:00

Osiyo, nigada! Hello, everyone!

Last week, I told you that today (Tuesday) would be an unusual day on the Cherokee Calendar.This evening begins the new moon, the start of the Cherokee month. For many observant Cherokees, this still means one to four days of fasting, starting Wednesday.

Wednesday, coincidentally, is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, and a fast day for Roman Catholics and many other Christians.

Tuesday also is a Day of the Uktena, the legendary Cherokee dragon or horned/crested/feathered snake. The Uktena is associated with lethal events, such as disaters and war. Last week, I mentioned on possible scenario.

The Uktena is also one of the emblems for comets and meteors, the other sign being the Panther. As it happens, Tuesday is the day that a newly-discovered comet, Lulin, is expected to become its brightest.

Lulin is easier to see in the morning just after dawn, if you look to the west-southwest. The comet is greenish, and should have begun to elongate.

Here's a little vocabulary for you:

galvlohi (gah-luhn-LO-hee) Sky
noquisi (NOCK-wih-see or NOX-ee) Star
noquisi ganahida (NOX-ee gah-nuh-HEE-dah) Long Star, or Comet.
svnoyi (suh-NO-yee) Night

And when you're walking around in the dark, Tsag'sesdesdi! Watch out for yourself

More next time!

Brian Wilkes
www.SpeakCherokee.com

Smoke and Mirrors!

2008-12-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

Some time ago I asked "Is Your Family Weird?" I think that many family eccentricities some of us grew up with are actually remnants of old Cherokee traditions.

On reader told about a custom in her East Tennessee family which continues to this day. Mirrors are placed where they cannot be seen, for example, high on a wall near the ceiling. Hand mirrors are kept in drawers, wrapped in cloth until needed, then immediately replaced.

Another said that mirrors could never be placed so that they could be seen when the front door was entered. In other words, someone coming in the door should not see their reflection in the mirror framed by the doorway - this was too close to seeing yourself in a coffin.

Did your family have any practices like this? How much do you remember? We'd love to hear about it. And please participate in the poll at the left of the page.

Brian Wilkes
SpeakCherokee.com

Another song, this time by a pro!

2008-11-18T23:56:00.001-08:00

Talitha MacKenzie of Edinburgh, Scotland is one of our students at www.SpeakCherokee.com... she included this cut on her latest CD, "Indian Summer"

Cherokee song, with lyrics

2008-11-14T08:21:00.000-08:00

A song from 1700... repeat and learn!

What month is it? Take your pick!

2008-11-10T08:27:00.000-08:00

Osiyo!

We are in the lunar month of Tsiatloha, the solar month of Nvdadequa.
This Wednesday is a Flower Day, a day to increase our prayers for peace and reconciliation between humanity and the natural world.

These days are important in our old traditional calendar, but I've I've had very little interest or response to my recent posts on these matters, so I'm undecided on whether to go to the efforts of creating a calendar for 2009 as I have done for the past two years.

However, I've had response from people who want their birth dates calculated according to the old calendar. I'll begin taking orders this week, and will advise you shortly about the web page where you can learn more and place your orders. Because these take several hours to do, I will only be able to do about two dozen before Christmas, so if you want this for a holiday gift, act quickly.

You can also check Even Heaven Falls Apart for information on the web book, and 2012 Revealed for continuing reports about the Cherokee-Mayan-Aztec calendar and the prophesied changes leading up to the inauguration of the Sixth World in December, 2012.

22 Natives From 11 States, 16 Tribes Win Elections

2008-11-08T10:32:00.000-08:00

22 Natives From 11 States, 16 Tribes Win Elections

By Courtney Ruark of INDN's List

November 5, 2008

TULSA, Okla.—INDN's List made history Tuesday when 22 American Indian candidates from 11 states and 16 tribes won their state and local elections, including Denise Juneau (Three Affiliated Tribes) who is the first American Indian woman elected to statewide office in Montana, and only the third tribal member ever elected statewide.

Juneau is the Superintendent of Public Instruction-Elect in Montana, winning 50.74 percent of the vote. Juneau and her staff attended INDN Campaign Camp in 2007, where she was trained on all aspects of campaigning. Throughout the campaign, Juneau faced down anti-Indian rhetoric and was the first Indian woman to run statewide and face anti-Indian scorn.

With the results on Nov. 4, INDN's List has 23 candidates who won this cycle, with Bruce Curnutt (Choctaw) overwhelmingly winning his Sheriff's race in the Oklahoma runoff election in August.

