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O'siyo,
I
am Chief Terry “Cherokee Warrior” Evers of the
Arkansas Clan of The United Cherokee Nation (UCN), I
was born at
Enid
, Cherokee Strip,
Indian Territory
,
Oklahoma
. My father was the son of a Tsalagi woman and an
Osage warrior. He was born at
Ashdown
,
Arkansas
and raised on a farm outside Ashdown. My
grandparents were sharecroppers. My father was in
the Army Air Corps during World War II and married
my mother while stationed at Vance Air Force base
outside of
Enid
.
I
am a retired Project Engineer, attended the
University
of
Arkansas
and have served as a guest advanced placement
teacher in the local schools. I now pursue my
passions as a photographer, writer, researcher of
Tsalagi cultural traditions and am proud to call
myself Cherokee. I have received certification from
the
Cherokee
Nation
Cultural
Center
through Level III Tsalagi Language classes and have
made many friends in the Cherokee Nation at Dahlequa
(Tahlequah)
Oklahoma
.
My
grandmother, as a baby, was left with a white family
in
Arkansas
by my Tsalagi great-grandparents who had first been
removed from the Eastern Tsalagi homelands to
Arkansas
. They were then removed a second time from
Arkansas
to the
Indian Territory
.
After
a short time, with their refusing to register on the
rolls, my great-grandparents escaped the Tsalagi
Outlet, traveling at night, they returned to the
Ashdown area in
Arkansas,
where they spent their remaining years hiding and
secretly observing my grandmother who had been
adopted by the white family they had left her with.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Agent at
El Reno
,
Oklahoma
declared my Tsalagi great-grandparents outlaws and
posted a reward for their capture; forcing them into
the Lost Tsalagi underground to avoid capture by
bounty hunters and the
U.S.
Marshals out of
Ft.
Smith Arkansas.
I
am a direct descendent of
“Lost Tsalagi” of Arkansas endeavoring to
research, preserve and practice my Tsalagi Heritage,
language, cultural traditions and the “old
ways”.
Osda
tsinatlanohvli, donadagohvi
It
has been good talking with you; let us see each
other again.
Ditlihi
Tsalagi
Chief
Cherokee Warrior
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