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Al Herrin's Cherokee Center
- traditional bows and arrows - ancient culture and religion - history and stories - hunting and fishing - traditional foods - nature and spirituality
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 (Oh-see-yoe Gee-nah-lee; Greetings Friend)
Welcome to the mysterious and beautiful world of the Cherokees!
We are Frankie and Al Herrin. We would like to be your guides on a journey into the culture and history of our people, the Cherokees. As children growing up in the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, we heard the stories told by our Elders about "The Real People", the Cherokees of bygone times. Now, we are Elders and tell the stories to our children and grandchildren and, if you wish, to you. Our home is on the beautiful Illinois River near Tahlequah, the Capitol of the Cherokee
Nation. Our emblem, at the top of the page, symbolizes the mystic harmony between nature,
the spirit world and our lives. The printing around our emblem is in the Cherokee alphabet
invented by Sequoyah. In the Cherokee language,
AGALIHA (THE SUN IS SHINING) MARCH 18, 2010
The jonquil is one of the first flowers of spring in the Cherokee Nation. These are descendents of Mediterranean flowers brought by early European colonists to Cherokee lands in what is now the Southeastern United States. The jonquils provided a way for the colonists to carry a little bit of their homeland with them into the new, unknown land. The jonquils were subsequently carried over the "Trail of Tears" by the Cherokees during our forced removal from our homeland to "Indian Territory", which is now the state of Oklahoma, and planted in the new Cherokee Nation. The jonquils provided a way for the Cherokees to carry a little bit of our homeland with us into the new, unknown land. Those who study the history of the early Cherokee Nation in Indian Territory often use the jonquils to pinpoint the location of early Cherokee homes. Many of the settlers planted jonquils around their houses, and although the houses and those who lived in them are long gone, the hardy, perennial jonquils continue to emerge and bloom each spring. The jonquils that Frankie is admiring were transplanted to the yard of the Cedar House by Frankie's sister, Billie, and their mother, Edith from flowers that grew near their home place long before the girls were born. They had probably been transplanted many times, over several generations of Cherokees, from jonquils brought over the Trail of Tears. The jonquil would be an appropriate symbol for the Cherokee people. They are from hardy stock--ever hopeful stock. Despite the heedless, unstoppable flood of European settlement and civilization which destroyed so much of natural America and her native people, the jonquils and the Cherokees have managed to survive to provide a reminder of the beauty that once was. Ginali^i (Your friend), Al ( <o-<>===
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We would like for you to visit us often here at our Home Page. We will always have a Cherokee story for you. I hope you enjoy the following story. For Story, click here. For more writings by Al Herrin from White Bear Publishing, click here. For Cherokee Articles for Sale, click here. |
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(ah-mah-yule-dee) means "by the water". The
(tskwah-yee: Great White Heron) was a Spirit
Bird, a sacred symbol of peace, to our ancient Cherokee ancestors.