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Description
A wonderful woman asked me if I could wrap an arrowhead, to which I replied... sure!

Though she said "It doesn't have to be anything fancy, I would just like to be able to wear one.", I decided to dive into the piece a bit. She is herself 1/4 Cherokee (mom is 1/2 and so on) and told me about the property the family has in the Ozark mountains in Arkansas. One of her ancestors walked the Trail of Tears and eventually the family settled there. The collection of arrowheads they find on the property is incredible, and the pictures she showed of the tables and displays for them was just gorgeous. Despite this, she didn't have one to wear, so I dove into a history lesson of the Cherokee.

What a remarkable society. Things we think of as progressive today were already a part of their culture. For the piece, I decided to focus on a couple of things I learned. Now, to be fair, there is probably a lot of misinformation online, so apologies if I misinterpreted anything, but this was the thought process for the piece:

The figure on the face is that of a female (as it will be worn by one!). The wire that extends across the bottom represents the path through life. It is uphill, as life is a struggle. With most cultures, there is a perspective of direction that most of us think of as a compass. North (blue), South (white), East (red), and West (black). The Cherokee also think of the direction Up (yellow) and Down (brown), and a point, your Center (green). The corresponding colors have other meanings as well. On the back of the piece (Where You Are - multi ) the path leads to a single red bead. The color red represents triumph and success which we hope our path leads to. Below the figure there are 4 connections which represent the 4 cardinal directions. I wanted the piece to be a reminder.

Whatever direction you travel on your path, your center is where you are.

Description
A wonderful woman asked me if I could wrap an arrowhead, to which I replied... sure!

Though she said "It doesn't have to be anything fancy, I would just like to be able to wear one.", I decided to dive into the piece a bit. She is herself 1/4 Cherokee (mom is 1/2 and so on) and told me about the property the family has in the Ozark mountains in Arkansas. One of her ancestors walked the Trail of Tears and eventually the family settled there. The collection of arrowheads they find on the property is incredible, and the pictures she showed of the tables and displays for them was just gorgeous. Despite this, she didn't have one to wear, so I dove into a history lesson of the Cherokee.

What a remarkable society. Things we think of as progressive today were already a part of their culture. For the piece, I decided to focus on a couple of things I learned. Now, to be fair, there is probably a lot of misinformation online, so apologies if I misinterpreted anything, but this was the thought process for the piece:

The figure on the face is that of a female (as it will be worn by one!). The wire that extends across the bottom represents the path through life. It is uphill, as life is a struggle. With most cultures, there is a perspective of direction that most of us think of as a compass. North (blue), South (white), East (red), and West (black). The Cherokee also think of the direction Up (yellow) and Down (brown), and a point, your Center (green). The corresponding colors have other meanings as well. On the back of the piece (Where You Are - multi ) the path leads to a single red bead. The color red represents triumph and success which we hope our path leads to. Below the figure there are 4 connections which represent the 4 cardinal directions. I wanted the piece to be a reminder.

Whatever direction you travel on your path, your center is where you are.