information from Cherokee Healing and Wellness Coalition (I have been blessed to be a member since 2004)
Charles Hicks, Tsalagi(Cherokee) Vice Chief on the Trail of Tears, August 4, 1838:
"We are now about to take our leave and kind farewell to our native land, the country that the Great Spirit gave our Fathers...that gave us birth...it is with sorrow we are forced to quit the scenes of our childhood...we bid farewell to it and all we hold dear."
Gathering and Homecoming- May 26, 2012
"Many generations of our people share in the great pain and grief carried in our hearts and souls. There is now a revolution taking place throughout Cherokee Country. It is a time of healing, the time to heal our wounds is now. So, we pledge ourselves to free our people from the bondage of poverty, substance abuse, child abuse and all our suffering.
We have arrived at the place where we understand what has to take place for our healing to happen. We know we must find a way to deal with our feelings about the removal from our land, our ceremonies, our language, our culture and its devastating consequences to our people, our families and our children. By finding our way through this immense trauma we are ready to forgive the "unforgivable" and to come back into balance with our hearts, our ways and with the earth. We do this for All Our Relations.
The Cherokee Healing and Wellness Coalition is hosting a historical event on Saturday, May 26, 2012 beginning at 10 a.m. being held on the sacred grounds of Kituah to honor the Cherokees who ...undertake The Journey to Forgiveness and Healing which ..will begin... in Tahlequah, Oklahoma on May 19, 2012. This journey retraces the Northern Route taken in the forced removal of the Cherokees to Oklahoma.
We ask you to join us in this sacred Gathering. Together, we will offer our thanksgiving to Creator, asking for the cleansing Water of Life to flow through us, for the Spirit of the Eternal Flame to embrace us, and drawing us together once again in peace and harmony with All Our Relations and balance with the Universe.
This event is sponsored by the Cherokee Healing and Wellness Coalition in celebration of its 10th Anniversary...The Healing and Wellness Coalition hopes to educate and inform those in attendance how to break the cycle of unresolved grief and trauma and how it affects our everyday lives and families. Our hope and prayer is that this event will be life-changing especially for our children in whom we entrust our future.
Our website is www.cherokeehealing.com You must be registered to attend $75.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
I BEAR WITNESS
We, as humn beings, are created with the capacity to love and nurture ourselves, and all other human beings, as well as all of those in the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdom. All manifest the Presence and Benevolence of our Creator.
No matter the language or name we use to acknowledge our Creator, be it God, Allah, Father, Jehoveh, Wakan Tanka, Unehlanvhi, Ya Baha'ul'Abha or the many other expressions of a Higher Being, we cannot adequately describe the Artist as we are merely the painting.
Our purpose on this planet is to seek the higher self in us that can serve others and leave this station in life better than we found it.
No matter the language or name we use to acknowledge our Creator, be it God, Allah, Father, Jehoveh, Wakan Tanka, Unehlanvhi, Ya Baha'ul'Abha or the many other expressions of a Higher Being, we cannot adequately describe the Artist as we are merely the painting.
Our purpose on this planet is to seek the higher self in us that can serve others and leave this station in life better than we found it.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
ALL RIVERS RUN TO THE SEA
excerpt from CHEROKEE FEAST OF DAYS, DAILY MEDITATIONS, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler
Little is more symbolic to the Cherokee than a crystal-clear flowing stream. The banks of such a stream have known the most meaningful prayers, the worship and gratitude of the innermost soul. It is here that the Great Spirit speaks to us in supernatural ways, for the Cherokee. The stream not only cleanses and washes away wrong and error but it is the tongue over which slip the words that have been fed there by the last rain. The words are a direct form of communication to the Great Holy Spirit, Who so centers our lives. All rivers run to the sea - whether it is a person's life or the flowing stream. Some of it is turbulent, some peaceful - with depths and shallow places, with swift mainstreams and circling eddies. But it is always moving, always gathering into its flow the experiences that make us who we are.
Little is more symbolic to the Cherokee than a crystal-clear flowing stream. The banks of such a stream have known the most meaningful prayers, the worship and gratitude of the innermost soul. It is here that the Great Spirit speaks to us in supernatural ways, for the Cherokee. The stream not only cleanses and washes away wrong and error but it is the tongue over which slip the words that have been fed there by the last rain. The words are a direct form of communication to the Great Holy Spirit, Who so centers our lives. All rivers run to the sea - whether it is a person's life or the flowing stream. Some of it is turbulent, some peaceful - with depths and shallow places, with swift mainstreams and circling eddies. But it is always moving, always gathering into its flow the experiences that make us who we are.
Friday, October 14, 2011
MOVING BACK HOME TO CHEROKEE
I just successfully found an apartment in Cherokee, NC on the reservation. It is the same apartment complex I used to live in only a different apartment. It is on the river and I can again wake up to the sound of the river and the birds. I can renew old friendships and find new friends. I can find the spirit of my daddy, fresh and loving again. The faces I see will be familiar and welcome.
