(Theme music plays) JENNIFER LOREN>> Coming up... HOWARD PADEN>> We are an ancient people extolled by Unelanvhi to keep certain ways intact until the very end of time.

JENNIFER>> Howard Paden is a Cherokee language warrior and Executive Director of Cherokee Nation's Language Department.

Learn about his unique journey finding his purpose through our language.

Plus, graphic artist, Jeff Edwards draws us into his world of unique designs and creative preservation of Cherokee culture and language.

JEFF EDWARDS>> Artwork is a really powerful weapon.

And artwork can say something and you never have to speak a word.

JENNIFER>> And radio programmer Mary Jean Robertson shares how she's dedicated the last fifty years of her life to amplifying Native voices on the radio in San Francisco.

MARY JEAN ROBERTSON>> You have to be a little bit crazy to do radio.

But I think it's important for people to get the news and information out to their community.

(Theme music begins) MAN 1>> The Cherokees.

WOMAN 1>> A thriving American Indian tribe.

MAN 2>> Our history... WOMAN 2>> our culture... WOMAN 3>> our people... MAN 1>> our future.

MAN 3>> The principles of a historic nation MAN 1>> sewn into the fabric of the modern world.

WOMAN 2>> Hundreds of thousands strong... WOMAN 3>> learning... WOMAN 1>> growing... MAN 1>> succeeding... MAN 3>> and steadfast.

WOMAN 1>> In the past, we have persevered through struggle, WOMAN 2>> but the future is ours to write.

MAN 1>> Osiyo!

WOMAN 2>> Osiyo.

WOMAN 1>> Osiyo!

MAN 1>> These are the voices of the Cherokee people.

(Theme music fades out) CHUCK HOSKIN JR.>> Osiyo.

Welcome to the Cherokee Nation.

I'm Principal Chief, Chuck Hoskin, Jr.

For generations others have told the Cherokee story.

But now, through this groundbreaking series, we're taking ownership of our own story and telling it as authentically and beautifully as possible.

I hope you enjoy these profiles of Cherokee people, language, history, and culture.

Wado.

JENNIFER>> Osiyo.

It's how we say 'Hello' in Cherokee.

I'm your host, Jennifer Loren at the Saline Courthouse Museum near Rose, Oklahoma, a historic site where you can learn about Cherokee Nation history.

In today's Cherokee Almanac, you'll learn about a historic figure named Narcissa Chisholm Owen, (Slow music plays) a strong and resilient Cherokee woman who advocated for education and women's rights.

DR.

JULIE REED>> Narcissa was a woman of her moment as we all are.

And she understood the changes and the contours of the world around her.

JENNIFER>> We'll have more on that coming up a little bit later in our Cherokee Almanac.

But first... (Slow music ends) Howard Paden is the Executive Director of the Cherokee Nation Language Department, and is a true language warrior.

Overseeing multiple programs to help preserve and perpetuate our language, Howard's passion is deep-seated in his past, but also fueled by his fears and hopes for our future.

(Birds singing) (Slow music plays) (Bell ringing) HOWARD PADEN>> We are an ancient people extolled by Unelanvhi to keep certain ways intact till the very end of time.

(Ringing bell ends) All these things hinge on our sacred language.

And without it, we can't remain a people which we were created.

Today we stand here giddy because we know we haven't begun to fight.

(Children speaking language in background) Because this war isn't in the battlefields, this battle is gonna be fought internally within our hearts.

This buildin', it was named after one of our Cherokee heart generals, Durbin.

This language campus is a signal to the world that they have woken a sleeping giant.

We are not here to just speak Cherokee.

But we're here to be Anigaduwagi.

(Speaking in Cherokee language).

I'm Howard Paden and I work in the Language Department, and I'm the Executive Director here.

My dad was evangelist, so we moved quite a bit.

I think I was in nine different schools.

And Cherokee was really important.

There was a responsibility.

It wasn't just an identity.

I think about three or four years old, one of the things I had told my dad one of my life goals was to learn the language.

And so, finally in the third grade we came back to Stilwell.

