Cherokee National Treasure Weynema Smith has spent a lifetime teaching the Cherokee language and sharing her profound knowledge of our culture. In this podcast, listen to Weynema talk about the cultural importance of various plant life and why it's crucial to pass down Cherokee traditions to future generations.
Make plans to see the new exhibit “Weynema Smith: To Live a Cherokee Life” at the Saline Courthouse Museum in Rose, Oklahoma — on display now through May 11. Museum hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
English translation of the Weynema's opening story:
We were at home alone with Grandma. Grandpa was away, he wasn't at home. It got real cloudy, and it was getting dark, and there was thunder. It got real scary. Grandma said a tornado was coming. And I mean it stormed. Our corn was about four or five feet tall at that time. After the wind had passed and it got still, Grandma said, “Let’s go look around.” She took us with her.
All the corn was just flattened down. “It ruined our corn,” she said. When Grandpa came home that night, he said to us, “When you get up in the morning, you and your brother, go down to the cornfield where the corn is laying down, and stand up seven plants.” Just seven of them, don't worry about the rest. We did exactly what we were told to do. We didn’t even check the next day if they were still standing, or what happened to the corn. But then he asked us, “Do you see the corn standing up?” Then we paid attention.
When we went to check, every plant was standing up. Every bit of it came back up by itself. To us, it meant to have the faith and be strong in it. You knew why you were doing it, you were helping it up.
