By ROBERT JUMPER
One Feather Editor
I resisted writing this for as long as I could. I argued with myself that is would be too sappy and that not everyone shares my belief system. Then I thought, some things are universal like love and peace, and the gratefulness that comes with it. Please know that I respect everyone’s right to seek their own faith or religion, or in some cases, their privilege not to have a faith at all. I doubt anyone who is firm in what they believe will be swayed by a little commentary. So, my disclaimer is that my commentary is my own opinion, and I am not trying to convince or convert anyone. Like you, I am sharing my opinion and thoughts on a topic. My thoughts are not necessarily the One Feather’s thoughts, individually or corporately, and they are not those of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. It’s part personal therapy, part hoping a nugget within it will resonate with you and bring you a better understanding and a happier life. A revelation if you will.
But I thought about 2023, the challenges and successes over the months, weeks, and days. In that thought, especially as it drew closer to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, a song kept coming back to mind. Songs are just poems put to music. Many songs are written to bring joy and have fun, while others tell stories about life and give life lessons. If you are of the Christian faith, you may have sung this song many times, maybe even learned it as a child. Written by Edwin O Excell in 1897, it is a song of thanksgiving, and adopting a mindset that even in the darkest of hours of life, all is not lost, and hope is not gone. Like each of us in our faith, it is incredibly simple and, at the same time, infinitely complex.
When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.
Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.
When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings; wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.
So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
We all face hurdles in life. Some tried to climb the ladder of success, their idea of success being power and financial gain. Some have attained high status, while others have been pulled down by their personal limitations or the avarice of others. Some have hoped for great romantic relationships or family, only to find themselves alone and in emotional darkness.
And everyone’s darkness is different. What might be trivial to me might be of great importance to you and vice versa. Darkness in one life might be not having friends in school; another not attaining a pay increase or promotion; another might be the loss of a treasured mother or father. Still, others may have found out in 2023 that they are facing a life-threatening disease. And then there might be someone who is struggling with knowing or being in their identity. All of us, if we’ll admit, look at the dark side of life a little too long.
Blessing counting is super easy. For example, earlier in my life, I had predicted that I would probably come to life’s end with no friends and very few if any family members around the grave. As life progressed, I have been blessed with many friends and family, many of whom are right here on the Boundary. When I was a teenager in high school, I was destined to meet Mr. Phillip Smith, who helped guide me through financial guidelines to the point of getting a bachelor’s degree from Western. That led to, eventually a master’s degree and over 40 years of managerial assignments, with 20 of those years in service to the tribe. In 1986, I found my life-mate during one of those managerial assignments. The blessings from that relationship continue to this moment. And I have had my ups and downs with health like everyone else, but I feel like it has been mostly up (at think at this point I am supposed to say “knock on wood”). That is the top line. To “count them one by one” would take up too much space, so much so that I am afraid the editorial board would insist on charging me for it.
I count as a great blessing my working relationship with the tribe. The Tribal Council and Executive have been very much pro-free speech and free press almost from the beginning of my service at the One Feather. They have been critical in putting laws in place to protect that vital line of communication between government and the governed, The Cherokee One Feather.
The One Feather has, since its inception, focused on this community. That’s 50-plus years. We are not the sporadic, drop-in for the “big” story kind of publication, but an outlet dedicated and focused on everything we do as a tribe. It is about the community of our tribe, and what we care about together. To us, the achievements of our people are as or more important than the court cases or the presumably bad behavior of some.
So, in that blessing count, I include Scott and Sheena Brings Plenty. You will find no finer examples of dedicated community members than these two. They engage in every community activity that time allows and are a fixture at Cherokee sporting events. I once told Scott that he would be the finest editor for the paper that the tribe could have. He works his “job” passionately and with conviction. And Dawn Arneach, who came back to the One Feather after a several-year hiatus, just to hit the ground running and make the team stronger and better with every day that passes. And our newest member, Brooklyn Brown, who brings her passions to the paper and making our stories and ideologies stronger and encouraging community leadership and action. And then there are Jonah Lossiah and Sally Davis, who were with the One Feather for the better part of 2023 and contributed to what we are today.
Then there are those who support the One Feather, like Katie Cooper, who has stepped in many times to help guide us in the financial networks of the tribe, above and beyond her regular duties at another program. And the many folks in Tribal Finance, Facilities, Housekeeping, and those fine folks at the United States Postal Service who mail you your copy of the Cherokee One Feather. We work with Lee BHM Corp. and King Features who print the One Feather and supply content, respectively. And the many old and new advertisers who help us to lessen the needed financial support that the EBCI generously provides.
And then there is you. The elder at Tsali Manor reading tribal news. Or the EBCI master’s degree candidate over in Amsterdam, pulling up the One Feather on his smartphone or tablet. Or the enrolled member reading the One Feather from her home in California. Thousands upon thousands are reading the One Feather today, many for the first time. Each of you is, in your own way, a blessing; again too many to number one by one.
Thank you, tribal members, community, and readership, for the blessings. I urge you to think about your own life in the light, not the darkness. Have a Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season. Let’s all work for a 2024 that will be more light than darkness.