We gotta get Boy-Boy home so he can learn our language.

That is Alicia; that's my wife.

We had a, a youth group.

There was one night I had a dream that, just prayin' for people.

Woke up and I was working the altar, but it wasn't in English.

So, I got up the next day, I said, I think we're supposed to go overseas.

And we went to Cochabamba, Bolivia.

So, they taught Spanish.

You just go in and have these teachers that refuse to speak to you in English.

At some point, somethin' broke; I could understand what was goin' on.

That style of teachin', this is how you save language.

When I came back we went to Durbin.

If you knew Durbin, he's had thousands of documents that he had been writin' on, for years and he was takin' different books off the shelf.

Finally found this book and he flipped it open, and it's all of this plan of how to build a master apprentice program.

He said, Is this what you boys are wantin' to build?

RYAN MACKEY>> We believe that in order for us to survive as a people, our language has to survive.

So, in a way fightin' for the language is, is similarly sort of context of what our ancestors used to have to go through when they did go to war.

The thing really you have to understand about Howard is he fights daily for the language.

I think still in his heart he's a Pentecostal preacher.

But at this point it's like the language is a part of his gospel for him.

HOWARD>> Imagine losin' a fourth of the plant population.

This is what's happenin' with languages.

And you realize that there's an ethnal spirit that's dyin'.

We have about 1800 Cherokee speakers.

So, they're less than a half percent to have the original design purpose of what our Creator made us to be.

They see the world through the lens of true, authentic Cherokees.

It's really, really hard to articulate.

When they tell a story in Cherokee, it's so descriptive.

It's a movie that runs in front of 'em.

That's what's happenin' in Cherokee speakers homes.

Folks to haven't been able to stick their head in that bubble and see, they're not wrappin' their heads around what we're losin'.

And it scares me.

It scares all of us.

We work all day on different ideas and how to advance this language, how to advance the cause.

We have a family now in our village that, that the kids here in immersion.

Their whole family's ran in Cherokee.

And we're about to break ground on eight more houses.

There'll be at least seven villages that's ran in Cherokee.

There'll be more schools.

And then there'll be businesses that's ran in Cherokee.

What we want is there never to be a time on this planet that we don't have first language speakers.

So, we're fightin' for the world.

That's why it's important.

(Slow music ends) (Theme music) JENNIFER>> Bold designs, thought-provoking ideas, and lots of Cherokee syllabary are just a few things you'll find in Jeff Edwards' art.

As a graphic artist and language technologist for Cherokee Nation, Jeff is constantly pushing the Cherokee language into new and exciting places.

(Upbeat music plays) JEFF EDWARDS>> A lot of people, if they don't understand what digital artwork is, they think the computer draws the artwork for you.

And so, I always tell people, when I turn my computer on, I start a new project, my canvas is like a painter's.

It's as white as white can be.

It's the exact same concept as a painter or someone drawing.

My name is Jeff Edwards.

I'm a language technologist at Cherokee Nation, and I'm also a Cherokee graphic artist.

I am from Vian, Oklahoma.

I, I lived here my own life.

It's a really close-knit community.

But we didn't have much, but we didn't know any better.

I went to Haskell Indian Junior College in Lawrence, Kansas.

And at the time when I was going, there was at least one student there from every tribe.

And so, it was really kind of an eye-opening experience.

I didn't realize it at the time, but it kinda started me on a path of working with Cherokee language and the Cherokee Tribe.

And so, I received a call that there was a job openin' as an admin assistant, and it was at the Cultural Resource Center.

And the Cultural Resource Center is where all of the fluent Cherokee speakers worked.

And my job was to create Cherokee books in Cherokee.

And so, I started working with the translators downstairs, and I kinda started seeing my calling right then.

After working at the Cultural Resource Center, they started the Cherokee Immersion School.

And so, what those kids do is they show up at the school, and English is left at the door.

The teachers are all master fluent speakers.

And that child is taught the entire school day in the Cherokee language.

We wanted the students at the Immersion School to have everything that an English school would have.

And I didn't realize that I was becoming a graphic artist.