"This is not just an historic year for America, but for Indian Country as we elected more tribal members to state and local office than ever before," said Kalyn Free (Choctaw), president of INDN's List. "In 2006, we elected 20 American Indians, and in 2008 we elected 23. Because of our efforts at INDN's List, tribal members are engaged at all levels of government in an unprecedented manner. To shape history, you have to be willing to make it."

In the South Dakota Legislature, two Campaign Camp alumni, Kevin Killer and Ed Iron Cloud III, won both seats in District 27, gaining Democratic seats there. They both attended INDN Campaign Camp 2007, and they are both enrolled members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

In Pennsylvania, Barbara McIlvaine Smith (Sac & Fox) won after being targeted by Republicans. She won the seat narrowly in 2006, when INDN's List first endorsed her, and flipped control of the Pennsylvania Legislature to the Democrats. Last night, she was victorious again.

Todd Gloria (Tlingit-Haida) won his San Diego City Council race at age 30, becoming the youngest member on the council and giving Democrats a 5-3 advantage.

With winners in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming, and 23 out of 37 endorsed candidates winning, INDN's List has an impressive 69 percent total win rate.

By assisting American Indians with achieving elected office, INDN's List is ensuring that issues that affect Indian Country are heard in state legislatures, city halls, and county jails and courthouses across the country.

"It was a bittersweet evening as not all of our candidates were successful," Free said. "We have tremendous respect for our first-time INDN candidates who challenged Republican incumbents but came up short.

"Our hearts are particularly heavy as we lost two excellent advocates for Indian Country, with the losses of Rep. Scott BigHorse in Oklahoma and Rep. Don Barlow in Washington. They will be deeply missed in their state's legislative chambers. Scott and Don have been champions of progressive causes and outstanding role models and leaders for all of Indian Country.
Unfortunately, they were attacked and defeated for being just that. If they stand again, INDN's List will proudly stand with them."

Of the INDN's List winning candidates, six are women, 11 are first-time office holders, two are upsets and several attended INDN training.

Courtney Ruark is political director of INDN'S List, a nonprofit that recruits and trains Democratic Native American political candidates.

Native American License Plates

2008-11-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

Osiyo!

It's Native American Heritage Month, and today in our state capital of Frankfort, KY, a new personalized license plate was unveiled:
There's also a slogan "Native Americans share our grandparents stories with our children." County clerks around Kentucky are taking orders for these now. When there are 900 orders, they'll go into production.

I'm proud not only because there is finally some recognition of a Indian presence in what was once one of the most a densely populated areas of ancient North America, but also because of the artist.

Jannette Parent of Princeton, KY is a Cherokee descendant, and has been one of my most diligent language students for almost four years. She incorporates the language into her artwork as well. In fact, if you want to congratulate Jannette, just leave a comment on this blog; she'll see it.

Just a question: does your state have a Native American license plate option? Let me hear from you! Leave a comment.

Brian Wilkes
SpeakCherokee.com

Last Fluent Mandan Speaker Turns 77

2008-11-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

Twin Buttes, North Dakota --

Edwin Benson of the Fort Berthold Reservation is believed to be last person to speak the Mandan language fluently.

Recently turning 77, he has cut back his hours at the Twin Buttes school, where he has taught the language from the past 16 years, from full time to part time.

“Grandpa” Benson and his helpers work to document as much of the language as they can. He marks the steep decline of Mandan language use to two incidents: the relocation the Mandan, Arikara and Hidatsa communities in the 1950’s to allow construction of Garrison Dam, and the prohibition against speaking Mandan in the classroom.

My cousins and friends, there are at least 20 North American languages spoken fluently by ten people or less. Cherokee is in a better position because of the sheer number of Cherokee people, but the fluent speakers are increasingly elderly.

You can be part of the solution, and preserve our language by enrolling today.

- Brian Wilkes

Cherokee Testing, Browser Wars, and Is Your Family Weird?

2008-10-25T23:31:00.000-07:00

ANOTHER STUDENT PASSES!

Joyce Rheal of Illinois is the second student to pass Test #2. Congratulations!

BROWSER WARS

Earlier this week, Firefox released an update for their browser. After I downloaded it, I noticed that Firefox could no longer see the Cherokee font or the audio controller in either the free pages or the course material. However, Internet Explorer works just fine.

If you encounter a problem after updating your Firefox, just switch to Internet Explorer, which probably came installed on your computer. If it didn’t, don’t worry, it’s a free download.

WEIRD

Getting back to our game, Is Your Family Weird?

