© 1995 SENAA International

 



 

Vol. 1; No. 7                                               7 March 1996
 
 

                            MEETING SCHEDULE

Next Executive Council Meeting:   Thursday, 28 March 1996; to be held at
                                  1314 Wildwood Lake Road
                                  Cleveland, Tennessee  37311
Next General Meeting:  Thursday, 4 April 1996; to be held at
                       1314 Wildwood Lake Road, Cleveland, Tennessee.
      *                   *                   *                   *

              MAKE PLANS FOR SENAA'S FIRST RAMP DAY SOCIAL
 

   SENAA  will  hold  a  Ramp  Day    also have a blowgun competition.
Social  on  Saturday,   20  April,      We ask that our ramp chefs be at
beginning    at   11:30  a.m.,  at    Red  Clay,  at  the  picnic tables
Red Clay State Park.                  near  the  amphitheater,  an  hour
   As with past socials,  the Ramp    early,  since  tables   are  on  a
Day Social  will be  pot-luck,  so    first-come-first-served basis.
plan to make your favorite dish to      SENAA will furnish drinks, paper
share.   Steve & Al Swilling,  and    plates, plastic-ware, napkins, ice
Brian Davis  will gather ramps for    and ramps (prepared, of course).
this  year's  feast.  Anyone  else       Invite a friend, fix a pan, pot
who  would  like  to  help  gather    or bowl of something you like, and
ramps  is  welcome  to join in the    come on down  to  Red Clay for our
hunt.                                 first annual Ramp Day Social.
   Besides getting stuffed on lots    It'll be fun-- and "full-filling!"
of delicious home cooking, we will        *       *       *       *

                             MARCH BIRTHDAYS

Happy Birthday Wishes go to the following people:

3 March .  .  .  . Mike Sutherland    15 March . . Cheri Swilling/Lawson
11 March . .  .  . Kelsie Sparkman
 

7 March                       SENAA Newsletter                         2
 

                        "VIEW FROM MOCCASIN BEND"
                       SLATED FOR ECOLOGY CHANNEL
                            by, Van Henderson

Chattanooga Free Press; 18 Feb. --
      Chattanooga's  environmental       "The  View  From Moccasin Bend"
success story  will be beamed into    will     portray     Chattanooga's
14 million  U.S.  households April    successes  and   the  people   who
19-22 as The Ecology Channel (TEC)    played key roles in them.
marks  the   26th  Anniversary  of         VIP  showings  of the special
Earth Day with a TV special titled    will  be  held   in   Chattanooga,
"The View From Moccasin Bend."        Washington,   and   other   select
   NBC News White House Correspon-    cities.
dent John Palmer will host the one         The special will be broadcast
hour show and Mary Walker, a local    by  some   1,500  cable  channels.
environmental    consultant    and    . . . The Ecology Channel does not
publisher,  will  serve  as script    yet  serve  this market.  However,
consultant,  TEC Chairman  John H.    TEC  will  announce   area   cable
Hoagland said.                        channels  on which  "The View From
  "The environmental community has    Moccasin Bend"  can be seen before
been  well aware  of Chattanooga's    it  airs  in April,  Mr.  Hoagland
tremendous  transformation,"   Mr.    said.
Hoagland  said  by  phone from his      The special's subtopics will be:
office in Boston.                     The Leadership and Vision; A River
  "We had read impressive articles    for People's Enjoyment; A New Look
about   the  city's  turnaround in    at Modern Transportation; Managing
Audubon    and    other   national    for  the  Future;  Cleaner Air and
magazines and newspapers,  but  we    Cleaner   Water;   Creating  Green
really began  to  consider Chatta-    Spaces in the City; New Approaches
nooga  as  the  centerpiece of our    to   Waste   and  Recycling;   and
Earth   Day   special    on    the    Presenting History and Culture.
recommendation  of   Roy F. Weston       "What we believe  it will spot-
Inc.,  one of the world's  largest    light  about  Chattanooga  is that
environmental   companies,"    Mr.    the  city  possesses  the  crucial
Hoagland said.                        factor for success in this decade:
  The Ecology Channel chairman was    cooperation  rather than  confron-
brought  to  Chattanooga   several    tation  by  business and industry,
years ago  and introduced to local    committed  citizens,   local   and
leaders  by  Tom Doolittle  of the    state  governments,  federal agen-
international   Weston   company's    cies,  environmental   and   civic
Atlanta office.                       organizations," Mr. Hoagland said.
   "I realized  on  my first visit       The program on Chattanooga will
there  that Chattanooga would be a    also be distributed to hundreds of
natural    for   our   Earth   Day    schools  via  cable  for  use with
anniversary  special,"  said   Mr.    study    guides,    and    through
Hoagland.                             libraries  and  other  outlets  on
  "This special will tell and show    videocassettes.
how  one   historic  and  colorful       Mr. Hoagland  said TEC hopes to
American  city  has marshalled its    establish   "a  tie-in"  with  the
resources  for   the   sustainable    science,technology and sustainable
development  of  its  environment,    development   summit   Congressman
culture  and   economy   in   this    Zach   Wamp   has   scheduled   in
century  and  how  Chattanooga  is    Chattanooga this June.
preparing  for  the 21st century,"
Mr. Hoagland said.                       *        *        *        *
 

