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Cherokee Chief Chad Smith poses with fifth graders from Peters Elementary School, 2900 W. College, Broken Arrow.

TULSA, OKLAHOMA - The stories in our history are actually lessons for our future, Cherokee Chief Chad Smith told fifth graders at Peters Elementary School, 2900 W. College, during a recent visit.

Smith was invited to the school to share ‘origin stories’ or folklore with the students, who are studying about Native Americans, their heritage and their history. After telling the students a story about the origin of disease, he answered questions from students and teachers.

Smith, who is chief of the second largest Indian tribe in the United States, was recently re-elected to a second four-year term. A resident of Tahlequah, Smith visited with the students on March 4, 2003, just days before he was to meet President George Bush at a dinner in Washington, D.C.

"I want you to remember a valuable word, ‘strategy’", Smith asked the students, explaining the word means a plan built on principles, helping students to develop a plan for the future. "What you want to do in life is your ultimate goal. Your strategy is how you achieve that goal." Smith asked the students to be mindful of their strategy because they will come across things like drugs and alcohol which will cause them to veer away from their strategy. Origin stories help formulate strategies, he explained, because of the lessons they provide.

Smith then told the students a story about a time when humans, plants and animals shared the same language, how man’s greed of killing animals led to disease and how plants provided the cure. During the story, however, he explained that children stopped listening to parents and forgot how to communicate with the animals and plants. It’s lessons like these that are relevant to today’s people, he explained.

Later, students questioned Smith about everything from what he eats to his duties as chief, and then he signed autographs and met with staff.

Related contact information:

Mike Miller, Cherokee Nation Director of Communications Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2210) Fax: 918-458-5580 E-mail: Communications@cherokee.org Larry Daugherty, Advertising Manager Cherokee Nation - Public Affairs Phone 918-456-0671 (Ex.2324) E-mail: ldaugherty@cherokee.org

Steven Swogger, Agriculture Liaison Natural Resources Department Phone: 918-456-0671 (ext.2546) FAX: 918-458-7673 E-mail: sswogger@cherokee.org Bradley D. Peak, Cherokee Nation Natural Resources Specialist Phone: 918-456-0671 (ex.2843) E-mail: bpeak@cherokee.org