~From Chief's Front Porch~ (#6)

By Ocie Woolsey on Monday, January 27, 2014 at 7:36pm

~If It's to Be, We Must Make It Be~

As an Overhill Cherokee Descendant, a Father and a Grandfather. I find myself concerned about the children of the new Millennium.

Children of today are filled with anger, pain, destruction, no dreams or hopes for the future. Their spirits, bodies, and everyday activities are filled with negative and unhealthy directions. Drugs, alcohol abuse, sexual ignorance, peer pressure, and family neglect are taking their most wonderful years of their lives from them. Many children in today's society have lost respect for the laws of our land, for Mother Earth, and the leaders of our United States.

Most importantly, they have lost respect for parents and grandparents. Being taught the traditions of the Overhill Cherokee, I know that life's path is as a circle.

The small child is in the spring of life. We must direct them on a happy and rewarding path as they begin their journey on the Trail of Life. We must plant the seed: reality. The summer of our children's life is that of a teenager. This period on the Trail of Life is the time of learning what the Great Spirit is sharing with them, Mother Earth, the flowing rivers, tree-covered Mountains, the wild animals of the forest, and Mother Nature. As a teenager, it is the time they must learn who they are and what they are about. Forgive them when they step from the path. Expect no more from them than they can give. Cultivating the seed of confidence, we will ensure the young boy and girl stepping into the adulthood of life. A purpose in life is the guiding spirit of the Creator that smoothes the path they must travel.

The young boy and girl in today's society must be loved and respected. This will ensure that they understand they are important persons, who are needed individually and unconditionally. It is they who will make our Nation the Mother of all Nations. The young people of today must be taught there will always be storms, dark clouds, and many rainy days ahead of them. These times will always pass and the sun will always shine on their faces again.

Parents and grandparents, I speak to you today. The children of today are our hope and happiness of the future. Mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers (we can be the difference). It is up to us to make sure our ancestors did not live and die in vain.

BY CHIEF MAN MANY TREES

as published in the Tellico Plains Mountain Press, (c) Summer 2000

Prepared by: Hummingbird Warrior (#6)