(Theme music plays) JENNIFER LOREN>> Coming up... ANNETTE LUETHJE>> Just throughout my life, I love fry bread.

I mean, I really do.

mean, who doesn't?

It's just amazin' to see how somethin' as simple as fry bread has really grown in popularity.

JENNIFER>> We meet Annette Luethje as she shares how even the simples ingredients can have a big impact.

And cyclist Simeon Gipson wheeled his life around, beating diabetes and biking countless miles all the way to the National Senior Games.

SIMEON GIPSON>> As long as I can ride that bike, and know, it's in me to still do it, I'll continue doin' it.

JENNIFER>> Plus, Julie Erb-Alvarez's career in public health has taken her all over the world from Blackgum, Oklahoma, to Washington, DC, and to the Republic of Palau.

JULIE ERB-Alvarez>> It truly is like being on another planet.

You're in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

(Theme music begins) MAN 1>> The Cherokees.

WOMAN 1>> A thriving American Indian tribe.

MAN 2>> Our history... WOMAN 2>> our culture... WOMAN 3>> our people... MAN 1>> our future.

MAN 3>> The principles of a historic nation MAN 1>> sewn into the fabric of the modern world.

WOMAN 2>> Hundreds of thousands strong... WOMAN 3>> learning... WOMAN 1>> growing... MAN 1>> succeeding... MAN 3>> and steadfast.

WOMAN 1>> In the past, we have persevered through struggle, WOMAN 2>> but the future is ours to write.

MAN 1>> Osiyo!

WOMAN 2>> Osiyo.

WOMAN 1>> Osiyo!

MAN 1>> These are the voices of the Cherokee people.

(Theme music fades out) CHUCK HOSKIN JR.>> Osiyo.

Welcome to the Cherokee Nation.

I'm Principal Chief, Chuck Hoskin, Jr.

For generations others have told the Cherokee story.

But now, through this groundbreaking series, we're taking ownership of our own story and telling it as authentically and beautifully as possible.

I hope you enjoy these profiles of Cherokee people, language, history, and culture.

Wado.

JENNIFER>> Osiyo.

It's how we say, 'Hello' in Cherokee.

I'm your host, Jennifer Loren, at the Cherokee National History Museum in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, where you can visit the Cherokee Nation's Capitol Building and explore its foundational history within our nation.

In this episode, you'll learn about this building and how it (Slow music plays) served as the center of our government until Oklahoma statehood at the turn of the 20th century.

KRYSTAN MOSER>> I think it was very important to Cherokee Nation to choose a form of architecture that reflected the prosperity and stability that it wanted to work towards.

JENNIFER>> Learn about the history and evolution of the Cherokee Nation Capitol Building a little bit later in our Cherokee Almanac.

But first, whether it's served up as part of an Indian taco or a side at a hog fry, fry bread is synonymous with good eatin' in Cherokee country.

We tag along with Annette Mankiller as she brings together food, culture, and a little bit of competition.

(Sound of stove burner igniting) (Upbeat music plays) ANNETTE LUETHJE>> What is fry bread?

It's delicious.

(Chuckling) Fry bread is self-risin' flour, milk, water; very simple.

Throughout my life it's, you know, I, I love fry bread.

It was part of my life growin' up, and it just, it brings people together.

My name is Annette Luethje.

I am Cherokee, and I live in the Rocky Mountain Community in Stilwell, Oklahoma.

I've lived all my life in the Rocky Mountain Community.

And I mean, I do remember growing up, you know, eating mom's fry bread.

And it was delicious, you know.

(Chuckling) I am part of Fry Bread Factory with my husband, William Luethje.

And we've been doin' it probably about goin' on eight years now.

WILLIAM LUETHJE>> She's the manager and I'm the cook.

(Chuckling) Since we've began, I've seen a lot more interest in Indian tacos and fry bread.

We really try to do our best to be ambassadors, I'd say, of Native American culture and food, and bring some of our lifestyle to the public, you know.

And to let people kinda feel where we're comin' from, you know, and where we came from.

We really take a lot of pride in that, you know.

And for us, the more success we have, of course, it helps to be able to give back to your community.

ANNETTE>> I told William, I said, Well, if you know, if you really wanna do this, or if we're really gonna do this, I said, I don't wanna just be sellin' on the sideline.

