By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – March is Women’s History Month. For the month of March, the One Feather will be sharing articles that highlight strong, intelligent women behind the day-to-day operations of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI).
Keahana Lambert teaches hitting techniques to her women’s boxing class. (BROOKLYN BROWN/One Feather photos)
Keahana Lambert is a prevention specialist for Cherokee Choices. Lambert has presented at several conferences and symposiums, led trainings for many tribal programs, and hosts continuous events to promote health, wellness, and resiliency for her tribal community. Lambert also leads a women’s boxing class on Monday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., and Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Cherokee Choices.
Lambert encourages women of all ages and skill levels to participate and gears the workout toward their specific needs—whether that be to match their skill level or nurse certain injuries. Lambert hopes that the women who attend her class leave feeling empowered and strong.
“My goal for every young lady that comes through here is to know their worth and to know their power. That doesn’t mean go out and fight. That doesn’t mean go out and shoulder check somebody. It means, ‘Hey, I have a right to my opinion. This is my body, these are my thoughts, and you have no right to tell me otherwise. It’s simply just being an empowered Indigenous woman,” she said.
Lambert’s lifelong interest in boxing led her to develop the class for a cause close to her heart. “I’ve always had an interest in boxing because my daddy [Robert Lambert] was a boxer, and I just grew up watching boxing matches and just found it fascinating. My intent for implementing it here started probably four years ago, almost five years ago, in response to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women crisis. Knowing how many of our babies are missing, how many of our babies are dead, family members that have been killed, and the members that are missing, and knowing that I was almost one of them made me do this.”
As a survivor of domestic violence, Lambert feels passionately about not only giving her class techniques for protecting themselves but also addressing their trauma through exercise.
Keahana Lambert observes her women’s boxing class.
“I want you all to know you have a voice and to use it, and if that means taking care of things physically, you have the ability to do that. But also, we have all this stored trauma. Trauma can be anything that alters your life path. It’s not the same for everybody. It could be a dog bite, a car wreck, divorce, loss of job, domestic violence, sexual assault, a death. If you don’t process that event, that jolt to your nervous system, then that jolt stays in your nervous system and it stores in your body, which when you stay in that amped up or shut down phase of your nervous system, then it’s wearing on your body. So, this is actually a way to work out that stored trauma.”
Though Lambert’s class helps others, it has also helped her in her own healing. “It has given me freedom and inner confidence and empowerment and having to walk what I talk. And that’s hard. So, if I’m telling the girls use your voice, you have a voice, you’re priceless, I’ve got to remind myself of that, and I forget that every day,” she shared.
“As for my traumas, this has been so empowering to know that I am a war woman now and I will fight back. I’m not going to sit by and let someone be mistreated and I’m not going to be mistreated anymore. I have a voice and I’ll not be silent.”
