AISDC will always focus on encouraging and building up Indigenous youth! In the past, we have often elected young women as Princess and you can learn about them here. Going forward, we plan to start representing young men as well. As we go into the next year and can organize so that we have efficient processes in place, we will identify opportunities for continued recognition of this 7th Generation for our ancestors.
AISDC SPONSORED YOUTH
Teala Meli Wildcat-Johnson, Cherokee & Creek
Our 2019 AISDC Princess, Teala Meli Wildcat-Johnson, was born April 28, 2005 at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. She is Cherokee and Creek, and a Citizen of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma. She lived in Fort Lee, Virginia with her father, Harvey D. Johnson, until 2020, where she attended J.E.J Moore Middle school.
Her cultural activities include singing at the drum and dancing at the Cherokee Wolf Creek Tribe, Inc Museum every Wednesday at Varina, VA. She also visits the Chickahominy Tribal Center at Providence Forge, VA every other Thursday to dance, and to learn to bead.
Teala works hard preserving her Cherokee language, using it every day before and after school. During visits to Oklahoma she learns new words and phrases from her Grandma Ida Jane Johnson.
The Wolf Creek Cherokee Tribe educates the public on its culture – Teala has performed as one of many dancers at these events, dancing Traditional Cherokee Tear Dress and Fancy shawl at the First Landing State Park at Virginia Beach, and the Falling Creek Ironworks Festival in Chesterfield.
Teala assisted the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, and Eastern Band of Cherokees during traditional dances and storytelling at the Smithsonian’s Cherokee Days at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC.