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Celebrated about the time grass begins to grow. Prior to the festival the Uku and his council of seven ask the women to perform a friendship dance. Then using a crystal divine when the new moon will appear. The festival is a time when the old fires in the homes are extinguished and ashes removed and replaced with new fire started at the festival. As a offering of thanks, the tongue of the next deer killed by the husband of each house is sacrificed to the new fire in his home.

The Uku issues instructions to his seven counselors for the regulation and watching of the growing fields. When the corn has reached the stage (fit to taste) for the New Green-Corn Feast, messengers are sent to alert the nation of the event. Seven ears of corn, one from the fields of each clan are gathered by the chief messenger, and given to the seven counselors, who in turn give these to the Uku. Prayer is offered in gratitude by the Uku.

Forty to fifty days after the New Green-Corn Feast, the Uku sent his seven counselors to determine the state of the corn. If it was as was expected a dance was held. Twenty days after the dance, a feast is held. It is a time of great happiness and exultation.

The first new moon of Autumn marks the beginning of this festival. The seven counselors determine for the Uku when it will appear. This Great New Moon marks when the world was created, and marks the beginning of the lunar year.

A day or two after the Great New Moon Festival, the seven counselors meet to set the date for the beginning of the Propitiation Festival, whose beginning was always seven nights later. It marks the expressing of devotional feelings to those who are the source of all their blessings, the cleansing of impurities from the previous year, and the replacing of fires in the home.

The date of this festival is set during the Great New Moon Festival. This festival marks the end of the festivals for the year. It is a joyful feast, marked by the offering of wild old tobacco to the great sacred fire.

This festival occurs every seven years, and is the time when the Uku and all offer their thanks to the Creator.

All tribal chanting, for whatever purpose, originated from the slaying and sacrifice of a monster creature called Stone Coat (Nayvnvwi) which translated literally means "stone coat-on". These songs are found at the ceremonies that are held during the year.

In the Cherokee system of tradition and beliefs, there are four realms of being as ones life is lived. The first realm occurs with birth, with the realization that one is alive and is symbolized by the child's first smile. The second realm of adolescence begins at the age of seven and is a time when exploration and development of ones special talents occurs. Adulthood or the third realm, is a period during which we offer our assistance to the family, clan, tribe, and community as the depth of the inner vision is added to. Being an elder or a "keeper of the wisdom", occurs in ones 51st or 52nd year and is the fourth realm. This is a special time during which understandings of relationships, and the forces of nature and energy are offered through harmonizations.

North is the keeper of winter. The North is associated to the color blue and represents sadness, humility and defeat. Winter is the season of survival and waiting. The Cherokee word for North is u-yv-tlv and translates to cold. It is the direction of the Mental, and is the path of Quiet. The key is sharing and teaching.

East is the keeper of spring. The East is associated to the color red and represents victory, power, and war. Spring is the re-awakening of Mother Earth after a long sleep and the victory over go-la. The Cherokee word for East is ka-lv-gv. It is the direction of the Spiritual and is the path of the Sun. The key is coming together and honoring the Elders.

South is the keeper of summer. The South is associated to the color white. The Cherokee word for white is and the color represents peace, happiness, and serenity. The Cherokee word for South is u-ga-no-wa and translates to warm. Is the direction of the Natural and is the path of Peace. The key is innocence.

West is the keeper of autumn. The West is associated to the color black. The Cherokee word for black is a-gv-ni-ge and the color represents death. The Cherokee word for West is wu-de-li-gv and translates to where it is hidden. It is the direction of the Physical and is the path of Introspection. The key is to help those less fortunate.

The medicine pouch can be found hanging from a belt or being worn about the neck. It can be worn in plain sight or hidden from view. The pouch contains fetishes or items that have meaning or provide protection or power "medicine" for the wearer. The contents of the medicine pouch may vary as your travels through life takes you down different paths.

My medicine pouch is adorned with fetishes and contains items that bring me power and protection. One of the fetishes on the outside of the bag was made by Jonathan Buffalo, the curator of the Mesquakie Museum here in Iowa. It is a image of a bear carved from pipestone. Another is a mandala which is sewn on using glass beads, which represents the never ending circle of life. My medicine pouch is a very personal item and its contents are rarely displayed.

Whistle, Flute, Flageolet

Here is a well known tale among the Ani Yunwiya about the whistle. In the old days the Terrapin had a fine whistle, but the Partridge had none. The Terrapin was constantly going about whistling and showing his whistle to the other animals until the Partridge became jealous, so one day when they met the Partridge asked leave to try it. The Terrapin was afraid at first, suspecting some trick, but the Partridge said, "I'll give it back right away, and if you are afraid you can stay with me while I practice." So the Terrapin let him have the whistle and the Partridge walked around blowing on it in fine fashion. "How does it sound with me?" asked the Partridge. "O, you do very well," said the Terrapin, walking alongside. "Now, how do you like it," said the Partridge, running ahead and whistling a little faster. "That's fine," answered the Terrapin, hurrying to keep up, "but don't run so fast." "And now, how do you like this?" called the Partridge, and with that he spread his wings, gave one long whistle, and flew to the top of the tree, leaving the poor Terrapin to look after him from the ground. The Terrapin never recovered his whistle, and that, and the loss of his scalp, which the Turkey stole from him, he grew ashamed to be seen, and since shuts himself up in his box whenever anyone comes near him.

