By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – I take a lot of photographs, but one of my favorites from the past few years shows an elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) at the Annual Cherokee Speakers Walk. Myrtle Driver Johnson, EBCI Beloved Woman, is the subject of that photo, and she is shown truly happy at being around so many EBCI tribal members learning and speaking the Cherokee language.
EBCI Beloved Woman Myrtle Driver Johnson, a first language Cherokee speaker, walks in the Annual Cherokee Speakers Walk, honoring first language speakers of the Cherokee language and those learning the language, which was held at the old Cherokee High School site on the morning of Wednesday, April 19, 2023. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
She is always encouraging people to learn and use the Cherokee language. At that Annual Cherokee Speakers Walk in 2023, she told the crowd gathered, “Thank you to everyone that came out to support the Cherokee speakers. What a beautiful sight to see all these green shirts (worn by Cherokee language speakers and second language learners). They’re learning to speak the most beautiful language in the world.”
Beloved Woman Johnson serves as a translator for Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) – a service to the EBCI she has provided for years.
In addition to translating numerous documents, words, and school lessons, she has translated two books into the Cherokee language including “Thirteen Moons” by Charles Frazier and the children’s classic “Charlotte’s Web” by E.B. White.
In 2016, I interviewed her about her translation of “Charlotte’s Web”, and she said working on the book was an intensive process, “Every time I would work on it, I would just immerse myself into the farm and into the community where Charlotte lived. And, when she died, I cried.”
She said that translating the book into the Cherokee language required some changes. “You can’t translate word for word. If you translate it word for word, it wouldn’t make sense because you have to describe so many of the English words. It’s impossible to translate word for word.”
This process took Beloved Woman Johnson back to a time in her life when Cherokee was spoken more often. “There were times when I’d come across a word and I’d have to go outside and walk around for about an hour and then it would come to me. I tried to use as many of the old words that we just don’t use in everyday conversation.”
Beloved Woman Johnson received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Junaluska Leadership Council in 2014.
For her, it is always about the language – always about the work, never about herself.
Beloved Woman Johnson speaks at the first annual Tsalagi Aniwonisgi Didanvdadisdi (Cherokee Speakers Memorial Day) event hosted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024 at the Kalvgviditsa Tsalagi Aniwonisgi Tsunatsohisdihi (Cherokee Speakers Place), located adjacent to the New Kituwah Academy in Cherokee, N.C.
At the groundbreaking for the Cherokee Speakers Place (kalvgviditsa tsalagi aniwonisgi tsunatsohisdihi), located adjacent to the New Kituwah Academy in Cherokee, N.C., she spoke to being able to do that work. “I think about the teachers who had no place to work to generate materials for the children to use. But now, we will have our own building. Lord willing I’m still here. But we will now finally have our own building. The buildings I think of where materials were generated were the women’s shelter, the TOP building, Ginger Lynn, the Academy, and of course, the speakers building above there. Tribal Council, Chief, and Vice Chief, to me this is a dream come true. To have one place where we can develop these materials.”
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one of her strong points – her incredible sense of humor.
During a discussion on the Beloved Women Committee in Dinilawigi in 2023, she spoke to the Cherokee Seven Core Values and noted, “The one I like the most is the one that I will use, and that is to find humor in things that upset you.”
Beloved Woman Johnson truly is a fierce warrior for the Cherokee language, culture, and traditions, and she does it all with a smile and a sense of humor.
