CARVING A NEW PATH

By Jared Porter

Sculpting is more than just a hobby to Cherokee National Treasure Eddie Morrison, who’s been crafting award-winning Cherokee art from wood and stone since the 1980s.

“The purpose of my work is to embody the best of the Cherokee tradition and help keep our tribe’s culture alive,” Morrison said. “I always strive to represent Cherokee people with pride and dignity.”

Morrison, a recipient of the Cherokee National Treasure Award in 2014, is now one of the most widely known Native American sculptors in the world. His work, depicting a variety of animals and people related to traditional Cherokee culture, is displayed in galleries across the U.S. and in private collections in some foreign countries.

The renowned sculptor is just one of the hundreds of Cherokee artists who have recognized the importance of the tribe’s bolstering of culture through art, as well as the importance of resources provided by the tribe to teach new generations and keep Cherokee culture and history alive.

“One thing about Cherokee artists is that we’re basically ambassadors when we go to these different places, meet people and display our work,” Morrison said. “People may meet us and form a different opinion of us. And our work can depict several different things about Cherokee culture — our myths, legends, stories, hand-me-downs and the pride of our people. So I believe it is important, and I’m very proud of our nation for also recognizing that importance.”

More than a decade ago, the Cherokee Nation created the Cherokee Art and Facilities Act, which requires 1% of the total construction or rehabilitation budget for Cherokee Nation facilities and properties to be used for artwork that is culturally and historically appropriate and created by Cherokee Nation citizens.

More recently, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. signed into law the Cherokee Artist Recovery Act of 2022, which put aside $3 million through 2024 to address the adverse economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Cherokee artists. The funding will be used to purchase Cherokee art and provide more opportunities for artists to teach others.

“I think the Artist Recovery Act is going to really bolster the Cherokee arts even more,” Morrison said. “I think it will be a good investment that will benefit us in the long run. Like I’ve said before, I’m 76 years old and I wish I had another 20 years to do this. But I think the number of young artists coming up is great. I know a lot of them and see them at different shows. There are some great artists out there — great potters, great painters and great sculptors.”

Cherokee Nation District 11 Councilor Victoria Vazquez, also a Cherokee National Treasure and artist, said the Artist Recovery Act will greatly help Cherokee artists with expenses related to travel, teaching and operational needs.

“I couldn’t be more proud of the Cherokee Nation for its installment of the Artist Recovery Act, which is the largest single investment in Cherokee art in the tribe’s history,” Councilor Vazquez said. “This initiative is aimed at helping Cherokee artists regain what they lost economically due to the pandemic. It’s also intended to inspire a new generation of Cherokee artists who want to produce their own collections of traditional art and make a living doing so.”

Councilor Vazquez’s interest and involvement in Cherokee art stems from her bond with her late mother, Anna Belle Sixkiller Mitchell, a Cherokee National Treasure and renowned artist who was known as a trailblazer and was widely accepted as an authority on both Southeastern and Eastern Woodlands-style pottery.

Recognized for her traditional handmade pottery and for sharing her knowledge and artistic skills with others, Mitchell was honored as the namesake for the Cherokee Nation Anna Mitchell Cultural & Welcome Center in 2022. The 9,400-square-foot, two-story center located in Craig County is situated on eight acres and overlooks the historic Route 66. It shares the history of both Cherokee Nation and the Vinita community while honoring Mitchell’s efforts to revitalize Cherokee pottery.

National Treasure and clay and pottery artist Jane Osti, a lifelong friend and student of Mitchell’s, said she learned firsthand the importance of experienced Cherokee artists being afforded the opportunities to pass along their knowledge and techniques to others.

“Traditional Cherokee art is our visual history and our visual language before the written word because it tells us where we lived, when we lived there and the ceremonies we had,” Osti said. “And as far as pottery and other claybased skills, it gives us a glimpse of the things our ancestors depended on. It was used for eating vessels, cooking vessels, holding water and more. These were all very important to everyday life.”

Dennis Steele soaked up the moment as he sat in a deer blind with his daughter, Demi, on a brisk fall morning inside the Cherokee Nation Sequoyah County hunting preserve north of Sallisaw, Okla.

“I’ve been a part of some special hunts in my lifetime, and this was by far one of the nicest as far as the setup, the blind, the comfortability,” Dennis said. “It was perfect.”

And the experience went from perfect to unforgettable as soon as a sizable buck appeared from the foliage and sauntered its way closer and closer to the Coweta, Okla., Cherokee citizens who were partaking in one of the Cherokee Nation Wildlife Departments’ controlled hunts in October 2022.

Demi, 10, looked down the scope of her rifle, let out a deep breath and pulled the trigger for the first shot attempt of her life. And it was right on target.

“Right after she connected on the shot, I could see she was shaking with excitement,” Dennis said. “I asked her how she was feeling and she said, ‘Oh my gosh. I nailed it, Dad!’ She was 100% on cloud nine.”

Demi was one of the Cherokee citizens who had her name drawn for the controlled youth hunts in 2022. There were also controlled hunt drawings for Cherokee veterans, Cherokee elders and Cherokee citizens. The controlled hunts are one example of the Cherokee Nation’s efforts to ensure Cherokee people have opportunities to find food security and food sovereignty. Other examples include the tribe’s opening of the 1839 Cherokee Meat Co., its annual Cherokee heirloom seeds distribution in February, and the addition of bee pollinator homes in the tribe’s heirloom garden to boost the population of bees and butterflies that affect onethird of food supplies across the U.S.

