Somewhere in northern West Virginia or Southwestern Pennsylvania, a woman by the name of Waetta (pronounced Wai eeta) saved my great grandmother’s life when she fell into a river. My grandmother, the oldest child of my great grandmother, was given the name Waetta. My grandmother never used the name preferring to be called by her middle name, Fern, instead.
About a year after my grandmother’s passing, Spirit gave me her name, at least a variation of it. At a ceremony a few days later, my grandmother and grandfather visited me in a dream and gave me her blessing on the name.
Although the origin of the name is unknown to me, I have been told that the name is Tsalagi (Cherokee) in its origin and means “first to dance”. During the ceremony, I was also told that when pronounced as wai ah ta, the name is Andean, and is a special breed of swan that is a symbol of extraordinary love.
For several months following the ceremony, I found myself crying often, and I sensed that the tears were not mine. Shortly after another ceremony, I felt a calling to walk the Trail of Tears. Immediately after I spoke the calling, the tears stopped. They have returned only 3 other times since then, each time when I heard a ghost dance or Cherokee song.
In 2018, I was called to help an owl with the death transition. As part of that journey, I recalled that my grandmother’s totem was the owl. The owl has largely guided my way since that time. Owls tend to symbolize death, shapeshifting, and wisdom.
On Wednesday May 19, 2021, a doe collapsed on the banks of the pond adjacent to my house. The doe was in poor health and could no longer support her own weight. Along with some friends, I helped this doe with the death transition. An hour or so after her passing, I learned that missionary Daniel Butrick, who walked the trail of tears, entered the first entry into his journal, the only written first-hand account of the trail of tears, on the same day in 1838. The doe is a symbol of spiritual connection and of innocence. I took her to be a symbol of my spiritual connection to this journey and of the innocence of the Cherokee nation when forcibly removed from their lands.
My birthday is December 29. The Treaty of New Echota was signed on Dec 29, 1835 and incidentally Wounded Knee occurred on Dec 29, 1890.
Atone The Removal 