I received a few responses, but I was really looking for any memories of “strange” customs dealing with [1] doorways, [2] mirrors, [3] potted plants, and [4] fruit bowls. I’m gathering few threads together, don’t want to suggest anything.

Just leave your comments where it says "comments."

Donada!

-Brian Wilkes
The Fastest and Easiest Way to Lean the Cherokee Language

Cherokee Calendar, Birthdate Analysis Available Soon

2008-10-25T22:38:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I mentioned to the mailing list that I might not produce a 2009 Cherokee Calendar unless there was some response. Most of the response was, “I didn’t know a calendar was available.”

Fair enough. Creating the Calendar is many hours of work, but I’m willing to do it again because this is a part of our traditional heritage that’s fading fast.

For the past year now, I have been making a service available to healing professionals. According to the oral traditions, one of the main purposes of the calendar was to schedule community ceremonies to maintain the balance between heaven and earth; in other words, between the natural cycle and the course of human events. Another was to analyze a person’s future prospects based on their birth date. This wasn’t seen as ‘fortune telling,” but rather as looking to which of the 260 archetypal personalities or “roles” the person had most likely inherited. Since each of these is understood to have emotional and physical strengths and weaknesses, it was considered an important tool for health care.

I have provided analyses to healers over the past year, which proved amazingly accurate and were most helpful in dealer with their clients. I make no medical claims, this is what they tell me.

Because of the stigma attached to horoscopes and “Indian Tarot Cards,” I had not planned to go public with this service, but rather to work primarily with professional caregivers.

I’ve been getting requests for this, and so I’m going to open it up to the people on my lists for a brief time as a trial. Producing each of these reports, run 12 , 20 and even 30 pages in length, is very time consuming for me. My normal hourly rate would put it out of the range of many people. So I’m going to make it a reduced, fixed price of $52.

You’ll receive the report as a fully-illustrated PDF file, which you can print and bind.

If you want to be put on the advance notification list (I can only do a few dozen of these before Christmas), please contact me at CherokeeCalendar@WilkesWeb.us

Cherokee Hair Styles

2008-10-24T11:49:00.000-07:00

Just had a question from a student about the Cherokee language.

Let me be clear in case I wasn’t clear enough before: when you enroll in Speak Cherokee.com, I’m available if you have a problem. I want this experience to be as two-way and interactive for you as possible; as they used to say, “The next best thing to being there.”

On the sheets of vocabulary “stickers” I give you as a gift just for coming onto the mailing list, one of the words is “bow.” He wondered if this meant an archery bow, or a ribbon bow. It hadn’t occurred to me that this word has a double meaning in English. The word on the vocabulary sheet means only an archery bow. I’ll make that clear in the audio/video I’m doing for the free members.

He also had a question about hair. He wants to donate his long hair to Locks Of Love, a charity that makes wigs for children who lose their hair from chemotherapy, allopecia, or other medical conditions. He has also heard that some nations place a great value on the length of a man’s hair.

Historically, Cherokee men have worn their hair a little on the short side, ranging from a pudding bowl – Amish looking cut, to shaved or plucked with a single hair lock. Short hair makes good sense in dense forests full of parasites. Out traditional hairstyles are still found in the Amazon.
The long, full hair style so popular today was actually borrowed from European settlers, who considered shaved or plucked scalps to look too “savage.” It also has an historic pedigree, and is also a legitimate alternative. Older men might wear it to show off their gray and white hair, and thereby their status as an elder.

Not only would there be no prohibition against a Cherokee man cutting his hair, we would salute that man for sacrificing a part of himself to help a sick child.

By the way, the word for the old Cherokee scalp lock is gidla. Good luck finding that in any Cherokee dictionary!

-Brian Wilkes
Keep the Culture Alive! Enroll Now!

Financial Incentive to Study Cherokee

2008-09-28T12:30:00.000-07:00

Osiyo, ginali!

LESSON THREE

More new stuff coming this week using the new dolphin-squeal-proof audio approach. I’ve uploaded audios for the first page of Lesson 3’s list of birds. If you don’t know your tsigilili from your tsaqualode, now’s the time!

OUR OWN ‘BAILOUT’ PROGRAMS!

FREE FAMILY MEMBER

Whether or not Congress passes the controversial financial bailout bill, many of you have reported to me that finances are tight right now. I certainly understand, and I’m in the same boat with you. That’s why I’ve announced that until further notice, spouses fly free!

Okay, that’s an old airline commercial slogan. But if you’re a Speak Cherokee student, one family member can be included on your enrollment. This entitles them to take the tests, have their pronunciation corrected, interact with the other students (I’ll set up a student forum when we get 50 enrolled) , and earn a certificate of completion at the end of the course.

