Unveiling our moon & stars

text by maya mukherjee and arati periyannan // photos by arati periyannan

Social Justice Pathway students reveal mural of Cherokee delegate to Congress.

Asquare of red fabric falls away, revealing a 16-square painting of a Native American woman. The depiction is green, orange, yellow, white, and black to match the Cherokee Nation flag, with each color representing something significant to the tribe.

Student artists based their mural, which covers a wall on the front of the Palo Alto High School 800s building, on a photo of Cherokee congressional delegate designee Kimberly Teehee from when Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin appointed her as the designee in 2019. Around her are the Cherokee Seal, in which each point on the seven-pointed star represents a Cherokee clan; the phrase “Why not now?” referencing a quote from Teehee; and a handprint, to represent missing Cherokee women and children.

Right before history teacher Eric Bloom and senior Kellyn Scheel remove the cover from the mural, with Teehee and a crowd of students, parents, and teachers applauding, senior and project manager Megha Madhabhushi announces the project.

“At the end of the day, we are all one people who fall asleep to the same moon and the same set of stars,” she says. “So without further ado: Same Moon, Same Stars.”

This scene took place at an event held on Monday by a team of seniors in the Social Justice Pathway, in which they revealed their mural project and hosted a speech by Teehee and a virtual message from Hoskin. This project, which stemmed from a junior year assignment, had been in the works for months and aims to spread awareness about the fight to get Teehee seated as a non-voting delegate to Congress, as promised by the Treaty of New Echota.

This 1835 treaty moved the Cherokee tribe West, commonly known as the

Trail of the Tears. It also promised the Cherokee Nation a non-voting delegate to Congress, a promise which has gone unfulfilled for nearly 200 years. SJP students learned about this in their history class, and several were inspired to take action to educate other students about it, according to Madhabhushi.

“We thought that a mural would be a really good way to attract the attention in our community because it's art and it's in a very central location at our high school,” Madhabhushi said. “That would draw people in and hopefully promote learning.”

Teehee, who gave a speech and host ed a question-and-answer session at the event, said she believes the mural is a valuable tool in promoting knowl edge about the Cherokee Nation.

“The more education we get out there, the more awareness, I think the better,” Teehee said. “We'll have a chance in the future of having less

misrepresentation.”

The design of the mural was a collaborative effort between the students and Teehee’s team, according to senior and art lead Kellyn Scheel.

“Throughout this design process, I worked alongside the research team to edit the colors, elements, and layout of the piece as necessary to guarantee a culturally accurate painting, going through around 15 versions before we reached a final design,” Scheel said.