I was just simply making things the kids wanted or needed.

(Upbeat music ends) So, I had worked probably eight years at the Immersion School, and a new department had formed.

It was called Language Technology.

And the purpose of that department was to work with technology companies to have the Cherokee language represented on their devices.

So, I started working with Roy Boney, Jr., and Joseph Erb at the time.

And both of those guys are Cherokee artists.

And so, for about three years they just bugged me to death, you know, to do this art.

I didn't want to sound offensive, but like I have no interest in that.

You know, I don't, I don't have an interest in the art work.

Roy kinda really pushed me to do somethin', you know, just make somethin'.

And so, finally they got under my skin, you know.

And so, I thought, well what can I make?

That night I was thinkin' it would be really cool, I could make a Monopoly board.

But instead of using the street names, I'll put Cherokee communities on there.

And we were assigned a very special translator, Durbin Feeling.

Durbin had a request.

He wanted to put Andrew Jackson in the jail.

That, that was his only request.

Boy, I made sure that happened.

And so, I entered that piece in the Catoosa Art Market.

So, they had the reception dinner that night, and I had won best in division and first place in my category.

And so, I started out with the win.

So, then we had the Trail of Tears Art Show.

So, I made a piece that was titled, Cherokee on the Brain.

And that piece is, if you did a scan on me, this is probably what my brain looks like.

I'm infected.

I'm infected with the Cherokee bug, you know, just kind of as a joke.

So then, it came around to the judges, and I won a Judge's Choice award with that piece.

And then I get to the final one, the Best in Show, Jeff Edwards, Cherokee on the Brain.

(Fast music ends) (Slow music plays) And today we're here at the Spider Gallery in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

This is a place for local artists that are Cherokee to show their works that they've created.

And so, I have several pieces in.

Some of them are earlier pieces.

The Messenger, that's just the owl has always been known as the messenger; usually bad message.

The piece here is titled, Syllabary Seal.

You know, I wanted to make a Cherokee seal out of Cherokee syllabary.

And this piece here is my first attempt at making old school, 3-D artwork by using red blue, and white.

So, whenever you put the old 3-D glasses on, the Cherokee seal and Sequoyah appears to be coming off the page.

(Slow music ends) (Upbeat music plays) Just this year, I was honored to receive the Trail of Tears Award at the Trail of Tears Art Show.

And it shows all these different routes that they took to get to present-day Oklahoma.

But that piece there is just really special because to me it tells the entire Trail of Tears story in one simple piece of artwork.

Artwork is a really powerful weapon.

And artwork can say something and you never have to speak a word.

I've been asked before to make English artwork, and I'm like, I'm a Cherokee graphic artist.

I, I don't make English anything.

If you want that, go buy it.

You know, it's available for you.

And then if you do want somethin' in Cherokee, look me up.

(Upbeat music ends) (Theme music) JENNIFER>> During the late 19th century, a Cherokee woman named Narcissa Chisholm Owen experienced prosperity as well as hardships.

In this Cherokee Almanac, we learn about Narcissa's influence.

And no matter her circumstances, how she exemplified strength and resilience, as did many Cherokee women before her.

(Fast music plays) The mother of Cherokee painting, Narcissa Chisholm Owen, was born in 1831 in Indian Territory to old settler Cherokee Chief Thomas Chisholm.

But there was a lot more to Narcissa's story than art.

ANDY TAYLOR>> What we know about Narcissa's childhood from her memoirs is she mentions that she was kind of a idle-minded kid, and had a love for drawing.

JENNIFER>> While Narcissa showed an affinity for art at an early age, it would not be a skill she honed until her retirement.

As a young woman, Narcissa became a teacher and moved East.

DR.

JULIE REED>> Narcissa moves away from the Cherokee Nation and eventually marries an active businessman by the name of Robert Owen.

They make their life in Lynchburg, Virginia, which winds up in some ways being the heart of Confederacy.

JENNIFER>> Narcissa and Robert had two sons together, Robert, Jr.

and William.

They enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.

After her husband's death, however, Narcissa became the sole provider for her two sons.

