Cultural Vision

The Cherokee Nation Health Service recognizes an obligation to honor our Native heritage in the development of our health care system. This heritage is an ancestral legacy through which we are admonished us to respect the place we live, to protect our children, to hold sacred the place where our ancestors lived and died, and to preserve our Nation for the good of future generations.

It is the spiritual reminder that we belong to something much greater than self alone. It is to acknowledge our place in the Creation and to keep burning the fire between humankind and our Creator. It is the best of all of us, and for this we remain truly grateful to those who have gone before and thankful for those who will come.

In 1994, when the Robert Wood Johnson-funded "Healthy Nation" program was developing in the Cherokee Nation within the Health Promotion/Disease Prevention Office, program manager Lisa Perkins asked tribal member and artist Cora Flute to depict her vision of a "healthy nation." Cora drew a simple, yet poignant picture of a whole family. Father and Mother are present with the child born, and the child to come. A blanket symbolizes the home and unity--the eagle the vision of wholeness and strength. And, in the background are the mountains that represent the original Cherokee homeland. We have been taught to remember our origins as a People--to teach our children, as we were taught, to believe in themselves and in their ability to persevere in the face of even the greatest adversity.