Several weeks ago, I published an article that dealt with a trip to Tellico Plains with the Principal Chief of the Cherokees, John Crowe. This was back in 1976 and the Tennessee Valley Authority had announced their plans to flood the Tellico Plains.

Spring is here, and it’s time for that childhood tradition of fishing at the local fishing hole. To honor and promote that tradition, the USDA Forest Service and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will host two “Kids Fishing Day” events during April in the Cherokee National Forest’s Ocoee/Hiwassee Ranger District.

This one is for my old friends, living and dead, in Cherokee. Here’s to you, Trigger Young, Woody Sneed, Bill Young, Darlene Whitetree, Homer Burgess, Wanda Lee Burgess, Darlene Bradley, Ralph Henry, Jean Holt, Ethelene Conseen, Johnson Catoaster, Johnson Lee Owle, Eddie Swimmer Wilber Paul and a hundred others. 

Having grown up in proximity to a Cherokee community (Little Snowbird in Graham County), I’m familiar with and sensitive to the history and the psychology of Native peoples who have been marginalized and worse from their cultural roots and their homelands.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Extension office is hosting a workshop to teach people about the preservation of heirloom seeds.

Heirloom seeds help to ensure future generations maintain a reliable food supply, support financial self-reliance, preserve agricultural heritage and reflect cultural traditions. 

After over a century since receiving recognition from the state of North Carolina as an Indian Tribe, the Lumbee appear to be on the cusp of full federal recognition. 

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park fisheries department is offering an informative and educational workshop from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Feb. 22, in the Old Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee. The workshop is open to any interested folks at no charge. 

A man initially convicted in a Cherokee Tribal Court for playing a role in a debilitating December 2019 ransomware attack is suing the tribe. 

Cody Long, the tribe’s former lead systems administrator for its Office of Information and Technology, was held in jail for 454 days and was in solitary confinement for the better part of a year following his initial arrest for tampering with public records and obstructing government functions.

We hate to belabor one topic, but we have more than one marijuana-related award to hand out this year.  

The steamroller award goes to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who launched their cannabis venture despite no shortage of opposition from outside the Qualla Boundary.

I started this annual feature nearly a decade ago to poke fun at the emerging scourge of fake news — lies, really — that had popped up at local government meetings. It was a prophetic move, unfortunately, and in the intervening nine or so years it’s only gotten worse.