At-large Cherokee citizen Mary Price Boday has taken advantage of the Cherokee Nation’s heirloom seed bank in recent years to successfully grow traditional Cherokee crops such as Yellow Flour Corn and White Eagle Corn at her home in Seattle, Wash.

“I have Oklahoma roots, and since I’m an at-large citizen now, my garden is a way for me to feel closer to Cherokee culture and traditions through food,” Boday said. “I’ve always eaten healthy, and food has always been very important to me. The fact that I can grow Cherokee crops and make healthy foods means just so much to me. The heirloom seed bank is one resource for people like me who are deeply interested in our Cherokee history.”

Fellow Cherokee Elana Stroble Gallardo said she’s been growing traditional Cherokee crops since 2019.

“My husband and I are very into growing gardens every year, and we decided to try traditional Cherokee crops once we saw the seed bank advertisements on Facebook,” Gallardo said. “So far we’ve grown the White Eagle Corn. We also want to try getting gourds. It’s just a fun way to feel connected to Cherokee tradition and grow beautiful crops in the process.”

F rom Sequoyah’s introduction of the Cherokee syllabary as the first written language among Native Americans, to becoming the first tribe to own and use a printing press in the 1800s, to the use of today’s burgeoning technologies to help preserve and share Cherokee lifeways for generations to come, the Cherokee people have always found innovative ways to create their own messaging and tell their own stories.

Since premiering in 2015, Cherokee Nation’s cultural television series, “Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People” has vibrantly featured hundreds of Cherokees from both past and present. The first-of-its-kind Native American programming, hosted and directed by Cherokee Nation citizen, filmmaker and Emmy-winning journalist Jennifer Loren, continues to bring the rich traditions and compelling modern advancements of the Cherokee people to viewers across the globe.

OsiyoTV, as the popular series is often referred to, is currently airing its eighth season and is broadcast statewide on PBS in Oklahoma and Arkansas, regionally within Tulsa on RSU-TV, in Joplin on NBC and ABC, as well as on FNX, an all-Native programming network in 25 national markets. The documentary-style series ranks among the most awarded Indigenous-run series in the industry, including 16 total Emmy wins.

Just four years after debuting Cherokee Nation’s awardwinning television series, Cherokee Nation Businesses established the first certified Native American film commission in the United States. The Cherokee Nation Film Office immediately began working to help grow Oklahoma’s emerging film industry by promoting the Cherokee Nation Reservation as a destination for filmmakers, maintaining unique databases of Cherokee Nation locations, resources and talent, serving as a cultural and historical consultant on film and television projects, providing scholarship and educational opportunities and perhaps most importantly, creating an environment that cultivates Native filmmaking.

“OsiyoTV, the Cherokee Nation Film Office and our virtual production teams create original and culturally significant content using state-of-the-art technology and skill sets that haven’t been combined in Indian Country before now,” said Jennifer Loren, senior director of Cherokee Film.

“Our virtual production capabilities are a first among tribal nations and serve as an excellent example of how emerging technology is helping Cherokee Nation preserve and share indigenous language, culture, history and more.”

Last year, Cherokee Nation leadership and CNB executives joined state officials, local community leaders and industry professionals in commemorating the area’s foremost filmmaking destination by celebrating the grand opening of Cherokee Film Studios, Owasso Campus. The facility, a first of its kind in Oklahoma and Indian Country, features groundbreaking technology, including a virtual production LED volume studio crafted with industry-leading software and hardware technologies.

CNFO and its virtual production team are creating original content about the Cherokee people and Indigenous lifeways, including becoming the first Native American tribe to use motion and facial capture technology to help preserve and promote an indigenous language with “Sequoyah: Voice of the Inventor for the Bicentennial.” The production brought Sequoyah to life through real-time graphics and the voice and movements of first-language Cherokee speaker Steve Daugherty.

Cherokee Nation’s talented team of production and studio professionals continually create and publish unique Native American programming, including producing projects for the tribe and its businesses. Cherokee Film Studios projects have included highlighting Cherokee National Treasures, Cherokee Nation Language Department testimonials, The Cherokee Nation Foundation, ONE FIRE Victim services, State of the Nation addresses, cultural art and tourism efforts, tribal voting registration processes, public health forums and tribal exercise videos aimed at helping our Elders stay healthy and fit, internal CNB employee communications, financial updates and orientations.

In addition to producing the “ᏟᎳᎩ: Cherokee Wherever We Are” monthly series, the team is working on longer-term projects like the upcoming language short story, “Cherokee Strawberry.” The Cherokee Film production team is also working on historical, animated and culturally significant documentaries such as an upcoming project exploring the significance of the red wolf to the Cherokee people featuring the agencies, such as Cherokee Nation Natural Resources department, trying to save it from extinction.

The tribe’s soundstage also served an integral role in helping develop and share vital health messaging, as well as to create a safe means for all Cherokees to stay connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doubling down on the usefulness of the new soundstage and the LED wall technology, CNFO has invested in increasing its capabilities. With additional LED wall space and motion capture capabilities, the state-of-the-art facility is like nothing else in the region or in Indian Country. In early 2022, Cherokee Nation and its businesses also launched a powerful economic tool within the tribe’s reservation and expanded its effort to help grow the film and television industries in Oklahoma when CNFO became the first tribal film commission to offer an annual $1 million film incentive for productions filmed within the tribe’s boundaries.

The Cherokee Film Incentive continually helps bring multiple film projects to the Cherokee Nation. In pursuit of CNFO’s mission, the cash rebate encourages productions to hire Natives both in front and behind the camera while also helping the industry grow within the Cherokee Nation Reservation.