RONI MITCHELL HAS BEEN NOMINATED AS A 2006 POETRY AMBASSADOR. ARTISTIC POETS FORUM AWARD FOR POEM OF THE WEEK MY POEM,"GIFT OF BLOOD",WAS CHOSEN AWHILE BACK and is the one I am proudest of to date. AS WAS SAID AND I QUOTE, "IT'S LIKE I, CAN HEAR MY FOREMOTHERS,  The May 2006 issue of Autumn Leaves is in cyberspace  and it contains your wonderful poems. You can find them at http://www.sondra.net/al/vol10/103Conquered.htm http://www.sondra.net/al/vol10/103ManifestDestiny.htm http://www.sondra.net/al/vol10/103Jane.htm ANCIENT MYSTERY, MODERATORS CHOICE Award MAY THIRTY FIRST TWOTHOUSAND AND SIX...SMILING. PEOPLE MIGHT CHEAT HERE IN THE BASEMENT, BUT UPSTAIRS AT ARTISTIC POETS FORUM,THINGS ARE FAIR..:) I would love to include this poem " THE BLACK ROBES",in the July 2006 issue of Autumn Leaves. THE POSITIVE SIDE OF LIFE:Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. LIVE, LOVE, LAUGH,   This site is dedicated "To my Family:and in loving memory of my brother;Howard A.Mitchell,William C.Mitchell, "my son",To Raven Le-Fay:My daughter. To those that have supported and encouraged me over the years; M.C.Lewellyn Grandma Katie....My Mother, Myrna Ann Loucks. Roni A Mitchell ~ The Aimless Muse

MY NAME IS RONI. I HAVE BEEN WRITING,FOR AS LONG AS I CAN REMEMBER. RECENTLY, I DISCOVERED,I HAVE SOME NATIVE AMERICAN BLOOD, SO, I HAVE BEEN RESEARCHING, AND WRITING ,ABOUT THAT TOPIC AS WELL OTHERS. FOR ME, THIS FEELS A LOT LIKE "COMMING HOME. NATIVE AMERICAN WISDOM: You have noticed that everything an Indian does in a circle. and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles. and everything and everything tries to be round. In the old days all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation and so long as the hoop was unbroken the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living center of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain and the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance. This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion. Evertyhing the power of the world does is done in a circle, The sky is round and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball. and so are the stars. The wind, in its grestest power, whirls. Bird make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The Moon does the same and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and it is in every thing where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of the birds, and these were always set in a circlem, the nations hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children. okay here is what i have found so far it is kind of hard to follow but i will try to put this as clear as i can our great 3 grandmother was Cheepoake Harris she was a Cheraw Indian full blood who married a fur trader named William Terry who had a daughter they named Ester Terry who married a John Burris who was the son of a fur trader and mother was Amanda who was Indian we believe she was Cherokee but no one is for sure what type of Indian she was just most remember people saying they thought she was Cherokee who gave birth to Ida which is our great grandmother who gave birth to Katherine Burris which is our grandmother from our mothers side of course Ida Burris married James Spencer Price and on down the line we go the Cheraw tribe also known as the Catawba tribe came from Florida originally was removed from Florida up into the Carolina's where most of the tribe died from smallpox and then they started dispersing out and that is how Cheepoake Harris got with William Terry so they wouldn't be put on the Trail of Tears with the Cherokees when they was removing the Indiana to go out west supposedly any descendants of Cheepoake Harris can not be enrolled as being Native it was the deal made when she married the fur trader so they wouldn't be put on the trail of tears and removed not sure if we can fight this or not yet but i am seriously thinking about trying to fight it cause the Cheraw tribe got federal recognition again i think in 1995 as a federally recognized reservation tribe so i would think there should be a way we could fight this but not sure hope this helps you