Maggie Axe Wachacha

Beloved Woman

In Cherokee culture, a beloved woman is someone who has a lot of influence in the tribe, speaks in tribal meetings, and corresponds with Beloved Women from other indigenous nations. Wachacha was honored as a Beloved Woman by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in 2001 for her work as a clerk in the tribal council, and she was the second woman to be honored in this way. She received the North Carolina Distinguished woman awarded from Governor Jim Martin in 1986. She was one of five to win the award out of the ninety-one nominated.

Early Life

Maggie was born and raised in Snowbird Gap in Graham County, North Carolina. Her home was rather isolated in comparison to where the majority of other Cherokee natives lived which was about fifty miles away from the Qualla Boundary of Swain County. In Wachacha's youth, there were many efforts to change the Cherokee culture and assimilate Cherokee people into the American culture. These efforts led to her going to church every Sunday. Wachacha learned that “the mountains and the valleys were not formed by the Great buzzards wings but by God”. Wachacha liked learning about the Bible and the stories in it, and about Jesus, but this did not stop her from feeling connected to Cherokee culture. Cherokee was the language spoken in Wachacha's home while growing up. Additionally, Wachacha taught herself to read and write in Cherokee at the age of seven using chalk and writing in the dirt. Moreover, Wachacha attended an English speaking school for four months out of the year until she reached the fourth grade. According to anthropologist Sharlotte Nealy, white teachers and boarding schools were forced on the Cherokee people in order to weaken and eliminate Cherokee culture while promoting American culture. Wachacha's grandson remembers Wachacha talking about her elder's experiences with the Trail of Tears. Not many Cherokee people wrote about this horrific journey; but nonetheless, this did not erase the Trail of Tears from the Cherokee historical memory through word of mouth. Wachacha's ancestors were some of the few fortunate Cherokee that were able to remain in North Carolina and avoid the Trail of Tears.

Career

Wachacha was a clerk for the Cherokee Tribal Council for nearly fifty years. She began her tenure as clerk in 1937. There has been no evidence that Wachacha left behind any published works outside of the minutes she wrote as a clerk. Wachacha spoke Cherokee, and there are conflicting accounts as to whether or not she spoke English. Wachacha taught a Cherokee Indian class at Zion Hill Baptist Church. Along with teaching at the Zion Hill Baptist Church, she taught Cherokee culture and language at Robbinsville school system, Tri-County Technical College and Adult Education Program of Graham County. She was also known for her skills in being a midwife, herbalist, translator, and public speaker. Over the course of her life as a midwife, Wachacha helped deliver over three thousand babies. To relieve pain, Wachacha would give mothers in labor tea from the inner bark of the wild black cherry. She regularly walked great distances to help any woman that was in need of her services. As a part of Cherokee council member and Beloved Woman, Wachacha attended Cherokee singing ceremonies wearing the traditional red Cherokee woman's hankerchief. This singing was the annual Trail of Tears Singing which was incorporated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians from the Western Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. This singing gets its name from the Trail of Tears which effected mostly the Western Band. The Trail of Tears Singing was used to create solidarity between the Cherokee Bands and foster ideals of Cherokee traits and identity.

Family

Maggie met and married Jarrett Wachcha in 1935. Jarrett was twenty years older than Maggie, and he was a member of the Deer Clan. Maggie and Jarrett had their first child, Winona, in 1936.