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ABOUT THE IGNORANCE TODAY

Many things had pointed to the fact that the people living today with Cherokee blood know very little, if anything at all authentic, about Cherokee life, culture, or history. It takes only one generation of not passing that information down to have it lost forever, and in the Cherokee Nation that has increased to several generations ... perhaps four or five. It was assumed that the full to half bloods living in the Northeastern Oklahoma hills, some on their original allotments, would know the truth about Cherokee affairs, past and present, but it turns out (for several reasons) that they know the least. This was proven this past year when the independent Cherokee monthly newspaper, The Cherokee Observer, published our little pamphlet entitled "Ancient Cherokee Kings".

After publication, a Cherokee living in Dallas, Texas, where the present Oukah lives and where "Cherokees of North Texas, Inc." is headquartered, wrote that he was a full blood Cherokee, having been raised behind Sequoyah School near Tahlequah, the Cherokee capital city, and he had never heard anything about all this! The frightening thing is, Frank McLemore had been the leading member of a Native American organization, and had headed the team that put together the Native American studies for the Dallas Independent School District! The blind leading the blind? The ignorant perpetuating their ignorance? Of course! And, it is typical, all across the United States of America, with every member of every nation and tribe, every school system and university professor. "Perpetuating ignorance" is a time-honored practice.

Perhaps the genocide has not worked completely, but it has certainly prevailed. And, it is difficult to teach these misled, misguided, mis-taught people the truth about their own history because to learn the truth would be an admission that they had not previously known what they should have known. We are not only having to try to cut through ignorance, but false pride! And we will continue by printing our pamphlet right here for your information.

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