~STOMP~ and Remember Dr. Dorothy Height ~ A Warrior ~

Cherokee STOMP Dance

Saturday morning, waiting for the sun... and it promises to be a beautiful day in all its wonder...

Many thoughts on this morning with my coffee in hand, or beside me rather as thoughts begin with memories of a great and grand woman:

Dr Dorothy Height: many gathered in the National Cathedral to celebrate her life, to celebrate her home. Her life was honored, with gratitude and hope for the great lady that she was in her life. She was a warrior, she knew how to STOMP with humility and amazing grace. Dr Height was a social worker by profession, a woman who fought great battles, who lived through times most cannot even fathom today. She was a frequent visitor of the White House and as our President said in his eulogy she would "drop in" ... not once, not twice, but had dropped in to visit Presidents a total of 21 times!

Dr Height was brilliant, she was truly an inspiration; a mentor to many, a teacher, a leader, but a friend to all, and loved by all. She was called

"a drum major" as the President reminded us... But make no mistake she knew how to dance to the beat of the drum while drumming!

She lived life righteously, and she fought for women, for equality, for justice, for health care, for hospice. And oh my, how she could wear a hat! She would never be caught without her hat; and she did know how to wear a hat well! The hats were on the heads of many at the Cathedral, in honor of Dr Dorothy Height... "Hats off to Dorothy" indeed! A landmark in D.C. and a class act that just walked into your heart and stayed. We will miss Dr Height, her work was never ending and I feel certain that she sits on the right hand of the Creator, was welcomed home to the beat of the drum as He took her hand and said, "Welcome home child, your work was well done". She has left a legacy here, we only need follow in the lessons of service first, freedom for all, and to stand for all as long as we are blessed to live in this wonderful country we call home.

God Bless Dr Dorothy Height and her ability to love, to Stand UP, and to STOMP. They celebrated her home in grand style and respect at the Cathedral, she would have been proud, she would have smiled that beautiful smile of hers that we all loved so and enjoyed so many years ~

"There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life" {Federico Fellini} Perhaps he had known Dr Dorothy Height!

Wado ~ a life well lived.

Are you ready for a super Saturday? I sure am, the weather is to be wonderful, although we here are so very concerned of our gulf and the winged ones and water-creatures with the oil spill here. I swear I smelled oil yesterday when I went to the beach...

I STOMPED for a bit . . .

One person asked for a visual for STOMP, they stated they couldn't really get one other than children having a tantrum. So here ya go...

I love the visual in the picture as that is the most intense visual I can offer up, the true meaning of Stomp if you will.

 But imagine for a moment when you were a child and saw that puddle... maybe you were in your nice shoes??? And the temptation of that puddle was just too strong to ignore, and you just had to ... just just had to do it!  In a second, S T O M P... you were in it, water splashing, feet in it, and it felt GREAT,

 G R E A T !!! That too is a great visual of Stomp and the "feeling" of "owning it" feeling it through out and within your body...

or being on solid sand, or solid ground and jumping in the air, landing on solid ground, and

S T O M P... feeling it in every part of you... vibrational energy moving through you.... you are alive, within and moving emotion,,,, feelings.....././

anyone feeling me here???? I had to get up and

STOMP just writing about it! Oh my, gotta have a refill I am on a roll now..

So my friends you see at the end of my thoughts I talk to you about those I hold sacred in fire and thoughts on the wind right... well,

The fire is very sacred to us Cherokee.

Way back when it was built at the bottom of a pit below the ground, it burns constantly. The  Cherokee believe that soon after the creation of the Cherokee people, the Creator left his throne in Heaven to visit earth.

He chose four strong, healthy, good and true Cherokee women who believed in the Creator with all their hearts.

 Today it is kept burning in pits, in the heart when no pit is available, Cherokee women and men are still strong, still here, we still stand and weather the adversity of life's’ storms so long ago.

We miss our beloved Ms. Chief Wilma P Mankiller, still adjusting to her being gone from this earth.

STOMP Dance, the sacred dance of the Cherokee…the women tie shakers around their legs made of tortoise shells or tin cans with small stones in them. The women keep the beat by stomping their legs, shaking the shells. There is no audience.
Instead, everyone who comes to a stomp dance participates.
There are no electric lights.
Instead, the dancers move in a spiral around a campfire.


So, the stomp dance may seem to be a profound expression of Cherokee identity.


Pow Wows are held across the country where folks gather, Indians from across the country gather, they dance, they sell their time honored and traditional goods, some are commercialized these days and there is always wonderful fry bread and festivities! While there you will hear the native music, the drummers drumming, the fancy dancers dancing, the circle continues… we are still here, we STOMP, we dance, we thrive and have survived.


