Catcuce Micco Tiger selected as Youth Tree Lighter
When Ruby, the Red Spruce from the Pisgah National Forest, is lit on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol this holiday, 4th grader Catcuce Micco Tiger (Coche) will do the honors.
Catcuce Micco Tiger (Coche) is the son of Katie and Catcuce Tiger. He is nine years old and is a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), located in Cherokee, NC. He has a six-year-old brother named Sha-li-gu-gi, which means snapping turtle in Cherokee.
Coche also has ancestry from the Seminole Tribe of Florida and Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He gets his name from his dad, which is a Seminole name. Catcuce means ‘Little Tiger’, Micco means ‘Leader/Chief’ in the Creek language.
Why is the environment important to Cherokee culture?
Cherokee culture is very important to me. I attend New Kituwah Academy, where I am learning to read, write and speak the Cherokee language. I am also a member of the Raven Rock stomp grounds in the Big Cove community. I love stomp dance because it is what our ancestors once did to pray and show appreciation for everything we have. We go to stomp to help renew ourselves and help the earth renew herself. So, we need a clean and healthy environment to honor what the creator has given us.
Our environment is so important because my ancestors lived on this land, and I want to take care of it like they did. Also, the animals live in the environment, and I want to take care of them because they are related to me.
Why do you want to be the youth tree lighter?
I want to go to Washington, D.C. to light the tree so I can represent the Tribe and my community and so everyone can have a good year. I also want to see where the president lives and maybe meet him.
Coche will share his Cherokee introduction and the following story during various events in North Carolina and Washington, D.C.
ᏏᏲ ᏂᎦᏓ, ᎣᏣᎵᎮᎵᎭ ᏥᏤᏙᎭ. ᎧᏥ ᏓᏆᏙᎠ ᏃᎴ ᏥᎩᏚᏩᎩ ᏃᎴ ᏐᏁᎳ ᎢᏯᏆᏕᏘᏴᏓ. ᏅᎩᏁᎢ ᏫᏥᏯ ᎠᏤ ᎩᏚᏩ ᏗᏕᎶᏆᏍᏗ. ᎦᏯᎴᏂ ᎠᏆᏛᏒ. ᏥᏍᏉᎯ ᏗᏇᏅᏒᎢ. ᏗᎬᎩᎦᏴᎵ ᎨᏗ ᏃᎴ ᏨᏓᏥ ᏚᎾᏙᎠ. ᏦᏍᏓᏢᏅᏥ ᏌᎵᎫᎩ ᏚᏙᎠ.
Hello everyone, I am glad we all are here. My name is Catcuce, I am a gi-du-wa person, and I am nine years old. I am in the 4th grade at New Kituwah Academy. I am from North Carolina. My home is in Birdtown (Tsi-sgwo-hi) community. My parents’ names are Katie and Catcuce. My brother’s name is Sha-li-gu-gi.
The Cherokee Legend of the Evergreen Trees
The forest contains two types of trees: evergreen, which keep their leaves and remain green all year, and deciduous, which lose their leaves in autumn. Cherokees explain how this came to be:
When all the trees, plants, and animals were created, they were asked to stay awake to fast and pray for seven nights to honor the Creator. The first night they all stayed awake, but the second night some fell asleep; the third night more dropped out, and so on. By the seventh night, only a few were still awake. Of the animals, the owl (u-gu-gu), the panther (tsv-da-tsi), and a few others were still awake. These animals were given the power to see and go about in the dark and make prey of the birds and animals that must sleep at night. Of the trees, only the cedar, the pine, the spruce, the holly, the hemlock, and the laurel were awake to the end. The Creator gave these trees the ability to keep their leaves and stay green all year round and gave them special power to be medicine for the Cherokee people. Therefore, these trees are sacred and used for medicine by the Cherokee people to this day. (This is an abbreviated version that will be expanded for the actual reading during events.)
