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Goals of the Tsalagiyi Nvdagi
The Tsalagiyi Nvdagi, Inc. is a non-profit, publicly supported organization as described by the Department of the Treasury in sections 501 (c) (3), 509 (a) (1), and 170 (b) (1) (A) (vi). All persons making donations of land or money may claim the donation as a tax deduction on their tax returns.
The Tsalagiyi Nvdagi hope to be able to purchase land in Southern Smith County, Texas or Northern Cherokee County, Texas for our tribal headquarters.
We are of the Seven Clan Society. Our tribe has a Chief (Ugu) and a seven member Governing Council. The Ani-Tsalagi (Cherokee People) had an elected representative republic in operation long before the European came to our land. All the present leaders of the Tsalagiyi Nvdagi believe in an elected government, not one mandated by founders, or a small group of former chiefs, or by birthright, or by force of armed power.
Our projected programs for the benefit of our people are:
To give grants to members who are qualified to go to higher education. To help our elderly and give assistance to those who are in a physically impaired status. To assist our members in buying homes. To procure funds to build a living village on the style of the Tsalagiyi Nvdagi during the early 1800's for visitors and vacationers. The living village will be of educational value and provide financial support for the tribe. To build an administration building, a seven sided Council House of traditional architectural style. To build a Library and Museum which will provide researchers a source for valuable material on the Cherokee. There will be material on the culture, on what religion there is left, and on the history of the Cherokee from the earliest times to the modern day. To provide facilities for teaching our language to children and adults. This will keep our traditional language, the Southern Iroquois, which is thousands of years old, alive. Archeologists believe that the Northern and Southern Iroquois language was separated over 3,000 years ago. The language will be taught by personal instructors, by tapes, and videos. To establish a medical clinic that will provide our members with medical care by a full time nurse, from traditional Medicine Doctors, by Medical Doctors (MD) on call, and by visiting Medical Doctors (MD). To provide motel-type accommodations for members who bring their ill family member to be medically treated.
Our tribe is known to our people as Ani-Tsalagi. An individual is called Tsalagi. Nvdagi is "Texas" in our language. We are known to the rest of the world as Cherokee, a name given to us by the Choctaw. The word comes from the ancient Choctaw trade language word "Chuliki," "People from the Cave country." If you wish to help us attain our goals for the future, our mailing address is:
Tsalagiyi Nvdagi P. O. Box 492 Troup, TX 75789
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To give grants to members who are qualified to go to higher education. We are currently looking at a grant / mentor program, which I think may be more reasonable and beneficial as a Town. Higher education can be met by Federal government programs.
To help our elderly and give assistance to those who are in a physically impaired status. We have an informal network to help those in need, but may want to have a more systematic approach. We have shared food for those in need from our personal gardens and stores. We are discussing the formation of a Town food bank that is available to our members.
To assist our members in buying homes. At this time we do not see the need in our Town. Although, we can help people find housing if the need arises and offer temporary housing in our homes.
To procure funds to build a living village on the style of the Tsalagiyi Nvdagi during the early 1800's for visitors and vacationers. The living village will be of educational value and provide financial support for the tribe. We believe that the ideas we have discussed with the seven sided structure, long house, and sweat meet this goal in our town. The structures at the site of our Gathering are to be built in a historical manor.
To build an administration building, a seven sided council house of traditional architectural style. We are building / looking at a seven sided open structure for our council meetings. It will be built in 2009 before the Fall Gathering.
To build a Library and Museum which will provide researchers a source for valuable material on the Cherokee. There will be material on the culture, on what religion there is left, and on the history of the Cherokee from the earliest times to the modern day. We are establishing a Town Library for members who are willing to loan books to be checked out for our members and friends of the Town.
To provide facilities for teaching our language to children and adults. This will keep our traditional language, the Southern Iroquoi, which is thousands of years old, alive. Archaeologists believe that the Northern and Southern Iroquois language was separated over 3,000 years ago. The language will be taught by personal instructors, by tapes, and videos. We are moving in this direction with our language. We have included a language section in our newsletter and have a seminar on language at our Fall Gathering in addition to audio technological tools for learning. These can be checked out of our library at the Town Headquarters. We encourage members to speak the words of the Tsalagiyi language when possible.
To establish a medical clinic that will provide our members with medical care by a full time nurse, from traditional Medicine Doctors, by Medical Doctors ( MD) on call, and by visiting Medical Doctors (MD). I believe that the future may bring a traditional healer to our Town.
To provide motel-type accommodations for members who bring their ill family member to be medically treated. I believe that we can and do bring members into our homes for lodging needs. Some of our members are currently setting up their guest houses for visitors.
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