You know, we're gonna go for it all the way.

And there's a lot of times where people we serve, like they've never really even heard of an Indian taco.

Or maybe they've heard of an Indian taco, but they don't really know what it is.

So, I kinda think that's neat too, because you can educate 'em, and you know, let 'em know that you know, this is what fry bread is, or this is what an Indian taco is.

And we really do try to serve the foods that we grew up on.

The busy season usually starts around, you know, the first part of, you know, spring time, summer time.

Strawberry Festival, you know, we both love doin' that because (People talking in background) that's our hometown.

And of course, Cherokee Holiday, that's always a big one.

That's really one of the ones that we really love to do, 'cause you know, of course, it's good business.

(Chuckling) But also we just like bein' a part of the holiday festivities.

I mean, they even have a contest in Pawhuska for National Indian Taco Championship.

For us, there's no pressure really.

And you're there with 23 other Indian taco vendors.

And you just have to see if you're gonna make, you know, to the finals, which we've always made the finals.

Knock on wood.

In 2017, we did win the championship, and we've come in third place twice.

ANNOUNCER>> Third place goes to Fry Bread Factory.

(Applause) WILLIAM>> I, I feel like the Indian Taco Championship is like a, it's really a good venue for us, 'cause it gives lot of notoriety, and let's you know that yours is pretty good, you know.

It's pretty good and people like it.

(Chuckling) I'd known Annette for some years, you know, before.

But she reached out and just asked how I was doin', you know.

We decided to go to dinner one day.

And then startin', just realizin' enjoy each other's company a lot, you know.

We just was talking, and she liked listenin' to me talk, I guess, (Chuckling) 'cause she kept comin' back.

(Chuckling) ANNETTE>> We just take pride in, you know, what we do.

We try to be as professional as we can about it, and try to educate people in the process.

WILLIAM>> To get to where we're at now, it's been a lot of failures.

But then that's also what helps you progress.

That's what makes you better; keep on tryin'.

We never dreamed we'd be sellin' Indian tacos or fry bread, or just gettin' any recognition from it.

And it's really because of her that we're doin' this.

To make it come to reality for all these years is Annette.

She's the, the big part behind all that.

We just really make a good team.

I just can't imagine doin' it with anybody else, or that anybody could be any better.

ANNETTE>> A lot of people do, you know, they know how to make fry bread.

They, you know, make fry bread for their families.

Or you know, when there's a need, you know, they'll make fry bread for a community event, you know, things like that.

But I hope it leaves a lasting impression.

I just hope it, you know, I hope it continues.

(Upbeat must ends) (Theme music) JENNIFER>> Simeon Gipson is a Cherokee Elder pushing the pedal to the metal.

As competitive cyclist in the National Senior Games, Simeon is the picture of health, inspiring countless others to stay healthy and active.

(Upbeat music plays) SIMEON GIPSON>> My name is Simeon Gipson.

I live in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

I've lived there for 20 years or so.

I'm a bicyclist.

Got into cycling for my health, actually.

And it's worked for me.

And I really like cycling.

I'd rather do that than a lot of, a lot of other things.

Never thought of it as exercise, and I hope I never do because, you know, if it's exercise, who wants to do it.

I grew up near a community called Bull Hollow, Delaware County.

Quite a bit of my growin' up years I had polio and I was, it was hard for me to get around.

My legs would freeze up sometimes and I couldn't move.

I went to college in Tahlequah.

At the time it was Northeastern State College; wasn't a university yet.

It was still a college.

I went to school there for two years right out of high school.

One thing I learned about it was I had no business being in college because I had no, no interest in further education.

My oldest brother was in the service and he was in the Navy.

So, I decided, Well I'll go, I'll go Navy.

I went in in 1967, I wanna say, and I got out in '71, 1971.

I was a janitor for a while at Hasting, at the old Hasting's Hospital.

From there I, I transitioned over to the medical records department.

I retired from, from IHS, Indian Health Service.

And I retired basically because at that time my body was givin' up on me.

I guess it was givin' up on me because I didn't take care of it.

They said, Okay, your blood sugars are so high that you're gonna have to start takin' insulin.

