Bo Lossiah, KPEP (Kituwah Preservation and Education Program) curriculum and education specialist, rings a bell in memory of the Cherokee Speakers who passed away in 2024. This was part of the first annual Tsalagi Aniwonisgi Didanvdadisdi (Cherokee Speakers Memorial Day) event hosted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 26 at the Kalvgviditsa Tsalagi Aniwonisgi Tsunatsohisdihi (Cherokee Speakers Place), located adjacent to the New Kituwah Academy in Cherokee, N.C. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – The first annual Tsalagi Aniwonisgi Didanvdadisdi (Cherokee Speakers Memorial Day) event was hosted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) on the morning of Thursday, Nov. 26 at the Kalvgviditsa Tsalagi Aniwonisgi Tsunatsohisdihi (Cherokee Speakers Place), located adjacent to the New Kituwah Academy in Cherokee, N.C.
During the event, the following Cherokee Speakers who passed away in 2024 were honored and memorialized: Frances Cucumber, Malinda Driver, Charlie Kalonaheskie, Maurice Kalonaheskie, Lois Walkingstick Lambert, JC Wachacha, Margie Wachacha, James Welch, Deweese Wolfe, and Dinah Wolfe.
Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) passed Res. No. 212 (2024) on June 6 making Tsalagi Aniwonisgi Didanvdadisdi an official EBCI tribal holiday that will be observed each year on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The resolution was submitted by Scarlett “Gigage” Guy, 2023-24 Miss Cherokee.
Myrtle Driver Johnson, Beloved Woman of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, speaks during Tuesday’s event and commented, “Today, we raise the flag of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as we honor the Cherokee speakers that passed on before us. They were members of our seven clans.”
Guy said during the event, “We’re gathered to honor our speakers who have passed this past year, and we’re gathered here to honor our language.”
She added, “I wrote this resolution because all of us want to honor and remember our Cherokee speakers and all that they do to contribute to our tribe and our people and our culture. I’m grateful to the Cherokee Speakers Council and all the Cherokee speakers who helped me and supported the resolution. And, I’m grateful to Tribal Council, the Vice Chief, and Chief for passing the resolution and adopting this day as a Tribal holiday. I also want to thank the families for being here, for allowing us to host you and create an opportunity to honor your family members and what they meant to you, and what they meant to us as well.”
Miss Cherokee 2024-25 Moira George commented, “We thank all of our speakers, those still with us and those who have passed, for their resilience, perseverance, and dedication to our language so that we are able to learn and speak Cherokee today. As learners, we will do our best to ensure a perpetuation of our language for future generations, just as you have done for us. We honor our speakers, now and always, and will strive to continue your legacies.”
Roger Smoker, Cherokee Speakers Council chairman, said, “On the paper, it says we lost 10 speakers this past year. That’s a lot, this past year. Now, we’re down to 142 speakers left in the EBCI. It kind of scares me, the next 10 years, how many are going to be left?”
He encouraged everyone to learn and use the Cherokee language. “Speak what you know. Use what you know…you can add on a little bit more every year, or every day, and in a month’s time you’ll be able to say a lot of words. I want to encourage all of the second learners, for you guys to step in. And the speakers that are left, it’s up to us to encourage these second learners coming up to speak. It’s our duty to do that right now while we’re around.”
Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks commented, “Today is a special day for all of us. Cherokee Speakers Memorial Day is a time to honor the voices of those who carried our language throughout the years. Today reminds us just how important our language is, not just as words we speak, but as a connection to our ancestors and our identity as Cherokee people. As we gather today, let’s take the opportunity to recommit ourselves to preserving and celebrating the Cherokee language. By doing so, we honor the past, we strengthen the present, and we secure the future for all generations to come.”
He also encouraged everyone to use the language to the best of their ability. “It’s an honor to stand before you and attempt the best I can today to speak our language. I’m slowly learning, but that mountain is really steep for me. But, I’m proud to stand here and make my best attempt.”
Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks speaks during Tuesday’s event and said, “It’s an honor to stand before you and attempt the best I can today to speak our language. I’m slowly learning, but that mountain is really steep for me. But, I’m proud to stand here and make my best attempt.”
Several family members of the deceased Cherokee Speakers being honored spoke.
Meshay Long spoke on behalf of the Dinah Wolfe family and said, “I have the privilege of working here at CLMAP (Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program) and becoming a second language learner and I really encourage everyone to do as much as they can because we’re losing speakers every day.”
She went on to say, “Uphold and honor our speakers every day because, before too long, we’re going to be those speakers.”
Each of the families of the Cherokee Speakers honored received an EBCI tribal flag and a cedar tree. Bo Lossiah, KPEP (Kituwah Preservation and Education Program) curriculum and education specialist, commented, “We’d like to honor the families with a presentation of our sovereignty – the Eastern Band flag. And also a cedar, because it’s an old understanding how we connect with the Creator; cedar because it stays always green in the winter. In the roughest times, it’s there to represent everything that we believe and everything we know.”
In speaking about the language, he said, “We’re adding. We’re building. We’ve just got to believe in it. I need the speakers here every day. I need them every day. There’s not a day I don’t need you. Not one second. I need the students to pay attention, listen, and use their ears every day. Every day.”
Members of the Steve Youngdeer American Legion Post 143 Color Guard presented the colors at the event.
EBCI Beloved Woman Myrtle Driver Johnson commented, “Today, we raise the flag of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as we honor the Cherokee speakers that passed on before us. They were members of our seven clans.”
