The evening before the Green Corn Ceremony, all the clans took a branch that they used the next day during a noon ritual. An arch was built with green branches, making an arbor in the ceremonial grounds. The hunters were sent out to bring back game and there was a committee appointed for the festival. Before the festival, Honorable women performed a religious dance and decided when the festival would be held. ~3)~The Mature Green Corn Ceremony The third Cherokee festival was called the Mature Green Corn Ceremony which was held about 45 days after the New Green Corn Ceremony, which was held in June or July. The cleansing ceremony was performed by a priest which was followed with fasting and praying and other sacred practices. It is believed when you get a cleansing it washed away impurities or bad deeds and started a new life. Another ritual observed was rinsing themselves in water and having prayer. At certain points of the ceremonies the people fasted, played stickball, had corn sacrificing, took medicine and had a scratching ceremony. Included in the rituals were the stomp dance, feather dance and buffalo dances. The ceremony was held in the middle of the ceremonial grounds. The dates scheduled for the celebration depended upon the time the first corn ripened. ~2)~The Green Corn Ceremony was traditionally celebrated during late June or early July for about four days. At the end, white deer skins were presented to the Festival Priests. They also had a scratching ceremony and medicine taking prepared by the Medicine Men. They would have a religious dance, a new sacred fire was built and all old fires in the Cherokee homes were put out. Afterwards the Seven Counselors scheduled the sacred night dance. The fourth day, all did friendship dances and ended the ceremony. ~The second day, all went to the water for ritual purification. The first evening was when the selected women performed the friendship dance. ~There were designated hunters to get the game for the feast, the dressing of a deer and the preparation of white deer skins, seven men were put in charge of the festival and seven men for food preparation. The seven Principal Counselors determined when the moons would appear and a messenger would announce the upcoming festival to all the Cherokee people. ~1)~The first festival was the First New Moon of Spring Festival. The ugu (or ouga, or uku) (which is a derivation from the Cherokee word for Chief), seven (7) Principal Counselors and people from all seven Cherokee clans participated. These festivals were to be observed at the capital. This communal environment provided everything that these people needed, from food, shelter, and clothing to weapons, personal adornments, and musical instruments.There were seven main festivals or religious observances before the forced removal. The Cherokee women owned the fields and houses, and eventually would pass them down to their own daughters this is also where the clan affiliations and familial ties came from. They governed themselves with a system led by priests, peace chiefs, war chiefs, and democratic consensus. The plazas were the site for public ceremonies, and the council houses were home to the вЂњsacred fire,вЂќ which embodied the townвЂ™s spiritual essence. These principles were observed in their central plazas and council houses. For the Cherokees, spirituality, communal responsibility, and sacrifice guided their lives. This early society had a central philosophy, called вЂњ duyuktv,вЂќ which means вЂњthe right way.вЂќ It focused on seeking balance and harmony in life, and respecting the natural world. they were gathering essential foods, hunting, take care of their homes, and harvesting squash, beans, and corn. These native Americans were living off the land, and by 1000 A.D. Cherokees are part of the Iroquois group of North American Indian tribes, which also includes Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga, and Oneida.Д«y approximately 1500 B.C., the Cherokee had developed the Cherokee language. The Cherokee descended from indigenous peoples who originally occupied the southern Appalachian Mountains region in North America, starting around 8000 B.C.

Cherokee sacred fire