In a recent book entitled Powwow, author Gary Ellis quoted a dancer from Oklahoma: "Even when I go to Red Earth [one of the big, commercial pow wows] you know what really gets me going? It's when one of those drums sings a Comanche song. I say to myself, 'Hey, good, that's one of our songs. It really reminds me of who I am and why I'm here”.
I too am reminded each day I greet the morning, each beat of Mother Earths heartbeat, each reminder of the Ancestors… I have always blending therapeutic practice with Native healing ways... folks like that, they heal in ways that the Ancestors help them with that way in the greater circle of life. They get STOMP... it requires no explanation to most... they get it through body mind spirit connection, and for that I give thanks, and so it is! Wado ~


Being Indian is an attitude, a way in being in balance with all things, on this side and the other side in spirit land. Being one with all things, to STOMP at all times in circles in dance and in life… feeling the rhythm of the beat of natures’ drum, of Mother Earth and her heart beat, being able to teach others to STOMP own their day, to watch children stomp in puddles and learn the stories is a great reminder for adults to remember "when" the pleasure and the feelings of STOMP, those who now STOMP into their day, perhaps by reading Healing Heartaches, perhaps as a result of their very own personal journey.


Whether just for fun or for empowerment… when fighting great battles with CANCER, MS, sudden and traumatic dealings through loss, when walking through grief or walking through hell… emerging as a survivor or a warrior ~
I encourage you to dig deep, to feel the soil under your feet, the wind as it caresses your face, to smile until your face aches from the experience and


STOMP, s t o m p ~ S T O M P






When you stomp you distribute the very life energy and feel it move through your body, you move the emotion, the energy, you feel better, you know you are alive, and have choices to make… I pray you make the ones that are best for your life.






The Stomp Dance is the traditional religious dance of the Cherokee and is held at a sacred dance site traditionally.
The sacred fire is always burning, will always burn brightly

Women prepare a meal for the day consisting of traditional and modern foods ranging from cornbread, brown beans and chicken to all kinds of pies, fry bread, cakes and other delicious treats. A-ne-jo-di (stickball) is played in the afternoon.


At sundown, the Chief brings out the traditional pipe and fills it with tobacco. He then lights the pipe with coals from the Sacred Fire and takes seven puffs. The pipe is then passed to the Medicine Man from each clan, beginning with the Aniwaya (Wolf) Clan and each Medicine Man takes seven puffs. The Chief, Medicine Men and elders hold a meeting and then call for the first dance. The first dance is by invitation, tribal elders, Medicine Men and clan heads.


All the members visit and dance until sunrise. Each individual group has its own schedule for the dances, which is a Holy place to worship the Creator There are two major ceremonies held. One is to commemorate the birth of Redbird Smith and the other is to show appreciation to the Creator for a bountiful harvest. This varies dependent on where you are now in these modern times.


Stomp Dance participants include a leaders, assistants and one or more female shell shakers who wear leg rattles made from turtle shells and pebbles. Some wear shakers made from small milk cans. The shakers provide rhythmic accompaniment while dancing around the fire. The dance can not begin without the shell shakers.


In the Stomp Dances of southeastern Indian cultures, the woman plays a very important role. The shell shaker is the woman partner of the dance singer or leader. The woman enters the dance behind the lead singer and produces music from the rattling sounds made by shuffling her feet. Legend has it that because of the natural designs on the turtle shell that look like women dancing, the turtle says "Let women dance".


A series of wampum belts serve to record and ‘read' the traditional beliefs and stories. Made of wampum beads sewn together with a form of seaweed from old Mexico, the belts are very old. The wampum belts are shown only on very sacred occasions. The history of the belts relates that many years ago, the tribe was preparing to go to war. The medicine men foresaw which would survive, and cut the original wampum belt into seven pieces. After the war, the belts were scattered, and the last one was recovered by Redbird Smith in the very early 1900's.


So there you go, a bit of Cherokee history all because a dear reader wanted a visual of “STOMP”!
See it always happens when you get me started with a request or a thought, I just take my coffee and take off, with the help of the spirits, who knows where I just might go. With the flutes and drums playing in the background, I swear the four-leggeds are doing their own rendition of stomp dance around the pool, could it be that they are being inspired by the music? Not for me to question I guess, only to enjoy on this beautiful morning.

Mark Twain said, "Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest"

The fire is burning and the embers are red hot... prayers on the wind to those who have asked, to Chris in NY hope you are soon home in FL, to Jill warpaint on for you dear one, to Cindy in NC you are in the prayers and thoughts of many and in the arms of the angels... 6 year old Shelby and family/friends I pray you are getting stronger, for Faith, Liz, Lee, Molly, Joanie, Denise, Jim, Vicki's Mom, Charlie Soap and Family, Dr Height's sister, and all of us who will miss Dr Height's brilliance and her smile in those hats on the hill! To those in "southwest Virginia" and those fighting their battles, you are with us, we have you surrounded in thoughts of hope and healing ways... and in the arms of some powerful angels... May you find comfort knowing you are not alone.

STAND UP ~ STOMP ~ YOU ARE A WARRIOR ~

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing today, I wish you enough!

Walk In Beauty,
DRSES
author of
Healing Heartaches, Stories of Loss and Life
http://www.drsherryeshowalter.com/