Working with Purpose: Stewarding My Native Lands
Two years ago I started working at First Nations as a Program Associate and now serve as a Program Officer. I am also a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Based on this, it was amazing to have the recent opportunity to travel back home to my community in Cherokee, North Carolina, to assist in the production of a First Nations’ film, part of our series of mini-documentaries showcasing tribal ecological stewardship practices that are protecting natural resources essential to the culture and sustainability of Native communities.
This new film, completed in collaboration with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ Natural Resource Department, highlights some of the work the tribe is leading in watershed and ecocultural species restoration and cultural resources management. The progress of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is also a great example of what is possible through First Nations’ Tribal Lands Conservation Fund, and why working on the Stewarding Native Lands team is so important to me.
Preserving connections
The film features Tommy Cabe, Forest Resource Specialist for the tribe and a long-time family friend, and his work to restore cultural resources that are important for our traditional crafts, foods, and medicines. The film focuses on white oak trees, which have increasingly struggled to compete with invasive species in our forests that are overtaking many of our once flourishing white oak stands. Tommy and his team have been keen on addressing this competition by reinvigorating stewardship practices, such as the reintroduction of cultural fire, which clears the forest floor of these competing species, allowing young white oaks to thrive.
While the film focuses on white oak restoration, the trip provided so much more to me.
I grew up just off my tribe’s boundary in a town called Bryson City, North Carolina, roughly 15 to 20 minutes from downtown Cherokee. I spent 19 years of my life here, but for the past eight years, I have been living far away from home. So, whenever possible, I am eager to return and be back in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This work trip proved to be one of the most special trips home I would ever take, as it was filled with invaluable knowledge sharing, rekindling old friendships, building new relationships with elders, and spending time in the mountains that I will always call home.
The trip started with Tommy bringing us up to the top of Water Rock Knob, “The Place of Singing Waters.” This significant land to our people sits on one of the highest peaks on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Here, Tommy told us the stories of this special place as we looked out across the mountain range illuminated by the moon.
On the first day of filming, we went to a white oak stand in the Bird Town Community. Tommy shared stories and knowledge about white oak and other culturally relevant species like wild onion. After a while, the film crew went off to film the landscape, while others on the Stewarding Native Lands team stayed back to further connect with our community partner. While this was a day of work as part of my career, it recalled memories of my childhood – spending time in the woods climbing trees, playing in the streams, looking for bugs and critters of all kinds, and exploring the unknown.
On the second day of filming, we joined traditional basket makers to document their process of preparing white oak splits. When we arrived at the basket makers shop, I quickly introduced my family and me, as most do when meeting others in a community (a kind of “Who is your people?” if you will). After introductions, I found myself eager to ask as many questions and learn as much as possible about the skills and craftsmanship Cherokee basket makers have carried throughout generations. This was one of the few times I have been able to watch our baskets being made, and the first time I have been able to sit with basket weavers and ask questions about the process. Being able to learn directly from elders is such a special experience. I was able to learn so many things about white oak basket weaving and build relationships with these elders.
In the evening, Tommy introduced us to another Eastern Band of Cherokee culture bearer, and we were invited to his house to help cook chestnut bread, one of our traditional foods. We made chestnut bread and ate a lot of Cherokee foods until 12 in the morning. It was a long night filled with laughter, knowledge sharing, and delicious food.
This trip was special to me because I was able to learn more about my culture and be with my community. I also spent a lot of my time alone deep in the mountains doing the things I love: running trails and fly fishing. This was about more than just activities. It was about ceremony, a way that I connect to the land. Being back home in the forests and water is grounding.
While the filming was an amazing experience, it was the moments outside of filming that mattered most. Tommy is one of my mentors, and learning more about the work he is doing to protect some of our most sacred cultural resources resonated deeply. This trip showcased exactly why we work so hard to steward land and species, preserve cultural practices and traditional knowledge, and protect our lifeways. While this was a “work trip,” it was so much more than that. It was a chance to be home with my people, my community, and my culture.
Brett Treadway
Program Officer
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
