The idea of establishing a Cherokee Speakers Memorial Day came after the passing of JC Wachacha, shown left in a photo with his sister, EBCI Beloved Woman Ella Wachacha Bird, at the Honor the Cherokee Speakers Walk on April 26, 2018. The idea came to fruition with the passage of Res. No. 212 (2024) during the regular session of Tribal Council on Thursday, June 6, 2024 which established the day for the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photo)
By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – On the morning of June 6, Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) voted unanimously to adopt Resolution No. 212 (2024), recognizing every Tuesday prior to Thanksgiving as Tsalagi Aniwonisgi Didanvdadisdi (Cherokee Speakers Memorial Day) to honor the lives of fluent Cherokee speakers who have passed. The resolution was presented by Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program (CLMAP) student and 2023-2024 Miss Cherokee Scarlett “Gigage” Guy with endorsement from the Cherokee Speakers Council.
Tsalagi Aniwonisgi Didanvdadisdi will include holiday leave and the flying of government flags at half-staff. Guy said the idea for the holiday came about after the passing of fluent speaker JC Wachacha, “Eduts” (Uncle), in November. Guy, other CLMAP students, and fluent Speaker Charlie Bigwitch, “Tsal”, discussed the idea at Guy’s Miss Cherokee Coffee Hour held twice a month at Qualla Java in Cherokee. Guy presented the holiday to the Cherokee Speakers Council, who approved the holiday for resolution.
2023-2024 Miss Cherokee Scarlett “Gigage” Guy speaks on a resolution during the regular session of Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) on Thursday, June 6 that established the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as Cherokee Speakers Memorial Day. (EBCI Communications video image)
Guy commented, “On this day, they (Speakers Council) want to hold a ceremony at the new Speakers Building every year to honor each speaker who has passed throughout the year so that there’s a specific day to honor them all instead of as we lose them.”
The resolution passed unanimously on the day of JC Wachacha’s birthday, June 6. This was a serendipitous surprise for Guy, which brought her to tears. “It’s like it all came full circle,” Guy said.
There was some discussion in council regarding the holiday leave. Kolanvyi (Big Cove) Dinilawigi Rep. Richard French stated, “To me, this day here is recognizing our speakers and I’m in full support of giving a day off for this. I love our sports, but if we can take and close this tribe half a day or whatever to go to a football game or basketball game, and we’re not wanting to give this to our speakers, we’re imbalanced somewhere. Very imbalanced,” to which claps erupted throughout the council chambers.
Kolanvyi Rep. Perry Shell noted, ” I’m going to support this one, but I think we need to take a closer look at what we’re doing with the holidays that we take.”
He added, ” This is so important that we preserve our language and remember those that are speakers and have passed that knowledge on.”
The resolution notes that, “there is currently an estimated 150 first-language fluent Cherokee speakers or less in the EBCI, making the Tribe’s living speakers all the more precious.” Several students, teachers, and fluent speakers of the CLMAP program were in the chambers in support of the resolution.