And I can remember, remember to this day sitting in my chair, starting at 10 o'clock at night with the syringe in my hand, gettin' ready to, to give myself a shot in the belly.

And 4 o'clock in the mornin' I'd still be sittin' there with it.

I could not give myself a shot.

I told my wife, I said, I, I can't, I can't do that.

I said, I'm gonna have to, I'm gonna have to go the other way.

I'm gonna have to diet.

I'm gonna have to watch my weight.

And I told my son that I have been thinkin' about takin' up cycling.

I didn't know if he was listenin' to me at that time or not.

But a couple weeks later, he came, he said, Here's your bike.

It was a racing bike.

The bike cost about around $4500.

Well time to take cycling serious, I guess.

SIMEON GIMPSON>> I did get him his first, his first good, quality bike.

And since he started cycling, he, he changed both physically and mentally.

He lost a lot of weight, of course.

And I think he improved himself in general.

SIMEON>> I get a phone call one day and I know, I knew who it was.

But a lady had, had, I don't know how she, how she had heard about me.

But she knew I'd cycled quite a bit around in and around Cherokee Nation, the Tahlequah area.

She asked me if I was interested in doin', doin' a race in Oklahoma City.

Well, yeah, sure.

I competed.

I think I got a silver that year.

But I qualified to go to the national games.

At the Senior Games, I usually just do the 20k and the 40k, which is roughly 12-1/2 miles and 25 miles.

This year, we raced in Fort Lauderdale.

My first race, the 20k, I was keepin' up with the lead pack.

But about three to four miles into the race, I saw a lady and laying face down, and she was just, oh just, she was really in pain.

And I just couldn't leave her there on the side of the road in pain.

And so, I stopped.

I stopped and we stayed with her.

There was nothin' we could do.

But everybody needs somebody close by when you're, especially when you're in pain.

The second day I was just as sick as could be; stomach was upset bad.

I had a headache.

But I rode.

I finished.

Finished last, which doesn't bother me because there's next year.

I have a friend who, who works with the National Senior Games.

His name is Del Moon.

He, he asked me one day, he said, Simeon, would you be interested in being contacted and have a telephone interview with a lady who writes for a magazine.

I said, Well, yeah, that'd be good, Dale.

And one of the magazines she writes article for was Men's Health.

We talked for two hours.

She condensed it down into a story, and she put it in Men's Health.

Highlight of my career, I guess.

Even though it kind of overwhelmed me sometime, I'm glad I can be somebody other people will look up to.

I'm thinkin' about riding to Pittsburgh for the 2023 games.

So, it's probably gonna be approachin' 12, 1400 miles for me.

Get up there, that's a, that's a ways.

I think I'm gonna do it.

Me and that bike; as long as I can ride that bike, and know it's in me to still do it, I'll, I'll continue doin' it.

'Cause like I said, I didn't, I don't ride a bike to make anybody better.

I don't even ride the bike to make me better.

I just ride the bike because I like it.

(Upbeat music ends) (Theme music) JENNIFER>> In this Cherokee Almanac, we explore the history behind the Cherokee Nation Capitol Building.

After our forced removal and the original building burned, a new one was built in Tahlequah, Indian Territory where it stands today.

This building served as the center of our government until Oklahoma statehood in 1907, which deeply affected life in Cherokee Nation.

(Upbeat music plays) In 1838, Cherokee Nation was forcibly removed from our homelands in the southeastern United States.

And that meant leaving our Nation's capitol, the very place where our leaders met and fought against colonial encroachment.

DR.

JULIE REED>> In the immediate pre-removal period, the capital of the Cherokee Nation shifted form New Echota in present-day Georgia, just over the border into Tennessee to Red Clay.

Leaders made this decision in order to continue conducting governmental business and continuing to meet despite additional pressures to remove.

JENNIFER>> When Cherokee Nation was forcibly removed to Indian Territory, we had to completely re-build our government structures and establish a new capitol.

In 1841, two years after the last detachment reached Indian Territory, Tahlequah was designed the new capital city of the Cherokee Nation.

KRYSTAN MOSER>> Following re-settlement in Indian Territory, most gatherings in Tahlequah were actually held out in the open.

Eventually a council grounds was established with a fenced-in area where several log structures were built.

