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By AJ Eversole
Author Andrea L. Rogers (Cherokee) joins us today to discuss her new picture book, When We Gather (Ostadahlisiha): A Cherokee Tribal Feast, illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight (Chickasaw) (Heartdrum, May 2024).
What is the heart of When We Gather?
Wild Onion gathering and gatherings were a part of my childhood that I wanted to share with my own children. When I was a kid my dad had this manual push mower that he would cut our grass with and the smell of wild onions mixed with the smell of freshly mown grass at the beginning of Spring. When I visited the New Echota cemetery back in our Cherokee homelands the scent of wild onions permeated that hallowed space.
I thought, when our ancestors were forced to relocate to Indian Territory that winter of 1839 it must have been a small comfort that next Spring to find Native plants similar to what we seasoned our food with back home. They were probably the first fresh food of the season.
Tell us about some gatherings that you drew inspiration from.
I don’t know how great we were at picking wild onions when we were kids. Even now, I second guess when I gather. I break the plants and sniff them to make sure I’m picking the right plant a lot. Later, though, my friend took us to gather onions when I had my own children. Then I realized how lucky I was to have that memory and that cultural heritage.
Later, when I lived in Texas I missed being with other Native people. But every Spring the Urban Indian Methodist Church would do a Wild Onion Dinner and we’d go for a taste of home. Now I make wild onions and eggs for special occasions, sometimes from bags I have in the freezer.
How does When We Gather depict positive representation of Native communities?
I was at a storytelling event recently and Sammy Still said, and I’m paraphrasing, that sharing is a Cherokee Cultural value and by gathering and exchanging stories we were maintaining a cultural practice.
Gathering and sharing food and stories and being in community is so important. But when I was a kid and raising my own children, I never saw books about these kinds of gatherings for any Native tribe. Something that was a long lived tradition was absolutely absent in popular culture. Our kids need these books that speak to their own cultural practices and history and life.
What has been most challenging in depicting modern Natives in your writing?
The most challenging thing is meeting people who say, “I have never met a Native person.” That always surprises me. The challenge it presents is some people only know a homogenous stereotype of Native people. Those are anchor beliefs they got from television and books and stereotypes that some non Native writers still exploit. It can be frustrating, but it’s so important to not play that game.
What do you want children, Native and non-Native to take away from When We Gather?
I want people to value Native plants and treat them with respect and care and not take more than is good for the planet.
I want people to honor elders and other knowledge keepers. I am always surprised when I go to events that are supposed to be Native events and no one is serving the elders or inviting them to the front of the line. That’s not the way I was raised. I think that teaching is important.
I want people to celebrate our gatherings. People are so busy, but I think the 2020 lockdown taught us how important it was to just sit and listen to each other and share food and stories.
How was working with illustrator Madelyn Goodnight to bring the story to life?
Madelyn is great. I loved that she just took the story and invested it with her own experiences. Seeing her illustrations made me cry in a happy way.
What projects are you working on next, what can you tell us about them?
Chooch Helped (Levine Querido, 2024) comes out in October 2024. It’s illustrated by Rebecca Kunz who is Cherokee and it is filled with Cherokee inspired images.
My Cherokee futurism, The Art Thieves (Levine Querido, 2024) comes out in September with illustrations by Rebecca, as well.
This summer I’m scheduled to write a horror play with Shane Hawk. I have a few things with my agent and I’m waiting to see what’s next on those projects.
Cynsational Notes
Andrea L. Rogers is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She currently attends The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville where she is a doctoral student in English. Andrea graduated with an MFA from the Institute for American Indian Arts. She taught Art and HS English in public schools for 14 years. She has three wonderful children.
AJ Eversole covers children’s-YA writing, illustration, publishing, and other book news from Indigenous authors and illustrators for Cynsations. She grew up in rural Oklahoma, a place removed from city life and full of opportunities to nurture the imagination. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma and writes primarily young adult fiction. AJ currently resides in Texas; with her family. Follow her on Instagram, TikTok &Threads @ajeversole.