Mother-daughter duo Ollie Taylor, left, and Hollie Stover, right, dance southern traditional at the Cherokee Central Schools Pow Wow in Charles George Memorial Arena Nov. 21, 2023. (BROOKLYN BROWN/One Feather photo)
By BROOKLYN BROWN
One Feather Reporter
CHEROKEE, N.C. – Hollie Stover, or Usdasdi, is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and the office administrator for New Kituwah Academy (NKA) in Cherokee, N.C. She is also a women’s southern traditional powwow dancer, and the mother of a 13-year-old daughter, Sandra Ollie Anne Taylor, or Quanunasdi, who just graduated sixth grade from NKA.
Hollie Stover dances southern traditional at the Annual Eastern Band Cherokee Pow Wow on July 6, 2024. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photo)
Quanunasdi also dances, beginning with fancy and recently switching to southern traditional. Usdasdi tried dancing as a child but came back to dancing in her late 20s. “When I was little, maybe about 5 or 6, my parents would go to powwows every now and then when we’d see Intertribals, and my older brother danced, and they danced when they were younger, and I was always enchanted by it. I really wanted to do it so bad, and I grew up in Georgia, so I wasn’t around here, and I just really wanted to be a part of it. So, my mom made us some outfits, and we’d get out there in Intertribal, but I was really shy. I would just kind of walk around and not really be sure,” Usdasdi said.
“So as an adult, my brother [Anthony Lett] still powwowed and I would go with him to powwows and travel a little bit and I still really wanted to do it, but then I had bad social anxiety by the time I was like 27. Just kind of became a hermit for a little while before I lived up here. Then once I moved up here, I worked at the welcome center for a little while, and then I left there, and I was pregnant as soon as I left there, probably a month after that.”
Little did Usdasdi know, becoming a mother would be the blessing that brought her into the powwow circle. “I was supposed to have my ceremony later that year. My sister-in-law started dancing at the same time and I almost thought, ‘Oh, this is too scary, I don’t want to do it, It’s too much for me.’ And then I was like, ‘I have to for her in my belly, I don’t want her to know this part of me, how scared I am just to be out in the public and talking,’” she said.
Hollie Stover, left, with her brother Anthony Lett, right, at the Stone Mountain Pow Wow in Georgia 13 years ago. Stover was three months pregnant with her daughter, winning her first powwow contest in women’s southern traditional. (Photo contributed)
“So, we worked hard to get my outfit together and I was three months pregnant when I went and danced with her in my belly, and I won. I won for the first time. I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ It was like a dream come true. It really brought me out of my shell.”
After winning for the first time with Quanunasdi in her belly at the Stone Mountain Pow Wow in Georgia, the pair hit the powwow trail running. “When she was born, we made her little outfits, and I would take her every year to tiny tots, and it opened up the door to travel a lot.”
Usdasdi is also a talented artisan, setting up and selling at various markets, including the Annual Eastern Band Cherokee Pow Wow. “Two years ago, I was vending at the powwow, and I was like, ‘I’m not going to dance this year. I’m just going to be selling,’” she said.
Ollie Taylor in her fancy shawl regalia at the Annual Eastern Band Cherokee Pow Wow. (Photo contributed)
“I told my daughter, ‘If you want to dance, that’s going to be just on you.’ She said she wanted to, and I was so proud of her. I tried not to cry, got her ready, and by that next morning I was like, ‘I got to sign up, too,’ and that was the first time I’d ever won here.”
Even though it’s nice to win, Usdasdi said dancing is about more than that. “It’s not about winning, it’s about just the love of dancing and being there to meet people, see family that you don’t get to see, and it just kind of really lifts your spirits. It’s just one of those things, it’s indescribable to hear your number being called.”
Usdasdi and Quanunasdi will be dancing at the Annual Eastern Band Cherokee Pow Wow coming up July 4, 5, and 6. “Putting on your regalia and stepping out there, it’s like a moment of pride, and it gets me swelled up to see my daughter out there, too. I want to cry every time I see her wanting to dance,” she said.
“I’m proud of who I am and how far I’ve come. Powwow boosted my confidence and my outlook on life as far as raising my daughter. I want her to be comfortable doing these things, because I was always really scared to.”