It will take a while to get settled, the move is scheduled for November 1 so I will again be off track for awhile but never fear. I will return with a fresh spirit.
Much love,
Anne
It will take a while to get settled, the move is scheduled for November 1 so I will again be off track for awhile but never fear. I will return with a fresh spirit.
Much love,
Anne
Monday, August 22, 2011
REVISITING THE KALEIDOSCOPE
excerpt from ANNE'S WRITINGS (see Aug 25, 2010)
I woke up this morning thinking of my first blog with my own ethnicity and remembered how strongly I felt impelled to share my journey of discovering my human family with others.
This poem of my own story was written in November 2002. The past two months have been a journey of healing and discovery with my biological family and I thank God for each pause and chance to renew and enjoy this. I wish you a loving journey with your own family as I repeat this first blog.
FOCUSING THE KALEIDOSCOPE
Reconciling my heritage. Who am I? My search.
Even as a child it seems I was always watching from the outside. Some would say trauma could cause a shell of protection around the heart and mind. Mayhaps, the physical, mental and sexual abuse I know to be a part of my earliest days caused this very real part of who I am.
Inside the shell only I know just how tender and fragile yet fiercely strong my heart and mind are.
Always, I remember searching.
What was I searching for? - my unique place in the universe.
One thing I seemed to always know, God was with me, loved me, nurtured me, protected me in even the most horrendous of times.
When I gave my heart it was completely. It was returned to me battered and sore. Still I think to give it again.
From my family the traits of many cultures formed the kaleidoscope of who I am. Getting the picture in focus has been my life's quest. My feeble, biased guesses tell me of the parts.
From the English I get the compulsions, the inclination toward living in the head rather than the heart, and the need for the image of perfection.
From the Irish I get the romantic notions, the thrill of the mysterious breezes and flutters of the butterfly, the quickening of my heart when I hear the whispers of the fairies, the raucous delight in the laughter of my children, the weepiness at the sigh of the stranger.
From the Scot I get the stoic, the persistence, the grit to put one foot in front of the other even though the path is thorny and around the corner may dwell danger and pain.
From the Jew maybe I get the sense of martyrdom, of being put upon by life's changes and chances, of persistence in my faith, of the desire for a culture that defines me yet is so illusive it shimmers distantly in its many forms and colors like a mirage.
From the Indian I get my center, my connection to the green, the wind, the sound of the rustle of leaves, the sense of the solidness of the earth, the soothing fluidity of a lake or ocean, the kinship to the animals who have their special purpose, the sense that there is a deep spirituality reflected in all of God's creation on this physical plane. The beat of the drums echoes my heartbeat, the piercing poignancy of the flute lifts my soul and causes it to soar and dip and throb. I sense an eternal wisdom in the still, calm acceptance of life's lessons and yet a fierceness in remaining true to inner understandings.
Who am I? Will my later years find me softening the shell and coming forth from my chrysalis to fly freely, toward the sun and the flowers and perchance be willing to rest on your shoulder?
Nov 2002
Anne Hunter Respess
I woke up this morning thinking of my first blog with my own ethnicity and remembered how strongly I felt impelled to share my journey of discovering my human family with others.
This poem of my own story was written in November 2002. The past two months have been a journey of healing and discovery with my biological family and I thank God for each pause and chance to renew and enjoy this. I wish you a loving journey with your own family as I repeat this first blog.
FOCUSING THE KALEIDOSCOPE
Reconciling my heritage. Who am I? My search.
Even as a child it seems I was always watching from the outside. Some would say trauma could cause a shell of protection around the heart and mind. Mayhaps, the physical, mental and sexual abuse I know to be a part of my earliest days caused this very real part of who I am.
Inside the shell only I know just how tender and fragile yet fiercely strong my heart and mind are.
Always, I remember searching.
What was I searching for? - my unique place in the universe.
One thing I seemed to always know, God was with me, loved me, nurtured me, protected me in even the most horrendous of times.
When I gave my heart it was completely. It was returned to me battered and sore. Still I think to give it again.
From my family the traits of many cultures formed the kaleidoscope of who I am. Getting the picture in focus has been my life's quest. My feeble, biased guesses tell me of the parts.
From the English I get the compulsions, the inclination toward living in the head rather than the heart, and the need for the image of perfection.
From the Irish I get the romantic notions, the thrill of the mysterious breezes and flutters of the butterfly, the quickening of my heart when I hear the whispers of the fairies, the raucous delight in the laughter of my children, the weepiness at the sigh of the stranger.
From the Scot I get the stoic, the persistence, the grit to put one foot in front of the other even though the path is thorny and around the corner may dwell danger and pain.
