May 19 – Daily Feast

If there is one thing that scares us, it is the thought that any part of life has been wasted. We look back and ask why we let it happen – what was so important that it could steal our youth, our strength, our capacity to be somebody – to just be happy. Is it too late to begin again? Never. It may be with a different set of rules, a standard of values that has changed drastically, but begin again? Yes, Many have started over and have had more happiness and contentment in a short time than in all of what is known as the wasted years. Anyone who has ever traveled a trail of tears wishes they had known then what they know now. But we did not know, and life is not lived by hindsight. We did what we knew to do – sometimes with great ignorance. But if we know the difference now and want to begin again – then why not? And why not now?

~ Years of trial and anxiety, of danger and struggle, have maintained the ….Cherokee people as a distinct community….and such must continue. ~

CHIEF JOHN ROSS

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

May 18 – Daily Feast

Have we lost control of who we are? Have we allowed ourselves to get in a position of little or no control – believing that we must forfeit bits and pieces of who we are to get along? The one weapon against us that has the total respect of the world is the business of weight loss. Never have so many fought so long to lose so little. Think of the dollar value put on a pound of flesh – the hype, the remorseful tears, the acceptance that we cannot control our eating. Though overindulging in anything is dis-ease, it is not disease. It is the silent enemy, the spirit of destruction that the Cherokee calls, u so nv I, which is not good but downright evil. It is the enemy with no power except subliminal suggestion. But enter the Great Holy Spirit, and its great roar is but a pip-squeak. We have to care, but we also need to know the truth to be free.

~ When the Great Father sent out men to our people, I was poor and thin,; now I am large and stout and fat. It is because so many liars have been sent…..and I have been stuffed full of their lies. ~

RED DOG, 1870

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

May 15 – Daily Feast

Our willingness to work at whatever we can opens doors to new opportunities. Willingness breathes life into us and gives us vision. Hope is good but determination is even better. It sets the tone to move, to do the thing set out for us. And we can do anything when we do not stop to consider what if we were to fail, or what is we are not appreciated. Cherokee women were never considered inferior to the men. They were honored and respected and educated themselves so they could teach their children. It meant hard work and determination to perfect what they could so they could pass it on. Sometimes, the main objective of our work is not just to prosper us but to do a worthwhile thing well. We keep labor on a high level, never taking the easy way out. There is honor in work – even in the most menial job. Success is short-lived when the work is done for appearances.

~ If our children should visit this place…..they may see and recognize with pleasure the deposits of their fathers. ~

SHARITARISH

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

May 10 – Daily Feast

We are complex combinations of many things. Mind, body, and spirit, yes, but with all the height and depth and feeling that make up the three. If one of these is not kept in shape and made to be harmonious with the others, we are out of balance. There is almost always more interest in one part rather than seeing the necessity of developing the whole person. What reading a book is to one person equals running a mile to another. It is natural to do what pleases us and makes us feel worthy. The Cherokee claims that if you, tso tle s di, sit down all the time or are idle in mind and spirit, the whole, I ya dv ne li da s di, complex system, suffers. Once upon a time, Indian dancing served the whole person, worshiping, exercising, and activating the mind. True fitness requires it all.

~ We work as hard as you do! Did you ever try skinning a buffalo? ~

OURAY, UTE CHIEF

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

May 9 – Daily Feast

Sentences half spoken and beyond total hearing are the source of difficulty. Only in the bright light of reason and understanding can these cloudy mishaps be corrected. Some are simply tuned to hear the negative – even when it was never intended to be. They hear with an ear that is already bent toward trouble and only too willing to pass it on. We might consider what we want to hear – because everyone has moments when words tumble out with little meaning. Whether it is a slip of the tongue or simply filling in a quiet spell, we are sometimes guilty of speaking when we should have been listening. The tongue is a little member and sometimes kindles quite a fire when it should spit on the matches.

~ We are becoming like them…..all talkers and no workers. ~

BLACK HAWK

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

May 7 – Daily Feast

If we ignore everything beautiful and look down the road to some future time, chances are it will be the same. This is the time, the e to a, the now, the present, to see the dearness of other people, the chance to be grateful – to enjoy. Why wait? Perfect times are elusive. They create an atmosphere that life should be lived on some high emotional level instead of experiencing love. Time goes by. The peaks were not what made life worthwhile – but the in-between times that gave us a chance to stand in the quiet of a wooded glen, even if it is just in our hearts, and know that love made it all worthwhile. Love will continue to make each a giant of peace in our souls.

~ I want to tell you if the Great Spirit had chosen anyone to be chief of this country, it is myself. ~

SITTING BULL

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

May 6 – Daily Feast

When we let down our guard, habit is waiting to reclaim its territory. It seems innocent and it is so familiar that we seldom suspect what teeth it has! Once we decide to change something, we can’t expect to do it in one great sweep. What has taken us over by such tiny degrees must be edged out the same way. The fact that we are taking small steps does not minimize a very great commitment. Little by little, we reform our habits, making sure we leave no void for any other bad habit to fill. If we have, a ne lo at nv, made an effort or tried to change and failed, it is probably because we tried to do it along or denied the need to change. The Cherokees believes he needs, a u na li go sv, a help or a partnership, to give him support. It may be another, v da di lv quo at nv, a special or blessed person that is grounded in the Galun lati.

~ I am tired of talk that comes to nothing. ~

CHIEF JOSEPH

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

May 5 – Daily Feast

Remembering can be painful and sometimes without any real benefit. But much of the time it helps us move ahead like a spur that tells us not to tarry but to go on and do what we have to do. It is far too easy to carry around, a u s ga nv tsv, a false guilt, a wrong idea, to override our good memories. We lose sight of the positive things we have done and the happiness we have shared by recalling a thousand impossible wishes we wanted to come true. But it does no good to dwarf the present time because the past was not what we hoped it would be. We cannot help but recall things and times and people dear to us – but to remember them with pleasure does them more honor than to focus on what we did or couldn’t do in the past.

~ Our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch of our ancestors as we walk over this earth. ~

SEATTLE

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

May 5 – Daily Feast

Remembering can be painful and sometimes without any real benefit. But much of the time it helps us move ahead like a spur that tells us not to tarry but to go on and do what we have to do. It is far too easy to carry around, a u s ga nv tsv, a false guilt, a wrong idea, to override our good memories. We lose sight of the positive things we have done and the happiness we have shared by recalling a thousand impossible wishes we wanted to come true. But it does no good to dwarf the present time because the past was not what we hoped it would be. We cannot help but recall things and times and people dear to us – but to remember them with pleasure does them more honor than to focus on what we did or couldn’t do in the past.

~ Our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch of our ancestors as we walk over this earth. ~

SEATTLE

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

May 2 – Daily Feast

It is true that if we get past this one hard place, all our problems will be solved? But each day has its share of such places – if not in our lives, then in the lives of those we care so much about. We are so interchangeably connected that whatever touches one of us touches us all. A ne lv to di, one strong effort, one day at a time, one step, one question, Are we reliable? Or do we get other people to cover our tracks so that we can go on doing what we want to do? When a hard spot, a habit, an addiction dogs our tracks, it is because we have not made up our minds to turn around and face it. Trying to make it acceptable only robs us of what we need most of all – to love ourselves and to respect ourselves. But we cannot do it alone. Only the Great Holy Spirit, and He alone, can give us the power.

~ The Great Spirit does right. He knows what is best for His children. ~

SENECA

‘A Cherokee Feast of Days’, by Joyce Sequichie Hifler