For the students of Smokey Mountain Elementary School in Whittier, NC, the Cherokee culture has become more vibrant, meaningful and cool, thanks to a program developed by the school’s staff with a grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation.
The school, which is on the edge of the Qualla Boundary, has a diverse population of nearly 500 students (kindergarten through 8th grade), almost half of whom are members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI). Last year, the school’s faculty determined it wanted to develop an experience for all the students that would immerse them in the Cherokee tribe’s culture, history and language.
The school received a $17,000 grant from the Cherokee Preservation Foundation in 2002, enabling Smokey Mountain Elementary to buy educational resources, equipment and supplies to create the first of its annual Cherokee student experiences in early 2003. Principal Terry Clark, art teacher Jennifer Dall and teacher assistant Rose Long were particularly instrumental in the effort.
Under the guidance of Cherokee artists and elders, over a two-month period students and Smokey Mountain Elementary’s 24 teachers learned how to make baskets, pottery, wood and soapstone carvings, masks and beadwork. They learned traditional songs in the Cherokee language and heard legends from master storytellers. They also had the chance to see traditional music instruments—one was a rattle made from a tortoise shell, wood and horse hair.
“The kids created some gorgeous baskets,” said Jenny Dall. “Several students got so interested in basket weaving that they bought their own materials and made additional baskets outside of school, which was very rewarding to me.” Dall found some of the crafts - especially finger-weaving—quite challenging, despite her considerable experience teaching many crafts. The experience has made her admire the work done by Cherokee artists and artisans even more than ever.
In the school’s first ever drama production, the students reenacted the Trail of Tears, the forced migration of the Cherokee people from the east to reservations in Oklahoma in the late 1830s. Some of the student actors were seasoned thespians, however. They have been extras in “Unto these Hills,” the outdoor drama presented by the EBCI that tells the history of the Cherokee people from about 1540 through the Trail of Tears experience.
Students sharpened their writing skills, too, writing essays about Cherokee topics of their choice. Dall remembers two essays that were particularly creative. Justin Kirkland wrote “I Am a Basket,” which followed an acorn’s transformation into an oak tree that is ultimately cut into splits to make a basket for a Cherokee baby. In another essay titled “An Argument,” Chris Kent lets a basket, a mask, a weapon and a ballstick (equipment used in the game, stickball) each argue its case about why it is the most important element in the Cherokee culture. The school’s older students incorporated technology into their writing assignments and created PowerPoint presentations.
Traditional Cherokee games such as stickball were a central element of the cultural experience. Jerry Wolfe, an elder in the EBCI and a master of Cherokee stories and other traditions, not only taught students how to play the game, but also created 30 leather and wood ballsticks over the course of six months so Smokey Mountain Elementary can start a school program for boys and girls.
Played for more than 500 years among the Cherokee, stickball is played with three-foot long sticks constructed with sinew webbing at one end. The object is to carry a leather ball and hit a goal post while preventing the other team from doing the same thing at the other end of the field. The size of a field varies according to the number of people playing. Ancient games sometimes included hundreds of players on each team and ranged across miles of territory.
No Cherokee cultural experience is complete without the inclusion of traditional foods. With the help of parents, students learned how to make dishes such as bean bread and lye bread. They also learned about native plants and their medicinal values.
The tapes, CDs, books, musical instruments, athletic equipment and pottery kiln purchased with the Foundation grant will be used in the new school year and in future years by Smokey Mountain Elementary School.
"During this special time, the Cherokee culture came alive under our students' hands and our teachers' and guests' wonderful tutelage,” said Terry Clark, the school’s principal. “Our students learned that diversity in our world should be cherished."
