By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
On a chilly evening in Tsisqwohi (Birdtown), people begin filing into the Peaches Squirrell Sports & Recreation Complex, and they hear a familiar voice on the microphone. Catcuce Tiger, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who also has Seminole Tribe of Florida heritage, is serving as emcee for the Cherokee Winter Social and he reminds everyone to hold onto their raffle tickets.
Catcuce Tiger sings an honor song during the “From Darkness Into Hope” Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention Event held at the Oconaluftee Island Park in Cherokee, N.C. on Sept. 4, 2024. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
Later on, he reminds them to hold onto something much more important – their culture.
Catcuce is a man on a mission, and that mission is very clear – to inspire people to learn more about their Cherokee culture.
At the “From Darkness Into Hope” Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention Event held at the Oconaluftee Island Park in Cherokee, N.C. last September, Tiger spoke of gaining hope and identity from culture. He noted, “I was told one time by someone that everything that we struggle with, every problem that we’re faced with can be surpassed or overcome with cultural knowledge…to me, what that means is knowing one’s self.”
During that event, he also said, “I do feel like a lot of struggles can be helped from learning about yourself through culture. Learning about yourself through language, through dances, through history, song, and, one of my favorite cultural things is food…our food is healing. Everything is medicine.”
Catcuce, who serves as a cultural facilitator in the Cherokee Central Schools Culture Dept., is always encouraging everyone, especially young people, to become involved in their culture. In covering events, I’ve heard him say numerous times, “This is yours. This culture is yours.”
Tiger serves as emcee during the Cherokee Winter Social held at the Peaches Squirrell Sports & Recreation Complex on Jan. 25, 2025.
He traveled to New Zealand in April 2023, as part of a contingent from Cherokee Central Schools, and met with a group of Māori who were involved in their own language revitalization efforts. When members of that group visited Cherokee in October 2023, I interviewed him along with others.
At that time, Catcuce said seeing the language revitalization of the Māori during their trip was inspiring. “It gives me hope. We can do it but it’s going to take a whole lot more work than what we’re doing now. We’re just going to have to gear up even more and work even harder to get that. But it gave me hope.”
He added, “What I try to do on a daily basis is to instill pride into the kids because I feel that they feel connected, but I don’t think a lot of them feel that they have a lot of cultural or language knowledge to feel that they’re real owners, agents, of their future and their culture.”
Instilling pride and instilling hope is what Catcuce Tiger is all about. He speaks to it at every event, and he is a shining example of the importance of being hopeful, being positive, and encouraging others.