From the Jew maybe I get the sense of martyrdom, of being put upon by life's changes and chances, of persistence in my faith, of the desire for a culture that defines me yet is so illusive it shimmers distantly in its many forms and colors like a mirage.
From the Indian I get my center, my connection to the green, the wind, the sound of the rustle of leaves, the sense of the solidness of the earth, the soothing fluidity of a lake or ocean, the kinship to the animals who have their special purpose, the sense that there is a deep spirituality reflected in all of God's creation on this physical plane. The beat of the drums echoes my heartbeat, the piercing poignancy of the flute lifts my soul and causes it to soar and dip and throb. I sense an eternal wisdom in the still, calm acceptance of life's lessons and yet a fierceness in remaining true to inner understandings.
Who am I? Will my later years find me softening the shell and coming forth from my chrysalis to fly freely, toward the sun and the flowers and perchance be willing to rest on your shoulder?
Nov 2002
Anne Hunter Respess
Monday, August 8, 2011
ISN'T IT TIME
Song from France by Gregory Paul, Baha'i
"Did you ever look into the eyes of happy childen
Did it make you feel like being young again?
Do you know there are a million kids just like them
Who won't live past the age of nine or ten?
Isn't it time, isn't it time, isn't it time
Isn't it time to help the children of mankind?
Did you ever look into the eyes of a child that's hungry
Did you wonder how it feels to have no food?
You could ask ten million kids who know the feeling
They will tell you that isn't very good.
Isn't it time, isn't it time, isn't it time
Isn't it time to feed the children of mankind.?
Did you ever look into the eyes of a war torn soldier
or hear the cry of mothers who have lost their son,
As they get down on their knees
And pray O dear God please
Change the world that gives our children guns.
Isn't it time, isn't it time, isn't it time
Isn't it time to save the children of mankind?
Did you ever think that if we really loved our children
We would not wait one day to end all wars
And then the earth could be as one great country
With peace for all mankind,
Forever more.
Isn't it time, isn't it time, isnt it time
Isn't it time to love the children of mankind?
"Did you ever look into the eyes of happy childen
Did it make you feel like being young again?
Do you know there are a million kids just like them
Who won't live past the age of nine or ten?
Isn't it time, isn't it time, isn't it time
Isn't it time to help the children of mankind?
Did you ever look into the eyes of a child that's hungry
Did you wonder how it feels to have no food?
You could ask ten million kids who know the feeling
They will tell you that isn't very good.
Isn't it time, isn't it time, isn't it time
Isn't it time to feed the children of mankind.?
Did you ever look into the eyes of a war torn soldier
or hear the cry of mothers who have lost their son,
As they get down on their knees
And pray O dear God please
Change the world that gives our children guns.
Isn't it time, isn't it time, isn't it time
Isn't it time to save the children of mankind?
Did you ever think that if we really loved our children
We would not wait one day to end all wars
And then the earth could be as one great country
With peace for all mankind,
Forever more.
Isn't it time, isn't it time, isnt it time
Isn't it time to love the children of mankind?
Thursday, July 28, 2011
WHY INTERMARRIAGE?
excerpt from RACEUNITY@ (see Aug 31, 2010)
response to above question: July 18,
"Dear .......,
Your thoughts are very much on target! I would like to comment on your comments on intermarriage. In the joining of two souls attracted by love (which is how I believe all marriaqges should start out) there is an immediate need to figure out how to lovingly come together and work out sharing space, thoughts, maybe even toothbrushes occassionally. The need to find comfort and acceptance with another's differences in style, music taste, food preferences, communication nuances, etc. is so daily present that each becomes less selfish, less ego-centric, more patient, more giving (if they really want it to work). Don't all those actions seem to be good ways to eliminate the false barrier of the differences in skin color? Don't they give the possibility of a blending of cultures into a new culture based on love and respect. This is my understanding of why Baha'is are encouraged to intermarry. And when they produce beautiful children who have inherited the best of both we see a new race of humankind.
Love in the struggle,
Anne"
response to above question: July 18,
"Dear .......,
Your thoughts are very much on target! I would like to comment on your comments on intermarriage. In the joining of two souls attracted by love (which is how I believe all marriaqges should start out) there is an immediate need to figure out how to lovingly come together and work out sharing space, thoughts, maybe even toothbrushes occassionally. The need to find comfort and acceptance with another's differences in style, music taste, food preferences, communication nuances, etc. is so daily present that each becomes less selfish, less ego-centric, more patient, more giving (if they really want it to work). Don't all those actions seem to be good ways to eliminate the false barrier of the differences in skin color? Don't they give the possibility of a blending of cultures into a new culture based on love and respect. This is my understanding of why Baha'is are encouraged to intermarry. And when they produce beautiful children who have inherited the best of both we see a new race of humankind.
Love in the struggle,
Anne"
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