And this is where the National Council and the Supreme Court would meet.

JENNIFER>> These structures remained in use until the political division of the U.S.

Civil War ravaged the Cherokee Nation.

Many prominent structures and homes of Union Cherokees were targeted by Cherokee Confederate General Stand Watie.

DR.

REED>> When he comes to Tahlequah after John Ross' re-declared loyalty to the Union, any semblance of unity that the Cherokee Nation may have had when everyone was with the Confederacy is gone.

And Watie approached this as a kind of scorched earth policy.

He comes through town burning and destroying anything he comes across.

And when he encounters a group of Pin Indians at the capital conducting business, he burns the capitol building to the ground.

And then writes his wife a letter about it.

VOICE OF STAND WATIE>> I went to Tahlequah and Park Hill, killed a few Pins in Tahlequah.

They had been holding a council.

I had the old council house set on fire and burnt down.

JENNIFER>> On December 6, 1967, the Cherokee National Council passed an act to build a new capitol building in Tahlequah.

This new structure would be the center of Cherokee government, and would be a symbol to Cherokee people in the world around us of a modern and prosperous Cherokee Nation.

DR.

BRAD AGNEW>> What the Cherokees are trying to do at these times of stress and pressure on them is to show in brick and mortar that they are a substantial people.

DR.

REED>> Cherokees wanted to telegraph to the outside world that they were a civilized people.

They were acculturated.

And they were equals.

KRYSTAN>> I think it was very important to Cherokee Nation to choose a form of architecture that reflected the prosperity and stability that it wanted to work towards.

JENNIFER>> The new Capitol Building was completed in 1869, and this building was the seat of government for the Cherokee Nation and housed many Cherokee Nation government offices.

KRYSTAN>> Not only did the Principal Chief, the Supreme Court, and the National Council operate out of this building, but it also included offices for positions such as the Treasurer, the Superintendent of Public Schools, and the Auditor.

JENNIFER>> This building was the physical representation of the emerging Cherokee force in Indian Territory.

KRYSTAN>> The Capitol Building was built to include all three branches of the government, and in a very real way, it served as a literal manifestation of Cherokee Nation's seat of power.

JENNIFER>> The Cherokee government would continue to prosper in Indian Territory until the U.S.

Federal Government passed the Curtis Act in 1898, and the Five Tribes Act in 1906.

These repressive policies would hinder the Cherokee Nation government.

KRYSTAN>> Following the Five Tribes Act in 1906, all Tribal assets had to be liquidated or sold off.

Shortly thereafter, Cherokee County took possession of the Capitol Building as used it as the County Courthouse.

JENNIFER>> Around the same time as the sale of the Capitol Building, Indian Territory and Oklahoma Territory were merged to form the State of Oklahoma.

KRYSTAN>> Cherokee Nation regained ownership of the Capitol Building in 1979, and used it primarily to house its Judicial Branch.

In 2018, the Judicial Branch actually moved over to the W.W.

Keeler Complex after an extensive remodel and we were able to start interior renovations to the building to turn it into the Cherokee National History Museum.

The Capitol Building is back in the hands of Cherokee Nation, and museum visitors can learn about Cherokee history and culture beginning with our origin stories up to our modern-day nation.

This building still stands today as a representation of a strong and steadfast Cherokee Nation.

(Upbeat music ends) (Language segment music begins) GASILA>> Osiyo, Sinasd.

SINASD>> Osiyo, Gasila.

GADILA>> (Speaking Cherokee language) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) GADILA>> (Speaking Cherokee language) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) GADILA>> (Speaking Cherokee language) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) GADILA>> (Speaking Cherokee language) SINASD>> (Speaking Cherokee language) (Knocking on door) (Language segment music ends) (Theme music) JENNIFER>> Julie Erb-Alvarez is an epidemiologist whose important work in public health has taken her around the globe.

Today she works at the National Institutes of Health alongside our nation's leading scientific medical minds.

(Upbeat music plays) JULIE ERB-ALVAREZ>> My name's Julie Erb-Alvarez, and I am a member of the Cherokee Nation.

I am a Captain in the United States Public Health Service, an epidemiologist, and currently the Chief of Patient Engagement and Recruitment for the National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and the Clinical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.

