Tahlequah
September 19, 2017
Anyone who is around me much will hear the names Jess and Sandy Hummingbird. Â I worked with them at Peabody College in the 1970s on a government grant, Project More. Â Sandy traveled to talk about this grant and Jess ran the printing press.Â
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They were in the waiting room when our daughter was born. Should we have had godparents for our children, they would have been our choice.
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Sandy is a great cook and we spent many Thanksgivings with them in various places they lived...Chicago, where we rode down the Dan Ryan Expressway in a 1949 Chevrolet named Beauty or a 1951 Ford named Frieda; Â Dallas, Tulsa, Tucson, and now I have been to Bisbee AZ to see them at least twice.
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Jess began a career as an artist and Sandy has been the business manager. Â Christmas has been fabulous because I've gotten tee-shirts of Jess's art as well as the new holiday card. Â I have had an interest in what children played with before plastic and they have often sent fabulous things from their region of the country.
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Each year there is a Cherokee Homecoming not unlike the other ethnic celebrations, but completely different.  Jess was named a Cherokee National Treasure this year at their Homecoming.  I drove to Tahlequah OK for the ceremony.  Also met his brother, Eddie, whose name has been mentioned a lot.  Eddie is also a Cherokee National Treasure in the field of sculpture. Nephew  Travis, who has gotten an MFA, and his mother, Eddie and Jess's sister, were there too. Â
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I didn't get to see the crafts and quilts, but it wasn't for lack of wanting to.  I rented a car and _I_ found it to be a 16 hour drive.  I crossed the Arkansas border late at night and was not on interstates and wondered if I had gotten into a Twilight Zone.  A lot of students I know are from Memphis and it took  FOREVER to get to and from Memphis. Â
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A fear I had was that a deer would choose that moment to change the joke from "Why did the chicken cross the road?" to a deer. Â While at Eddie's he had a painting of a hunter standing in a tree waiting perhaps for deer. Â I asked if they are active at night and, alas, he said yes. Â I also saw in several places a short plant I assume to be (stinky) like marigolds to discourage them.
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The ceremony was held on August 21 (Thursday) in a school gym. Â I loved the name of the room (e.g. women's bathroom) having both Cherokee and English labels. Â While there I learned that Cherokee is language was recorded as a "syllabary" because all their characters have only one sound, unlike English in which the number of exceptions in spelling and pronunciation are legion. Â I was told that after it was introduced there was perhaps 90% literacy within a year! Â
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At the ceremony there were two male presenters in the middle and on the ends were two young Cherokee women. Lovely. Â I was so pleased to be there.
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There was a meat I couldn't identify...it looked a bit like ham, but slightly suspicious. Â It was smoked bologna. Â When I was young this was a sandwich I had a lot in my school lunch box so a bite every season is more than enough. Â
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Sandy and Jess have always set the bar for tourism. Â When we visit we go to look at the local pottery shards. Â I loved this about them..we went to Mt. Kitt when they lived in Tucson, to the Fields Museum in Chicago, and many more places.
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Friday we went to  the Cherokee National Supreme Court Museum (built in 1844), The Cherokee Arts Center and met a potter who was a National Treasure.  I especially enjoyed going to the National Prison Museum.  It was built in 1875 and had a focus on rehabilitating prisoners and had a blacksmith shop for this purpose.  Gallows have been recreated.  In the afternoon we visited the Murrell Home. Â
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We also went out to Eddie's house which was fabulous. Â As arts lovers they had a whole bedroom devoted to Jess's art, as well as baskets, pottery, framed art....all stunning displayed. Â We went in Eddie's workspace which was also fun. Â
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That evening we went to see the art entered into the annual competition. Â There were several categories of young people and that was especially wonderful.
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I always ask travelers about what they ate, so here is this report:
Years ago we lived in Kansas. Â Oldsters will remember "fern bars." They had "huevos rancheros" consisting of English muffins, Canadian bacon, two eggs, and a tasty sauce. Â I've been on a quest since then to see how others prepare this dish. Â When in the Bisbee area as well as other towns almost always it consists of eggs with a tomato type sauce, refried beans and rice. Â This held true in Tahlequah. Â
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We also went to Sam n' Ellas. Â I didn't get the joke. Â Hope you do.
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