The whistle was usually made from an eagle bone, and was worn suspended from the neck. The flute or flageolet was commonly made from cedar wood. However some whistles were made from river cane.

I have made many flutes none of which I keep. The materials I use most often are pine or cedar. The cedar flutes have a very sweet low tone, and the pine has a pleasing tone as well. Three overnotes can be played on the the flute, and as the holes are equally spaced, the notes are perfectly scaled. There are six finger holes in the flutes that I make. There is a special cut that needs to be made going across the grain of the wood, and the pine lends itself better to this process than the cedar. However if ones takes time and uses a very sharp tool the same cut can be made in the cedar.

I have made many bone whistles, and they have two pitches.  One is heard when blowing softly and the other is heard by blowing  harder.

Peace Pipe

Here is a tale as was told by John Rattling-Gourd of Big Cove

Before selfishness crept into the world - that was a long time ago - The Cherokee people were happy and peaceable. They used the same hunting grounds and fishing grounds as their neighbors. They fished in the same streams and hunted in the same stands of forest. There were no arguments about boundaries and there were no arguments about fishing rights. But this was before Men became greedy. All this changed when Men learned to quarrel.

The first quarrel that arose was between the Cherokee and a neighboring tribe. It was a long and bitter quarrel, so bitter that the chiefs of the two tribes decided to meet in council to try and settle their trouble. And so they met, one day, and they smoked the peace pipe in solemn council, but they did not stop quarreling. A puff on the peace pipe and a bitter word was the way it went. Days passed and still the council sat and smoked and quarreled.

Now the Great Spirit was much displeased that the Indians should quarrel while smoking the pipe of peace. And the Great Spirit said, "I shall have to do something to you men that will show you that People should live together in peace, and that when Indians smoke the pipe, it must be done in peace."

The Great Spirit looked down at the old Men sitting in all that smoke. And he saw how gray they looked and how their heads hung down in weariness because it had been many nights since they had slept. And so he turned the old Men who smoked there in the council into small silvery gray flowers, their heads bent over and their petals hoary.

If you should find one in the woods and turn it so that the head is down and the stem up, you will see that it looks like an Indian pipe, and so it is called to this day. But in the woods where they are often seen clustered together, they appear to be little gray People sitting in long council.

Now after the Great Spirit had changed the quarreling Indians into flowers and set them out in the forest, he noticed that the smoke from their pipes still hung heavy in the air above the place where the council had been. So he gathered up the smoke and draped it over the mountains as a reminder. And he left it there until such time as all Men shall learn to live peace together. 

Indian Pipe Plant

The material that suits itself best to pipe carving is pipestone. Chlorite is another material that the Cherokee have used for centuries in the making of pipes. Soapstone is another material that lends itself well to the task of carving and can be in the pipes that are used on a daily basis, rather than in ceremony. Alabaster will create a handsome pipe as well, but much care must be given to assure that the fault lines present in the material work with the design. References to pipes can be found in many of the writings about the Cherokee. For instance in Trail of Tears a black pipe was given to Andrew Jackson by Major Ridge on one of his visits to Washington, D. C. Mention of the pipe can also be found when discussing the very beautiful eagle dance.

I carve my pipes from pipestone. The first pipe bowl emerged from the stone over a period of about seven months. On one side of the bowl is a buffalo calf, and on the other side are two crossed arrows tied together with grasses. It has a warriors point on the bottom, and this represents that I still have something to fight for. This pipe has very special meaning to me, and I use it during my prayers. Another bowl has a carved hawk sitting on the stem of the bowl looking at me as I look down the calumet. This pipe is used when friends visit. The pipe bowls are stored in a pieces of white cloth. The bowls have a piece of sacred sage inserted into them before being placed into the cloth. The calumet or stems are made from Sumac and Cedar. Each of the calumets are then stored with their wrapped bowls in pipe bags. The bowls and calumets are never put together until they are used.

A message or prayer may be sent by offering some tobacco or a similar mixture of plants and tree barks during ceremonial times. The blend of plants and tree barks that I use is called Kinnick Kinnick. It contains Mugwort, Mullin, Angelica, Spearmint, Bear Berry, Red Willow, Osha Root, Sage and Tobacco. Hallucinogens are strictly forbidden in the use of the pipe.

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Books

If you would like to read further about the Cherokee I would recommend going to http://www.CherokeePub.com for an excellent selection of books. I have in my personal library some of the following books and would recommend them to anyone wanting to know more of the Cherokee. Some of the books in this list are found in public libraries and are before ISBN numbers were available, so you are on your own trying to locate them.