April 18 – Daily Feast

The voice of doom is loud in our land. It is predicting unheard of fears and possibilities. But we have the antidote in our mouths – our words. Words are powerful, able to turn away the negative thoughts and words of those who have no purpose but to degrade. We don’t have to let other people decide that we are victims of every attack, every disease, every wrongdoing. Our, u in ne tsv (words), say the Cherokees, are mighty to pull down anything or any person that lies in wait to harm us. Life and death are truly in the power of the tongue – and our part is to study the use of words and their effects on us. We know what it is to hear words of courage. It is light entering a dark place and we hear as well as speak.

~ Give ear, I am the mouth of my nation. ~

KIOSATON

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

April 17 – Daily Feast

We want to do the right thing, say the right thing, be the right person. We try to be in tune with life, to find harmony within to blend with all that surrounds us. It just seems that so much has been borrowed from us – time, concern, spirit – until we cry for restoration. Like children, we want to ask, “Are we happy yet?” Is there a time of rhythm and order and an even beat, so that we may walk without running, laugh without tears, care without fear of giving too much? Yes, beyond the slightest doubt we can renew and we can overcome the feeling of being totally taxed to despair. Speak to yourself, said the little Cherokee grandmother. Tell yourself you are u wo du hi, fine looking, and your surroundings will see it and want you to be happy. In other words, change your attitude and the world will respond.

~ Why do you take by force what you could obtain by love? ~

POWHATAN

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

April 15 – Daily Feast

Think and talk pleasant things. When pressures are too much, turn around and think and talk on another subject. Most of us are victims of our own emotions. We allow them to take over our peace of mind and there is nothing left to do but cry. And what we worry about becomes so real, so intense, that we believe it in all sincerity. The Cherokees say this is, v yo-ho wa yi gi, something that is not true. When we are provoked to be negative there is no point in berating ourselves. Rather, say, “This is not acceptable. This is not my way and I refuse guilt, refuse being overwrought, and that is the end of the conflict.”

~ You have spoken words of comfort….as though the Great Spirit was speaking through you. ~

LITTLE BEAVER

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

April 14 – Daily Feast

Great strength exists in the smallest things. The spider’s web is so exquisitely formed, a fragile gossamer remnant. But it is stronger in proportion to size and weight than the finest steel. The hummingbird’s wings send out impulses strong enough to resemble the throb of a tiny high speed engine – but early on, it was thought that because of the way its wings were constructed it could never fly. Love can be a mere glance, di ka nv to di, a brief word, a silent touch. But it reaches past time and space and mere existence. Prayer, short, deep – a word from the depth of heart and spirit can work miracles and change a whole world.

~ There is something that whispers to me….to listen to offers of peace. ~

LITTLE TURTLE

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

April 10 – Daily Feast

There is a delightful piety involved when the other person is caught in wrongdoing. Sometimes we don’t give much thought to the idea that someone made a mistake. He should have been more clever! Far too many get a lift when someone falls. It makes the sideliners look so good, and self-righteousness flows with great solemnity. But when the limelight hits home and attention focuses on a closer problem – where did all the compassion go? What is happening to human kindness? After all, are we not all too human not to err? Kindness is a two-way street. Harsh judgment and joy in seeing someone else hurt because they seem to deserve it, opens the door to let others judge us. So, then, where is all the compassion?

~ Little pot, do not call the kettle black until you have been in the fire as long as he has! ~

SEQUICHIE GRANDMOTHER

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

April 8 – Daily Feast

Peace of mind is better than gold and just as precious. But unlike gold, peace comes when we ask for it and let it happen – not when we go in search of it. We look for a time to be peaceful. But what may seem to be a waste of time can be just what we need – a spot of sunlight, soft breezes, the sound of locusts humming in the night. The little things calm us and bring us rest. But the best comes when we release our hold on little cares, the voices that tell us how bad things are in the world – and just let peace seep in. Nothing so becomes us as stillness and quiet serenity. Nothing so aptly furnishes the background music like sounds of nature, the mockingbird’s midnight song that expands our boundaries and enchants our hearts.

~ We are a part of the earth, and the earth is part of us. ~

SEATTLE

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

April 7 – Daily Feast

It seems only yesterday when the first cold wind blew in and laid flat the wild rose and turned the canes gray. Leaves turned and dropped. Snows fell and drifted. Winter threatened to last forever. But it didn’t. Spring runs in and out like a child opening and slamming a door just to irritate us. The birds are flirting and meadows abound with baby calves in their first days. It is a time of change – not only in nature but in us. We enjoy that breaking point between late winter and early spring. In our mind’s eye we know where the wild phlox will spread its fragrance and the oxeye daisies will crowd the narrow path. It is with the same eye that we see ourselves blooming with health and prospering beyond our dreams. Only those who walk under a cloud miss the joy of this time, the open meadows and greening hills.

