"the People's Paths!" Cherokee News Path - Award-Winning CNYC to Perform at Holiday

TAHLEQUAH, OK — The award-winning Cherokee National Youth Choir will kick off the 56th Annual Cherokee National Holiday with a performance on Thursday, August 28, at 7 p.m., at Crescent Valley Church.

“Everyone should come out and join us for the youth choir concert,” said Kathy Sierra, coordinator. “The students have worked hard this year learning the language and new songs. I am very proud of all of them and I know that you will be too.”

The Cherokee National Youth Choir performs traditional Cherokee songs in the Cherokee language. The Cherokee National Youth Choir came into existence from the vision of Principal Chief Chad Smith, who saw it as a way to keep children involved in the Cherokee language and culture. They function as an important symbol to the world, demonstrating that Cherokee language and culture continues to thrive in modern society.

Since being founded in 2000, the group has recorded six CDs, including Voices of the Creator’s Children, featuring two-time Grammy® Award winner Rita Coolidge, which garnered two Native American Music Awards (NAMMY) nominations and a win for “Best Gospel Christian Recording” in 2002. In total, the group has received four NAMMYs. Precious Memories, an acapella compilation, was released in 2007.

The Youth Choir acts as ambassadors for the Cherokee Nation, their beautiful voices showing the strength of the Cherokee Nation and its culture more than 160 years after the Cherokees’ forced removal from its eastern homelands. The goal of the choir is to increase awareness of Cherokee culture both within the Cherokee Nation as well as among the dominant culture.

Through the success of the group, interest in the Cherokee language has been rekindled among young people throughout the Cherokee Nation. Several area schools now use the CDs as learning tools, and other schools are interested in developing curriculum to teach Cherokee language and music. Principal Chief Smith and Deputy Principal Chief Joe Grayson, Jr. have pledged to make preserving language and culture a priority at the Cherokee Nation, and the success of the Cherokee National Youth Choir has helped spark a cultural renaissance among the Cherokee people.

The Cherokee National Holiday has been held since 1953 in tribute to the signing of the 1839 Cherokee Constitution. It has grown into one of the largest events in Oklahoma, attracting more than 90,000 visitors from across the world.

Each year a theme is chosen for the Cherokee National Holiday that celebrates Cherokee Nation’s rich heritage and culture. The 2008 theme is "di ni yo tli u na li s de lv do di, Planting the Seed Corn for our Children's Future."

“In this theme, we honor all the Cherokee parents and grandparents whose everyday actions are dedicated to establishing strong, self-sufficient children and communities. Cherokee community members have great respect for these individuals who care and plan for the Cherokee Nation’s leaders of tomorrow,” said Smith.

For more information about the youth choir performance, contact Mary Kay Henderson, phone: 918-478-4473 or Kathy Sierra, phone: 918-453-5638.