7 March                       SENAA Newsletter                         3
 

                   BLYTHE FERRY NAMED AS PROPOSED SITE
                      OF CHEROKEE MEMORIAL PARK AND
                          WILDLIFE VIEWING AREA
 
 

    By late February,  4,000-5,000    summary of where we've been, where
Sandhill   Cranes   are    usually    we are now, and where we're going,
congregated  in the cornfields and    by  Rhea  County  historian  Betty
shallows of the Blythe Ferry area.    Broyles.
    For years  the creatures  have       The Birchwood PTA  sold hotdogs
used what is now the  Blythe Ferry    and chili as fund-raisers.
Wildlife Refuge  at the  mouth  of       Plans  for  the   Blythe  Ferry
the  Hiwassee River   as a stopover    Wildlife  Refuge,   located   near
on  their   annual  treks  between    Birchwood, Tennessee,  include  a
their  northwest  Indiana  staging    two-story building with 14,000  to
area  and their  south Georgia and    15,000 square feet  of floor space
central Florida wintering grounds.    housing  a  Trail of Tears exhibit
  For centuries  the area was also    area,  an  audiovisual area  where
home  to the  Cherokee People, and    films can be shown,  and a  genea-
later played a significant part on    logical library  for tracing one's
the Trail of Tears.                   Cherokee ancestry.
  Last February 24 a special crane      "Currently,  there is no central
viewing day,  organized by retired    place  where   Cherokee  documents
National Park Service  ranger  Ken    are  compiled," claim  Chattanooga
Dubke,  had  more than  500 people    Free Press reporters.
flocking to the area  to watch the       The  proposed Cherokee Memorial
spectacular sight.                    Park / Wildlife  Viewing  Center's
   This year,  Dubke  combined the    second floor  will  be a  wildlife
bird-watching expedition and slide    observation area with a 360 degree
presentation  with Cherokee Indian    view.
Heritage Day  comprised of on-site       Other plans  for the  area  are
lectures  on  the  history  of the    establishing a roadway, trails and
Cherokees  in the area,  proposals    a parking lot; a granite monument,
to  make  the  Blythe Ferry area a    engraved with the names  of  local
Cherokee   Indian   Genealogical /    Cherokee families listed  on  1835
Wildlife   Viewing  Center  and  a    census    records;    and   picnic
progress report from Max Ramsey on    facilities.
on the National Park Service's new       "We believe  the  memorial park
educational trail that will follow    will have an economic impact  as a
the  Trail of Tears  from  here to    tourist  attraction,"   says  Hale
Oklahoma.                             Booth, of the  Southeast Tennessee
   Also  presented  at  the  event    Development District  and  Council
were  the  story   of  two   early    of Governments,  "not just for its
historic sites  --  Fort Southeast    historical  and  genealogical sig-
Point in Kingston and the Hiwassee    nificance,  but  as an opportunity
Garrison  --  by Sam Smith  of the    to view some very unusual wildlife
Tennessee  Division of Archeology;    in very dramatic concentrations."
a birds of prey  demonstration  by       Blythe Ferry  lies   along  the
J. Dale and Tony Liner,  World  of    northern land route  of the  Trail
Raptors;  and a discussion by Nick    of Tears,  and  is the site  where
Honerkamp,  UTC Div. of Archeology    groups of Cherokees from Camp Ross
professor,  of  the  archeology of    and  Rattlesnake  Springs  crossed
the area.                             the Tennessee River  en  route  to
   Wrapping up  the program  was a    Indian Territory in 1838.
                                      (See BLYTHE FERRY, page 4)
 

7 March                       SENAA Newsletter                         4
 

BLYTHE FERRY (From page 3)
   According to Alvin Cook, Silvia    Inc., will design the $3-4 million
Basarrate, of Planning Associates,    project.    *        *        *
 

                            OUR NATIVE TONGUE

Syllabary     Tsa-La-Gi            Pronunciation            English
              U-ka-na-wi           Oo-kah-nah-wee
              A-tsv-s-do-di        Ah-suh-stow-dee          Candle

              Tse-li               Chay-lee                 Chili

              U-yv-tla             Oo-yuh-tla               Cold

              U-ga-ma              Oo-gah-mah
              U-di-le-ga           Oo-dee-lay-gah           Hot Soup

