The bears of Cherokee

The children and I have never had a trip to Cherokee, NC, and I was in need of additional music for my American Indian educational performances so we stopped through from South Carolina to Kentucky. (My repertoire of songs is getting stale, I think.)
I was especially wanting to see the painted bears since my friends Michelle and Mary were in Cherokee some time back and displayed the photos on their Facebook pages. Hayes said she wanted to see all the bears and, given that there were perhaps 20, I think we missed a few. Pottery bear: Sequoyah bear: Tennessee River bear:
Cherokee bear:

Eagle dance bear:

We included visiting the Cherokee Museum and I was impressed with the syllabary project displayed in its art gallery. Individuals took one letter of the Cherokee alphabet and put it into some art form then the pronunciation and an accompanying word was displayed along with it. Here is a 3-year-old's work: I'm thinking this is going to be a good homeschool project!
While seeking out the painted bears, we took this one of the Fish Bear next to the river where Hayes and I sang a Crow water song then collected a rock or two to take home.

I think this will be one of my favorite pictures of the kids. I really could've sat here all day just listening to the water. Does something good for the spirit, you know?
Now, we headed home along the back roads because I-40 had a rock slide. And low and behold, a real live baby bear napping in a tree. How the poor thing could nap is beyond me with all the hub-bub of people getting out to take pictures. And Hayes noted that where there's a baby bear, there's a momma bear and those people were crazy for getting out of their cars!