Just advise me by email, with the name of the family member you want to include.

AFFILIATE PROGRAM

Beyond that, I’m been thinking of how you can actually make some money. What if I set up an affiliate program? If someone signs up for Speak Cherokee through your affiliate link, which you can set up on a web page, social site like MySpace, or your own blog, you get money. I can either set it up as a lump sum for each new student, or as a smaller amount you will received every month that student is enrolled. It means I make less for each student, but I’m really not planning to retire on the income from teaching Cherokee. If you have any thoughts on this, please reply by email with the word “Affiliate” in the subject line.

COLUMBUS DAY to THANKSGIVING

It’s almost October, and we’ll soon enter both the traditional new year (Firepit Year) and the annual ethnic obstacle course I call “The Moon of Paper-Feather Headdresses.” It’s the month in which elementary school students make Indian stuff out of construction paper, and learn about the good Indians who helped the Pilgrims. They start of course with Columbus Day, when Europeans began the conquest.

During this time, the news media suddenly remembers we exist, and seems amazed afresh each year as they realize that we still keep out languages and traditions as best we can.

If you’re one of the people who is normally contacted by the news media in your area at this time, what a great chance to lay a little Tsalagi on them! As long as we still speak out language, we are still a distinct people and culture.

Speak Cherokee every day, and teach your children!

--- Brian

Chickadee Receptionist

2008-09-26T18:58:00.001-07:00

An old Cherokee saying is that if a chickadee looks at you upside-down, tilting his head to the side until it looks like he's standing on his head, that's a sign that a visitor is on the way to see you.

Better put some coffee on!

The word for chickadee is tsigilili, which sounds like 'jee-gih-LEE-lee."

To learn the names of birds and other points of the language and culture not often dealt with in books, enroll in our online classes at SpeakCherokee.com!

Family Special - Two for One!

2008-09-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

For a limited time, two family members can enroll in our online language course for the price of one. Both students can submits tests, and both will earn the certificate of completion.
Share the gift of Cherokee language with your family! REGISTER NOW

Response to "Is Your Family Weird?"

2008-09-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

Q: What about the reference to a child as pumpkin? Or the learned eating behavior of eating fat (my first memory as a toddler) that is ONLY Native as far as I know...

A: "Pumpkin" and "Peanut" appear to be the most common pet names for children, and neither is terribly Native. In France, it's "Cabbage."

Intentionally eating fat on meat, especially an expensive cut of meat like prime rib, is likewise not so much Native American as northern. It's common among Scandinavians, Russians, Germans, and Canadians. Animals store toxins in their fat for later excretion. Ironically, that's why the fat sometimes tastes so good.

Now, if you're talking about chowing down on a can of lard, that's another matter.

-BW

DNA Test to Show Percentage Native American Ancestry

2008-09-08T16:19:00.000-07:00

Q: Do you know of a Native place that does DNA analysis that shows the percentage of Native American in a person?

A: The largest Native American owned and operated DNA testing firm is DNA Testing Inc out of Scottsdale, AZ

What you're looking for is called an admixture test. Theirs is call Whole DNA. Mention my name in the "referred by" space, and you'll get a discount.

- Brian Wilkes

TWO-FOR-ONE OFFER

2008-09-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

Osiyo, Tsunali! Hello, Friends!

I’ve been working on more pages of content for SpeakCherokee.com – pronouncers for the three pages of labels, so you can begin labelling things around your home and reminding yourself to speak the Cherokee names OUT LOUD.

TWO-FOR-ONE OFFER

We have almost 325 people on the mailing list, but not even ten percent have actually enrolled for the classes. I know the economy is bad, and money is tight, so I’ve been considering what I can offer as an incentive.

Here it is: from now until the end of the year, enrolled students get a ‘two-for-one’ deal. If another family member wants to study, their tests and pronunciation will be corrected, just as if they were a separate student. When the tenth test is completed, you will both get the certificate of completion. Another advantage, you now have someone else in the house who can be your study partner. Finding someone to speak Cherokee with gives you an advantage in retaining the material.

BLOG

Remember to bookmark the new blog at http://speakcherokee.blogspot.com

dondadagohvi!

Brian Wilkes

Was Your Family WEIRD?

2008-09-03T01:32:00.000-07:00

Among mixed bloods, old traditions were often passed down as family quirks and eccentricities. As a kid, you weren’t told this was a Cherokee or other Indian tradition, so you probably just thought it meant your particular family was weird, and possibly doing it to make your life miserable and be un-cool in front of your friends.