              U-ne-s-da-la         Oo-nay-stah-la           Ice

              U-nv-tsi        (E.) Oo-nuh-see
                              (W.) Oo-nuh-chee              Snow

              Gu-ti-ha             Goo-tee-ha              It is snowing

              Dv-ga-na-ni          Duh-gah-nah-nee   It is going to rain

              I-no-lu-ga           Ee-no-loo-gah          You go hunting
 

                            CHEROKEE SONGBOOK
                       DI-KA-NO-GI-S-DI TSA-LA-GI
 
 

                              AMAZING GRACE

1.
                           U-ne-la-nv-hi u-we-tsi

                              I-ga-tsu-yv-he-i

                          Hna-quo tso-sv wi-u-lo-se

                    I-ga-gu-yv-ho-nv (or U-dv-ne yu-ne-sv).
 

2.                         A-si-no yi-u-ne-se-yi

                             I-yu-no du-le-nv

                          Ta-li-ne-dv se-lu-se-li

                             U-dv-ne yu-ne-sv.
 
 

 7 March                       SENAA Newsletter                         5
 

                           THE LITTLE PEOPLE**
                            by, Rachel Davis
 

     One day my friends and I were    sounded like people laughing.   We
walking through  the village  when    ignored it,  thinking we were just
we came  to  the  old storyteller,    hearing things. Then we heard foot
and  we  joined  the  crowd around    steps behind us.  When we stopped,
him.                                  they stopped too. We looked around
  He was  telling the story of the    and saw two small men.  They  were
"Little  People."   It  was  about    about  two  feet  tall  and looked
people who look like Cherokees but    like Cherokee people. They must be
are  only  about  two  feet  tall.    the Little People, I thought.
They like to trick people and make      At first,  we were just a little
them laugh.                           scared,  but we talked to them for
  He said that if we were ever out    hours.   Suddenly,  I realized the
in   the  woods   and   we   heard    sun was setting;  and  we had told
something   but    couldn't    see    our  parents   we'd  be  back  for
anything,  it was just the  Little    dinner.   We   thanked  them   for
People  and  not  to   be  afraid,    talking   with   us,  then  turned
because  they only want to play or    around  and  headed  back down the
help us.                              path to our village.
  My friends  and  I  laughed  and      When  we  got home,  we all told
joked  to  hear  of such things as    our parents.   They looked at each
Little People.   One of my friends    other and smiled.   My dad said we
laughed as she said that they were    were lucky that  we were among the
only old people's stories.            few humans  that the Little People
  The next day we thought we would    have  revealed themselves  to.  We
all  go  into  the woods and check    went  next-door   and   told   the
the story out  for ourselves.   We    storyteller  about our experience.
all told our moms that we would be    He  told  us  he  had  many  other
back in time for dinner.              stories to tell us.   Now  that we
  We were all telling ourselves it    had  seen  the  Little People,  we
wasn't true  as we walked down the    agreed to  never doubt the stories
old path that led us deep into the    of our people again.
woods. We all heard something that        *        *        *       *
 

               McKEE FAMILY BUILDING NEW GIRLS' DORMITORY
                            AT INDIAN SCHOOL

  Southern Tidings, Feb. '96 --       supported  her husband  in  estab-
  Meeting an urgent, critical need    lishing the family business.
of  Holbrook Indian School,  a new      The Ruth McKee Hall will be home
dormitory   will  be  built;   the    for 80 Native American girls, ages
result  of a gift  from  the McKee    6  through  20.  It  will  have 30
family  in memory of their mother,    rooms,  modest apartments  for the
Anna Ruth King McKee.                 dean  and  her  assistant,  and  a
  In  the  later years  before her    small computer/study room.
death,  Ruth  told  family members      Together  the  McKees  turned  a
there  was  only  one  thing   she    Depression-days   cookie  business
missed in her life,  and  that was    into the  McKee Foods Corporation,
teaching young people.  Her formal    the  largest  producer   of  snack
education  prepared  her  to teach    cakes in North America.
school.  Instead of teaching,  she        *       *       *       *
 

7 March                       SENAA Newsletter                         6
 
 

