By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
Aniwodihi (Painttown)
KUWOHI – It was a beautiful Tuesday (Sept. 10) morning as I was covering the Kuwohi Connection Days event at the top of Kuwohi (the mulberry place), but it wasn’t only the scenery that made it beautiful – it was the actions and attitude of a beautiful person – Keeifer Taylor.
The event, sponsored by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, featured educational opportunities on Kuwohi’s history and ecosystem for fifth-grade and senior students at Cherokee Central Schools. Taylor, an EBCI tribal member and a senior at Cherokee High School, has a smile on his face and joy in his heart every single time I see him.
Keeifer Taylor, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and a senior at Cherokee High School, smiles and gives a fellow student a fist bump during Kuwohi Connection Days at Kuwohi on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 10. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photo)
I’ve known Taylor since he was born as his grandmother, Pat Panther, was a long-time assistant editor at the One Feather and was one of my mentors. He’s always been a joy to be around, and he always says hello whenever I see him.
On Tuesday morning, I hiked up to the top of Kuwohi with some of the students which included Taylor. Now, if you’ve ever done this hike, it’s not easy. While it’s only a half-mile from the parking lot to the top, that grade is steep and unforgiving. It is challenging.
Once we got to the top, Keeifer greeted his fellow students and others in attendance with his ever-present smile. “We made it!”, he exclaimed. “Good job!”, he told everyone.
His high-fives and encouraging words were beautiful to see and hear.
In a world where people are put down all the time and many times words are poison, Keeifer stands out as a beaming example of what can be. He stands as a beacon of hope.
As he greeted everyone with his positivity, you could see people’s faces change. People who had been huffing and puffing seconds before because of the hard climb suddenly smiled themselves as they were met with such a positive, enlightening force.
The late Maya Angelou, award-winning poet and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, once said, “Try to be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.”
Keeifer was that rainbow on Tuesday morning. Keeifer is that rainbow each and every day. Let’s all try to be more like Keeifer and become someone’s rainbow.