ANDY>> Her life was having to start all over.

Her husband was deceased.

Her boys were in college and doing very well.

And she had to re-place herself in society.

Once a Lynchburg socialite, she had nothing anymore.

And so, she found her way back to Indian Territory to teach school at the Cherokee Seminary, to teach music classes.

JENNIFER>> Now back in Oklahoma, Narcissa insured her son Robert found success.

DR.

REED>> Narcissa's long-term connections to the Cherokee Nation enable her to return home.

But they also enabled Robert to start a life there.

Without her, he never would have been one of the first state senators from Oklahoma.

JENNIFER>> Narcissa retired from teaching and began to help her son, Robert, with his political career.

DR.

REED>> Later in life, Narcissa travels with her son, Robert L. Owens.

And it's during this trip that she re-connects with some of her older hobbies.

She loved painting as a young girl, and she takes that back up.

And she's also inspired by, by what she's seeing in some of the art of the day.

And that's when she takes up portraiture and is inspired by landscapes.

JENNIFER>> In her published memoirs, Narcissa shares about her journey back to art and the joy it brought her.

VOICE OF NARCISSA>> I have found art my greatest resource and genuine pleasure and past time.

JENNIFER>> Narcissa would go on to paint iconic figures of both Cherokee and American people.

Narcissa painted the inventor of the Cherokee syllabary, Sequoyah, and Thomas Jefferson and his descendants.

She also captured her own image on canvas in a self-portrait.

For Narcissa, the early years of the 1900's were filled with art and politics.

Narcissa advocated for women's rights and joined the Suffrage Movement.

ANDY>> Just think of Narcissa Owen herself.

Her son is a U.S.

Senator, but she couldn't even vote for that man.

She couldn't vote for anybody.

She found that to be a democratic wrong that needed righted.

JENNIFER>> In fact, Narcissa fought to right two wrongs.

DR.

REED>> Narcissa's advocacy for suffrage winds up doing double duty.

Because not only is she advocating for women broadly to gain the right to vote, she's also advocating for Native women, many of whom, even if White women gained the right to vote, would not have gained the right to vote themselves.

JENNIFER>> Narcissa passed away on July 12 of 1911 and did not get to see women gain the right to vote.

ANDY>> Her greatest gifts to the Cherokee Nation and to America were when she was an elderly woman.

From about 1900 until her death in 1911, was when Narcissa Owen really shined.

And her name became nationally known because of that.

DR.

REED>> Narcissa was a woman of her moment, as we all are.

And she understood the changes and the contours of the world around her.

And so, she developed thinking around those issues that, that responded to the things that she was concerned with; suffrage, developing a world that, that she saw as potentially a better place than how she left it.

JENNIFER>> Narcissa Chisholm Owen, a teacher, a mother, an artist, and a suffragist, a Cherokee woman who met all situations with her head held high and a can-do attitude.

VOICE OF NARCISSA>> To be brief, I think life is very much what we make it and what we make of ourselves.

Riches or prosperity do not make happiness.

Neither do poverty and sorrow make misery.

We can lift ourselves above these things and be happy, and contented, and useful in spite of all that we commonly call hard luck or misfortune.

(Fast music ends) (Language segment music begins) ALI>> (Speaking Cherokee language) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) ALI>> (Speaking Cherokee language) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) ALI>> (Speaking Cherokee language) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) ALI>> (Gasping) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) ALI>> (Speaking Cherokee language) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) ALI>> (Speaking Cherokee language) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) ALI>> (Speaking Cherokee language) (Language segment music ends) (Theme music) JENNIFER>> For fifty years, Mary Jean Robertson has been a voice for Native advocacy on the radio in San Francisco, California.

Today Mary Jean continues to carry on her family's tradition of sharing information while insuring Native voices are heard.

(Slow music plays) MARY JEAN ROBERTSON>> You're listening to KPOO, San Francisco, 89.5 FM.

This is Web Works, Voices of the Native Nations right here on your community radio station.

Or we're streaming on KPOO.com.

You can listen all over the universe and everywhere.

We are a local, community radio station.

We are on the air because you care.

