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Canku Ota - A Newsletter Celebrating Native America
March 25, 2000 - Issue 06
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Cherokee Festivals
provided by Tonia Williams at Cherokee.org
*Note: Cultural information may vary from clan to clan, location to location, family to
family, and from differing opinions and experiences. Information provided here are not 'etched in stone'.
THE FIFTH CHEROKEE FESTIVAL
The fifth
festival was held about ten days after the fourth festival, the Great New Moon Festival. The purpose of this festival
was to make friends and for cleansing. Participants were assigned tasks, such as: helping with the preparation;
dance leaders, musicians, cleansing the council house area, hunting game, etc.
A new sacred
fire was built by the fire keeper and his assistants. The fire keeper and his assistants fasted for seven days
before the festival.
There was
a dance the night before the festival.
Others fasted
during special designated days. This festival killed the old fire and brought a new fire. It also brought friendship
by forgiving conflicts. A brand new start. There was also a cleansing ritual that was performed at the creek in
running water.
This festival
would last four days.
THE SIXTH CHEROKEE FESTIVAL
The sixth
festival was held during the winter. Tobacco was gathered from the people who participated in the feast. The people
used pine or spruce and danced. The first movement was a march by alternating pairs of males and females. During
the dance, women wore their turtle shells, formed a circle with the men in a single file and moved counter-clockwise
in a circle. Each dancer took two hemlock twigs of the spruce and waved them up and down like pigeon wings. The
fourth night, they made offerings to the sacred fire.
Info provided by the Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center
cultural@cherokee.org |
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