Today’s question: Did your family have any beliefs or practices concerning what should be visible or what should not be visible upon entering the doorway of a house? This may have been explained simply as ‘good luck’ or ‘bad luck.’

Give it some thought, and let me know. I may get back to you for details.

Venus Emerges

2008-09-01T10:26:00.000-07:00

Ko’iga Unadodaquinvi, Dulisdi igagvyi, ale Iga-Noquisequa.

Hello! Today is Monday, September 1, and Day of the Big Star, a.k.a. Rabbit, a.k.a. Venus.

It’s significant that this is a ‘Rabbit-Star’ Day, today Venus arises from its hiding place of invisibility to become the Evening Star. In the old Cherokee Calendar, the Deer and Rabbit stand on one side of the River, while the Wolf stands on the other side, ready to challenge or escort those who cross.

There are several significant or at least ironic days coming up this month, and there is a time of great danger as well.

The current Year of the Flint Knife ends on October 5, with a new Year of the Firepit beginning October 6. In this last month or so of the Flint Knife, there is increasing danger of a new conflict starting. We also see danger from natural disaster, with Hurricane Gustav as just one example.

There are currently two blogs running, which today are carrying this same message. The Speak Cherokee blog concentrates on learning the language, while 2012 Revealed deals with the Cherokee Calendar, indigenous prophecies, and preparations for enduring the “Days of Darkness” predicted before the dawn of the Sixth World in December, 2012.

I recommend subscribing to the one that most interest you. I’m trying to keep the technology as simple as possible for fast download.

Have a wonderful and safe Labor Day with your families. If you’re old enough, explain to them that we once had something called labor unions in this country, that’s why a day devoted to picnics, car shows and appliance sales is called Labor Day.

Donadagohvi,

Brian Wilkes

No Cherokee Calendar for 2009

2008-08-29T05:42:00.000-07:00

Osiyo!

Ko’iga Tsunagilosdi, Galoni tali-sgohi-sonela.
Today is Friday, August 29.

Since the spring, when I took the 2008 Cherokee Calendar off the market and offered free copies to my language students, I have been saying that the new edition would be available in September. It’s almost September, and the low response of the last two years has forced me to change that assessment. It just doesn’t seem that very many people are interested in the old ceremonial calendar. It’s several layers of complicated math and symbolism, and more than a little off-putting at first glance.

What I’m thinking of doing instead is:
[a] offering individual life analysis based on the calendar.
[b] devoting more time completing the online book, Even Heaven Falls Apart,
[c] creating a calendar without deep explanation to both Even Heaven Falls Apart members and life analysis clients.

I’m sorry, but, as any daykeeper can tell you, there are only so many hours in a day. Since there has been little interest in this aspect of Cherokee culture and our connection to our Meso-American roots, I need to focus on things that are better received.

The comment board is open, let me know what you think.

The Dolphins are Dead

2008-08-26T07:48:00.000-07:00

Osiyo!

THE DOLPHINS ARE DEAD

If you’re one of the few who have noticed that the audios in the course material have started sounded like a squeaking, squealing dolphin...

I found a software program that let me convert the audios from Flash back into mp3, and I’m just using a simple embed technique. You should have wonderful, clear sound on any browser.

The downside is that the audios no longer “stream” from the server, but actually download to your computer before they are played. That means if you’re still on dial-up, there maybe a delay before an audio plays. But since most of the audios are just a few words, a few seconds in length, that should be much of the problem.

So if you’re one of those who have been waiting for this technical glitch to be resolved before signing up for the course, it’s fixed! You can go here to begin the enrollment process.

LIVE CLASSES IN KENTUCKY

For those of you in West Kentucky, we’ll begin another five-week live course in Marion, Kentucky in late September. Details soon.

NAMES

PLEASE don’t ask me for your name in Cherokee. I don’t give names. If you were given a name in ceremony, and only told the English version, go back to that elder and ask him or her for the Cherokee version. More on naming protocol later.

Donadagohv!

Welcome to the new blog!

2008-08-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

Osiyo! Tsilugi!

Welcome to the new blog for the Speak Cherokee mailing list. This will let me post items that are more involved, with graphics and other features, without jamming your e-mail services with HTML e-mails that may be dumped by various filters.

From now on, the mailing list will be used mainly to let you know when something new has been posted here on the blog.

First of all, welcome to our subscribers in Cyprus, Germany, Spain, England, Scotland, Canada, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, Australia and Papua New Guinea, as well as those of you in the armed forces. If I missed your country, please let me know.