The nation’s community event sign greeted members with a splash of color, making sure they couldn’t miss the festivities.
COTTA staff members were up at dawn preparing the hog fry and fry bread. And there was plenty left over for members to take home.
Some of the festivities included basket weaving, which involved concentration and dexterity, but connected members to long standing Cherokee traditions.
Chief Baker met personally with members throughout the afternoon getting to know them and listening to their concerns.
A number of authentic Cherokee artifacts were displayed from blankets to flutes to masks.
Julia Coates, at large councilor, delivered a farewell address to the membership as she enters the final year of her term.
Story teller Robert Lewis got the audience involved as he explained why Cherokee society is based around mothers’ lines and not fathers’.
After the festivities members left the center for the outdoors to play stickball and marbles.
