My nick name is "CowEyes" translated for me by Tony McClure, author,
Also seen as Wakaakta or Wakaditka or Wakadigatoli. I am of Cherokee/English/Irish
/Scotch and Dutch descent. The Scotch and Dutch can be considered questionable since
I can't prove it. In researching I have learned these ancestrial
lines may also be Native American in origin and were often used to
refer to the dark skinned features and dark eyes, hiding them in
acceptable cultural lines.
I am what is known as a disenfranchised Cherokee which means simply that my heritage
can not be proved to suit the government or the Federally recognized tribes.
But my verbal heritage is strong for my grandmother told me long ago who I am.
Helena Florence STERRITT was her adoptive name, she said she was born CANTON.
The spelling of that name remains a mystery. My dysfunctional family members who
are alive choose not to acknowledge their ancestors, but I have heard their calling
and I have spent most of my 50 plus years trying to learn about who I am.
My Granny was adopted in 1893 when she was 8 years old. The story
is tragic to say the least, for she married well and bore five children,
but he left her for whatever unknown reasons.
When I was born she disowned her adoptive parents. I was reared within
her love and when I was 8 I asked if we were Cheyenne, because I saw we
were not like the Anglos nor African Americans around us. I had often
been asked if I was Italien or Mexican. I knew we were neither. My Granny
said "No" rather loudly and standing tall as her five feet would allow, she
stated "We are Cherokee". It brought me peace to know this, but other
relatives begged me to say nothing of this. To this day they do not deny
but will not discuss our lineage. And so I am as the Sioux say "a lost bird".
And while I wander over the land in search of my roots, I share with you what
I have learned and pray for others of you who like me search to find a place,
another piece of the puzzle. As we wander together I hope you find comfort
in knowing that there are dozens perhaps hundreds just like us out here.
You will learn to spend more of your time learning what it means to be a
Cherokee on these pages and through my links, growing more each day in
wisdom of who you are.