~ Oh, give me a home where the buffalo roam, where the deer and the antelope play….Where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day. ~

ANONYMOUS

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

April 2 – Daily Feast

Most of our thought runs to what we do not have and to what we are not apt to get. Those are fear thoughts and reminders of how we let our minds get on the wrong path. But how can a person have faith in a world so out of focus? Don’t self-sabotage. Don’t become your own worst enemy. Don’t stay ignorant, and do shed labels. Do think beyond the right to be a certain way. If something is destroying you, be smart and get rid of it. And remember that intellectual preaching is not worth dirt if we have failed to meditate on the right words.

~ The Comanche are not blind like the pups of the dog when seven sleeps old. ~

TEN BEARS – COMANCHE

“A Cherokee Feast of Days, Volume II” by Joyce Sequichie Hifler

April 1 – Daily Feast

In ages past, our old ones were the storytellers. This was the way things were passed along to the generations that followed. For this reason the aged people made it a point to remember every detail so they could relate it at a later time. They were the word and picture carriers making history and spiritual values alive and important. In recent times we have made our old ones think they are not so important. We spoof their stories and make them feel foolish. The truth is that we are ignorant of what is precious and how to, a da li he li tse di, appreciate age. Rigidity can creep in and set even the young mind if there are no soft memories, no laughter, no times too deep for tears. Age is grace – a time too valuable to waste.

~ We can get over being poor, but it takes longer to get over being ignorant. ~

JANE SEQUICHIE HIFLER

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

March 26 – Daily Feast

To be convinced that we are not alone in whatever place or situation we find ourselves is to have wisdom – exceptional wisdom. But when that wisdom is there and nothing can shake it, a need to share is strong. Everybody doesn’t have the gift because everyone doesn’t want it. Some can’t even believe that anyone else has it. So, we should never try to convince them. If we are convinced, then, that is sufficient evidence, and other things will add to it as we go along. The Great Spirit speaks to us in sweet languages, so unique we cannot miss the import of what is said. To receive such a gift can change a situation from deep fear to one of total contentment and love.

~ I heard the mockingbird singing in the moonlight. I knew that moment that I would get well. ~

LONE WOLF

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

March 24 – Daily Feast

Evening walks have a beauty all their own as the sun moves through one phase after another, coloring and shading the fields and woods. Although the air is still wintry at times, the calendar says it is spring – good enough to stir up anticipation. The sunset changes from pale pink touched with gold to lilacs and purples and deep blues. The hills along the horizon have the deepest colors, all shades of Indian, gi ga ge, to match the read earth, the red skin. Above the darkening shadows, clouds like long tresses of silky hair spread out to the evening star. Everything gives way to that last bit of color, the burning embers that fire the distant hills – and then the velvet hour. Silence reigns. A coyote’s long, thin wail tells the world that night has fallen.

~ I know every stream and every wood…..like my fathers before me, I lived happily. ~

TEN BEARS

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

March 19 – Daily Feast

Last autumn’s leaves have been dislodged from their wintering places to race north with the wind from the South – only to be turned and blown south again. They drift and dance on end, twirling and falling into deep piles to disintegrate in spring rains. Drifting with the wind is not a habit of nature alone. People with no goals, no aims, drift from one place to another in hopes that fate will put them in the right place at the right time. Fate is simply accepting what comes because nothing has been done to direct thought and action in any other way. If decisions are not made and goals are not set, the world will make them for us. The Cherokee calls this attitude go na ya, which translates to the same thing as “doing without.”

~ The problem with blending the Indian and European cultures is that the Indian is devoted to living and the European to getting. ~

JOHN ROSS McINTOSH

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

March 18 – Daily Feast

Other people have so much happen in their lives before we get to know them that we don’t always know how to meet their needs. If they have been hurt, they may box themselves in and our reach is not long enough. But we cannot go back and make up for what someone else has done. All of us have come to the present with some memory, some experience, that has affected us negatively. It would be hard to live in a world of hurt and not be touched by it. But the Cherokee knows that change can take place suddenly to heal life. A Seneca chief had been sick a long time, but he was visited in his dreams by three supernatural beings sent by the Great Spirit, and rose up cured to teach the good message given him by the Master of Life. His people thrived and flourished and developed gifts. So can we. When we seek we find. And it may be by helping others.

~ We were a lawless people, but we were on pretty good terms with the Great Spirit. ~

WALKING BUFFALO

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