Keeping Native Traditions and Values Alive Through Storytelling
Growing up in Washington State, far from the lands of my Cherokee ancestors, I first came to know their stories through my grandfather. He shared memories of our family in Oklahoma and legends filled with wonder, including claims of descent from Sequoyah, the creator of the Cherokee syllabary. These stories sparked my imagination and inspired a lifelong quest to understand our roots. As a genealogical researcher today, I’m still sorting fact from fiction, but each tale carries significance as a link to the past.
Portrait of Sequoyah (ᏍᏏᏉᏯ / ᏎᏉᏯ) by Henry Inman, 1830. Courtesy of Google Art.
Native American or Indigenous Peoples’ Day is a powerful reminder to reflect on and celebrate the rich cultures and values of Indigenous communities. For me, honoring my Cherokee heritage means reviving family stories and ensuring they live on through future generations. Some of my family narratives may never be confirmed to the level of genealogical proof due to limited historical records, but all contribute to my cultural inheritance. One of my most treasured record discoveries is a handwritten note in Cherokee, penned by my third-great-grandmother, providing her marriage date and the birthdates of her children. This genealogical treasure was hidden away in the National Archives among pension application documents she submitted to prove her husband’s Civil War service. He fought for the Union Army with the Indian Home Guard.
Family genealogical record handwritten in Cherokee by Ol-sa (Martha Powell)
Native American Culture: Oral Traditions
Before contact with Europeans, there were approximately 1,200 Indigenous nations and subtribes in North America who spoke about 500 distinct languages.1
Tribal Nations Map containing the names and ancestral homeland locations of 1,200 Indigenous nations and subtribes. Used with permission. Created by Aaron Carapella. tribalnationsmaps.com
These communities preserved history through storytelling, not written documents. As a result, most surviving Native American history books are written by immigrants and reflect the perspectives of European settlers. For example, the Moravian Springplace Mission, established in the early 1800s in present-day Georgia, documented daily Cherokee life through missionary journals, but offered little interpretation from the Cherokee themselves.2
Storytelling, however, remained vital for tribe members. Through stories, songs, and rituals, Indigenous people passed down cultural values, spiritual beliefs, and communal identity. In my family, storytelling has been a lifeline to the past. My grandfather’s cousin, Joyce Sequichie Hifler, a Cherokee writer, beautifully describes the significance of language and storytelling in her book, Cherokee Feast of Days:
“There is power in a word, whether we read it, speak it or hear it. And we command and are commanded by the word. We scatter, we call forth, and we comfort. Words are tools, weapons, both good and bad medicine-but very beautiful when used lovingly. The word, or ka ne tsv in Cherokee, is power to help heal, or make sick people sicker by negative talk around them.”
― Joyce Sequichie Hifler, Cherokee Feast of Days: Daily Meditations
Life As a Native American: Family Stories
One of my favorite family stories comes from Joyce’s memoir, When the Night Bird Sings. This story recounts her childhood on the prairie alongside her Cherokee cousins. She describes the discomfort of “being penned up in a schoolroom” with the oil-field children, disconnected from the natural world she knew so well. One day, the class was assigned to bring in a leaf from any tree and share what they knew about it. She and her Cherokee cousins were thrilled. They finally had a school assignment rooted in knowledge passed down through their family.
My grandfather, whom they affectionately called Wennie, was the star of the classroom that day. He explained how a tree, when injured and hollowed out, could become a nesting place for animals. The teacher used this as a teaching moment and explained, “Sometimes a trauma can be a turning point toward helping others in a way we might never have dreamed.” My grandfather’s words that day, like so many shared in Cherokee tradition, held wisdom far beyond the classroom.
Native American’s Today: Reconnecting Through Community and Story
Beginning in the 1600s, European colonization brought dramatic change to Indigenous ways of life. By the mid-1800s, U.S. federal policy led to the creation of Indian boarding schools, which sought to assimilate Native children by erasing their language, spirituality, and traditions. The motto of the first such school, founded by Army General Richard Henry Pratt, chillingly declared: “Kill the Indian and save the man.”3
Despite these efforts, Native communities have continued to preserve and revitalize their traditions. Language immersion schools, such as the Cherokee Immersion School (ᏣᎳᎩ ᏧᎾᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ or Tsalagi Tsunadeloquasdi), which opened in 2001, now serve as a model of cultural resilience, teaching a new generation of children entirely in Cherokee.4
The Navajo or Naabeeho´ Dine’é people currently have more than 300,000 tribe members, many of whom still speak their native Diné Bizaad language. 5 During World War II, about 420 tribe members served as military Code Talkers, helping allied forces send secret messages. Read more about the Code Talkers at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian website here: https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/code-talkers/native-languages/
Organizations like Native Hope help to strengthen cultural continuity through storytelling.6 Their mission is to “dismantle barriers through storytelling…bring healing and inspire hope.” Their website features an online collection of stories and legends from the Sioux, Cheyenne, Pueblo, Ojibwe, and Iroquois peoples that illustrate the shared belief among most Native Americans of interconnectedness between humans, the earth, and the spiritual realm. Explore these stories at the website here: https://www.nativehope.org/native-american-tribes/
Honor Indigenous People: Listening, Learning, and Honoring
As we observe Native American or Indigenous Peoples’ Day, may we each take time to listen to stories told by our elders. Let's honor the wisdom embedded in traditions passed down over generations. Whether we carry Indigenous heritage ourselves or stand as allies in support, honoring these traditions begins with respect, curiosity, and a willingness to learn. Storytelling remains one of the most powerful tools for connection, bridging past and present, healing wounds, and strengthening identity. By preserving and uplifting Indigenous voices, we ensure that these stories continue to inspire future generations.
For more information about tracing your Cherokee ancestors, see our previous blog here: https://www.legacytree.com/blog/tracing-cherokee-ancestors-dna-tribal-citizenship-and-cherokee-rolls
If you believe you have Cherokee or other Native American ancestry, Legacy Tree Genealogists would love to help you uncover your own family stories. Contact us today to discuss your project!
Citiations:
1 Tribal Nations Map containing the names and ancestral homeland locations of 1,200 Indigenous nations and subtribes. Used with permission. Created by Aaron Carapella. tribalnationsmaps.com
2 Anna Rosina Gambold, ed., The Moravian Springplace Mission to the Cherokees, abridged edition, edited by Rowena McClinton (Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2010).
3 The Carlisle Indian Industrial Boarding School (https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/a4e58c16b71d4730b06985552a6600e7: accessed 19 August 2025).
4 “Cherokee Immersion School grows over two decades,” Cherokee Phoenix (https://www.cherokeephoenix.org/education/cherokee-immersion-school-grows-over-two-decades/article_5056a7ae-8756-11ec-a8e9-1378975a5ace.html: accessed 19 August 2025).
5 “Native Words, Native Warriors: Living the Culture,” National Museum of the American Indian (https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/code-talkers/native-languages/: accessed 19 August 2025).
6 “Learn About the Tribes,” Native Hope (https://www.nativehope.org/native-american-tribes/: accessed 19 August 2025).
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