January 12, 2021
I am an enrolled member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and currently live in Illinois with hopes of moving back to help my siblings as we are all getting older. My siblings have been taught to work hard and make their own way thanks to our mom who never had the benefit of social programs. Unlike now, we had no College option, join the Military or start a family. My mom took her eight children off the “reservation” to try and make a better life. She waitressed and showed us a work ethic, gave us responsibilities to keep our household running while she worked at whatever job she could find. Eventually she took us back to the boundary so we could graduate from Cherokee High School. Mom has since passed but has left a legacy for her family in that we still want to work together and hang out together and build each other up. My older sisters currently run their own businesses on the boundary and still struggle with making ends meet due helping other