                          SENAA PROGRESS REPORT
 

   In our six months of operation,    burial   mound   currently   being
SENAA can be proud of its progress    considered as a construction site;
in the community and elsewhere.       and  other projects  that  are now
   First, thanks to member support    underway.
and  other  generous contributors,       Perhaps our best accomplishment
we  were  able   to  help  several    so far  has been our demonstration
families  have  a  more  enjoyable    that  a group of friends  can work
Christmas.  (With a  full year  to    together in harmony  toward common
plan,  next Christmas  promises to    goals and stay focused on the real
be much better.)                      issues   without  allowing   petty
   Secondly, SENAA members and the    politics and egos to interfere.
community  alike were inspired  by        As long as we have the Creator
the selflessness and generosity of    as  our  guide,  and   His  Spirit
one  of  its  young people,  whose    present at our meetings,  we  will
gift  helped SENAA to help others.    be  successful in all our efforts,
That  in  itself was worth all our    no matter  how difficult  the task
efforts.                              may seem,  at times.  The  Creator
   Other   SENAA   accomplishments    tells  us  in  Matthew 21:22  that
were:   obtaining   our  nonprofit    "all things,  whatsoever  ye shall
status  with  the IRS;  presenting    ask in prayer, believing, ye shall
the  Tennessee  Indian  Commission    receive." As often as SENAA claims
with  our   official  desires  for    that promise  and  does not  doubt
and  position  on  Moccasin  Bend;    the   Creator's  words,   it  will
presenting our organization to the    succeed, no matter what the task.
TIC as a  Native American cultural       May we,  in the course  of this
and    educational   organization;    year, continue to grow and develop
obtaining authorization from local    into  a source of help for others,

TIC spokesperson  Harley Grant  to    and a protecting, preserving force
develop   a   Southeastern  Native    for  our cultures and heritages in
American cultural  and  historical    the Southeast;  being ever mindful
program to present to local school    that it is only with our Creator's
children;  location and protection    help   that  we  can  achieve  any
of  two burial sites;  cooperation    measure of success.
from  the  Cleveland  City Planner      May Creator bless our efforts.
concerni ng  the  protection  of  a
Native American  village site  and        *       *       *       *
 

               NATIVE AMERICAN VILLAGE SITE, BURIAL MOUND
             AND POSSIBLE BURIALS SLATED FOR DEVELOPMENT --
                            STEPS BEING TAKEN

   A Cleveland development company    the property.
recently bought property  that has          The developer's plans are to
long been known  by local citizens    build access roads on the property
to be the site of  a former Native    and divide it into lots for sale.
American village.  People who have       Concerned  that  any burials on
walked the pastureland in the past    the property might suffer the same
have  seen  evidence  of   burials    fate  as  those at the Collegedale
other than those contained in  the    site,  the SENAA Executive Council
burial mound  on the  east side of    (See NATIVE BURIALS, page 7)
 

 7 March                       SENAA Newsletter                         7
 
 

NATIVE BURIALS (from page 6)
contacted  Cleveland  City Planner    outside  the  burial  mound,   the
Craig  Bivens   in   mid-February,    developer plans to  take necessary
voicing  SENAA's  concern  for the    steps  to prevent the graves  from
burials.   Mr. Bivens   said   the    being desecrated.
preliminary  plat   had  not  been        Conversations  with Chuck Benz
filed and promised to notify SENAA    echoed the developer's statements.
as soon as they were  presented to        Suggestions  by  the developer
him.   On  5 March,  the  plat was    for  saving  the  burials  include
filed  and SENAA  was notified  as    attaching burial sites to adjacent
promised,  with word that the plat    lots  with  a covenant attached to
would be reviewed by the Cleveland    the  deeds prohibiting any "ground
City Council for approval at their    disturbing  activities"   on   the
next meeting,  scheduled for March    property.
26  at  6:00 p.m.,  on  the second        The UTK archeological team, on
floor of the Municipal Building.      Monday,  11 March,  will  begin  a
  A copy of the plat was presented    two-week-long study of the area to
to SENAA by Craig Bivens,  showing    to determine  if there are burials
the   proposed   layout   of   the    on  the  property,  and if so, how
property,  which  is  being called    many and where they are located.
"Autumn Ridge."                           Negotiations  are now underway
   The plat shows the east side of    for SENAA  to obtain possession of
the property,  which  contains the    the  burial  mound   and  a  small
burial    mound,   as    remaining    section of land surrounding it, to
undeveloped,  while  the west half    prevent anyone from desecrating or
of the property,  which  fronts on    destroying the sacred area.  Since
Freewill  Road,  will  be  divided    that area  becomes flooded  during
into lots and sold.                   heavy rains,  and  cannot  be used
     A  conversation   with  State    for  any practical purpose,  SENAA
Archeologist Nick Fielder revealed    is trying to obtain the mound as a
that the developer has voluntarily    donation to the organization, with
hired  University of Tennessee  at    the  stipulation  that  the  mound
Knoxville (UTK) archeologist Chuck    will remain intact  and the graves
Benz  to conduct an  archeological    undisturbed.
study of the proposed site.
    In  a  conversation  with  the        *       *       *       *
developer,  SENAA  Vice  President
Al Swilling was told that,  in the
event that  burials are discovered
 
 
 

** © 1996; Rachel Davis, Cleveland, Tennessee 37311
     All Rights Reserved.

   © 1996; White Eagle Publications, Cleveland, Tenn. 37311.
     All Rights Reserved.