For nearly a year fluent Cherokee Speaker Rosie Flute was cooking family meals on an electric burner after her stove wore out. Raindrops would frequently drip down the ceiling in
BELFONTE â Cherokee Nation officials on Feb. 24 joined Rural Communities Initiative Foundation leaders to cut the ribbon on the new Sallie Byrd Sevenstar Community Building in Sequoyah County. Â
The center is named in honor of CN citizen and fluent Cherokee speaker Sallie Byrd Sevenstar, who died in August, states a CN release.
According to the release, Sevenstar was a lifelong Nicut resident. It also states that she was a retired teacher of more than 30 years and a Belfonte Baptist Church member for more than 50 years, where she taught Sunday school and led singing. She was also the first bilingual Cherokee speaker to receive a bachelorâs and a masterâs degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, according to the release.Â