This episode of “Osiyo, Voices of the Cherokee People” honors Cherokee veterans and heroes. Meet Echo Rider, a Cherokee “Rosie the Riveter,” learn about the career of Navy Admiral Jocko Clark, the highest-ranking Cherokee Nation citizen in the history of the U.S. armed forces, and pay tribute to a recently fallen soldier, Army Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler, the first American to be killed in combat with ISIS. Get ready for the holidays with Buddy Stacy, who creates handcrafted wooden toys for Cherokee children in his own Santa’s workshop, and learn Cherokee words and phrases in the language lesson.
Joseph J. “Jocko” Clark was the quintessential Cherokee Warrior – the first American Indian to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, the “Patton of the Pacific” during World War II, and a four-star admiral.
Echo Rider was a young school teacher when she left Sequoyah County to join the home front war effort during WWII. A veritable Cherokee “Rosie the Riveter”, she worked as a painter, first on airplanes, then on Liberty ships in California, before returning to the Cherokee Nation where she lives today.
Joshua Wheeler was a prestigious Delta Force master sergeant, a proud Cherokee Nation citizen and the first American soldier to be killed in combat with ISIS.
Each year, woodworker Buddy Stacy creates his own “Santa’s workshop” and handcrafts wooden toys to gift to children during the holidays.
Learn to speak key words and phrases in the Cherokee language with speaker John Ross and Cherokee Nation Immersion School students. This month, learn the Cherokee words for “November,” “Thanksgiving,” and “turkey.”
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