I really consider myself from Blackgum, Oklahoma.

This land that my parents' house sits on where we are right now was my great-grandmother's original Cherokee allotment land.

We were living in Tahlequah when I was born.

We came back here every other weekend, sometimes every weekend.

Spent all summers here in Blackgum with my grandparents.

I moved straight back here after high school, and went to Northeastern State University where I got my undergraduate degree.

Then I got a Bachelor of Science in health and human performance.

And I decided epidemiology was where I wanted to go.

And so, after I got my master's degree, I landed a position with the Cherokee Nation Health Services as a Public Health Educator for their cancer program.

And so, one day I was sitting in Atlanta at a, at a grantee meeting for the Breast and Cervical Cancer Programs, and I was hangin' out with my friend, Yorah Demei, who was the Director of the Republic of Palau cancer programs.

Palau is a really long ways away.

It is a set of over 400 islands in the western central part of the Pacific Ocean.

And she said, You know, we really need an epidemiologist in Palau.

We haven't had one in years.

And I said, I have a degree in epidemiology.

And she said, You should come to Palau.

I'll hire you.

And I said, Well, okay.

And it was my first, it was my first position as an epidemiologist, and it was jumpin' in with both feet.

I'm specifically with the Bureau of Public Health.

I got to work out of the hospital there, Palau National Hospital.

Just had an incredible experience for two years.

My husband and I got married while we were over there.

We got married in the Bai.

It's a meeting house, traditional meeting house that's behind the hospital.

The President of Palau showed up, President Remengesau, and we got married on Palauan Independence Day.

And they put it in the newspaper.

THOMAS REMENGESAU, JR.>> Julie's work was an important part of our Public Health System.

Julie made a more than just a contribution of a professional epidemiologist, but really assisted our whole Public Health System.

I can certainly appreciate the commonalities that Cherokee Nation and for that matter Indigenous people with, with the Indigenous and Natives of Palau.

It's the same belief that a clan is really an extended family system.

JULIE>> After my two years working in Palau, we moved back at the very end of 2005.

The U.S.

Public Health Service is one of the eight uniform services in the United States, and we are led by the U.S.

Surgeon General.

We are about 6,000 strong.

In 2010, I put the uniform on.

It was one of the greatest days of my life.

We're not an armed service, but we're uniformed service, and we abide by the same standards, ranks, military courtesies.

In 2017, I moved to Bethesda, or actually to Derwood, Maryland, and started working in Bethesda, Maryland, at the National Institutes of Health.

I support all of the research that happens in the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute intramural clinical trials.

We have some of the world's leading scientists and specialists in mostly rare diseases and conditions.

If it's done at the NIH, it's cutting-edge research.

That's where Dr.

Fauci is.

That's where the Moderna vaccine was created for Covid.

I think it's really important to insure that we have diversity in our clinical trials.

I went to a Christmas party in January of 2020, and Dr.

Childs, who is now an admiral, my boss, was at this party.

He and I had been following very closely as a lot of Public Health Service Officers, what was happening in Wuhan, China, and this new virus that was being reported.

February, we got a call from Commission Corps Headquarters and this was the time when the Diamond Princess cruise ship was docked off of the coast of Yokohama, Japan, with a lot of very sick people on board.

And they had tested positive for this new virus.

We were some of the first people to see the severity of Covid-19.

We were able to get a first-hand look at that before anybody else really witnessed it.

And it was scary.

My day-to-day right now is amazing.

I work hand-in-hand on a daily basis with the world's leading experts in heart, lung, and blood diseases and conditions.

I can't imagine a more rewarding career.

Oh, I love public health.

We work behind the scenes to keep people healthy.

Public health really is Gadugi.

I think that public health is about the systems that surround us to take care of us.

And that's what Gadugi is, is taking care of each other.

And so, at the foundation of where we are as Cherokee people, I think public health is, is at that foundation of togetherness.

(Upbeat music ends) JENNIFER LOREN>> We hope you enjoyed our show.

And remember, you can always watch entire episodes and share your favorite stories online at Osiyo.tv.

There is no Cherokee word for goodbye because we know we'll see you again.

We say, Dodadagohvi, Wado.

(Theme music) (Theme music)