Osiyo.

(Speaking Cherokee language) Hi, my name's Mary Jean Robertson, and I'm a programmer on KPOO Radio in San Francisco.

It's a small community radio station.

Almost everybody here in the station is an unpaid volunteer.

So, you have to be a little bit crazy to do radio.

But I think it's important for people to get the news and information out to their community.

I think that it's really important to continue on a regular basis so people learn to trust you, learn to listen for you.

And that's one of the major reasons why I've stayed on the air here in San Francisco for fifty years.

I have been very lucky because I moved here in 1969, and 1968 was the summer of love.

So, it was like an explosion of freedom, an explosion of people dancing in the streets, and doing all kinds of wild and crazy things.

And I loved it.

And ethnic studies started, so I was able to attend college, taking classes that were interesting to me.

So, there were so many things that were happening.

And then I got invited to do the radio and it was all over.

I was addicted to the radio.

We moved into my current flat in 1976.

And it's under rent control, so I'm never leaving.

I live in San Francisco, one of the most iconic, beautiful cities in the world.

And it's important to get the correct news out, as truthful and as positive as it can be.

There's so much misinformation being passed around these days.

We don't get federal funding.

We don't sell advertising.

So, we're not beholdin' to anybody.

Which means every single programmer has the right to play the music they want to play, to organize their shows the way they want to organize them, and to emphasize the community that they're part of.

We are all people.

We want to make sure that there's always a Palestinian show, there's always an Irish show, and there will always be an American Indian show on KPOO for as long as we're on the air.

San Francisco is also the hub of activism.

Alcatraz started here.

Ethnic studies started here.

And they're able to have a place to talk about their issues.

So, you'd hear about those announcements, and you'd also hear Native music.

All genres; we play every genre that Native people have.

We've got Black Fire.

We've got War.

We've got old-time Ponca war dance songs.

We've got stomp dance songs.

We have all the CDs, all the records of practically every tribe in the country.

So, we'll play a download from the Cherokee Nation of Tommy Wildcat (Music fades out) (Flute music in background) playing the flute.

Or Robert telling one of those marvelous stories with the kids, like the little kid counting to twenty in Cherokee.

That was so awesome.

(Slow music plays) So, I'm very lucky to have been able to do the kinds of interviews and the call-in shows from Myron Dewey calling in from Standing Rock; from Sarah James calling in from the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge; Roberta Blackgoat calling in from the Dene Nation, the Navajo Nation.

We're very lucky in San Francisco because for about the last four years we've been under the auspices of Kim Shuck as the poet laureate of San Francisco.

I called Kim and said, Can you call in and tell us a little bit about this?

It's funny when you interview friends because they know things about you and you know things about them that you don't necessarily want everybody to know.

But you never know what's gonna come out in a live interview.

So, we laugh a lot when we're together.

The friendships that I have made through the years here... I love the fact that it is a media city.

It is the center of the West Coast information office of many, many agencies and places.

What do I do to share information?

I make a commitment that I'm going to be here every week that I'm on the air.

I make a commitment to all of the people that are doing all the activism all over the world to be here to share the stories, the information.

I'm doing this out of a tradition.

My family has been passing down information to people as part of a tradition in my family, and I feel like radio is fulfilling me because it's part of my living tradition and its important.

It's more from ancient traditions to now; it's a living tradition of sharing information.

And so, for me, radio has been that blessing to be able to share that kind of information.

KPOO, San Francisco, 89.5 FM.

This is Web Works, Voices of the Native Nations, produced by Mary Jean Robertson.

And supported by you, the community.

We wouldn't be on the air without your support.

So, keep on keepin' on.

Tell your friends.

Tell your family.

Listen every second, third, fourth, and fifth Wednesday of every month.

We love you.

Take good care.

(Slow music ends) JENNIFER>> We hope you enjoyed our show.

And remember, you can always watch entire episodes and share your favorite stories online at Osiyo.tv.

There is no Cherokee word for goodbye because we know we'll see you again.

We say, Dodadagohvi.

Wado.

(Theme music) (Theme music)