Remain close to the Great Spirit
Show great respect for your fellow beings
Give assistance and kindness wherever needed
Be truthful and honest at all times
Do what you know to be right
Look after the well being of mind and body
Treat the earth and all that dwell thereon with respect
Take full responsibility for your actions
Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good
Work together for the benefit of all mankind

To bring back the natural harmony that humans once enjoyed.
To save the planet from present practices of destruction.
To find and re-employ real truth.
To promote true balance between both genders.
To share and be less materialistic.
To become rid of prejudice.
To learn to be related.
To be kind to animals and take no more than we need.
To play with one's children and love each equally and fairly.
To be brave and courageous, to take a stand and make a commitment.
To understand what Generations Unborn really means.
To accept the Great Mystery in order to end foolish argument over religion.

I call to the East, where the Father ascends
to all Mother Earth where life begins.
I fly through the cedars, pines, willows, and birch
as animals below me wander and search.

I call to the South, to the land down below.
Turtle stands silent, as man strings his bow
to hunt food and fur for his kin before snow.
A life will end so others will grow.

I call to the North, that yansa once knew.
I follow their path til it disappears from view.
Once vast in number, there stand but a few.
I hear only ghost thunder of millions of hooves.

I call to the West, to the ends of the lands,
to the Tsalagi, Kiowa, Comanche ... all bands.
Unite for the strength. Teach the young and demand
that you are Native Americans.
Learn your tongue and stand.

My name is Freedom... I fly through this land.
I call to the Four Sacred Winds of Turtle Island.

This graphic represents the Four Seasons within the Four Directions. 
In Cherokee Mythology each season was a time for specific rituals and ceremonies. 

Winter=go-la 

Winter belongs to the North.
The color for North is Blue which represents sadness, defeat. It is a season of survival and waiting. 
The Cherokee word for North means "cold" u-yv-tlv. 

Spring=gi-la-go-ge 

The color for East is Red which represents victory, power. 
Spring is the re-awakening after a long sleep - victory over winter; the power of new life. 
The Cherokee word for East is ka-lv-gv 

Summer=go-ga 

The color for South is White which represents peace, happiness, serenity.
Summer is a time of plenty. 
The Cherokee word for South means "warm" u-ga-no-wa. 

Autumn=u-la-go-hv-s-di 

The color for West is Black which represents death.
Autumn is the final harvest; the end of Life's Cycle. 
The Cherokee word for West is wu-de-li-gv. 

The symbolic color system was as follows: 
 

East = red = success; triumph
North = blue = defeat; trouble
West = black = death
South = white = peace; happiness

The Red Man, living in the East, is the spirit of power, triumph, and success. The Black Man, in the West, is the spirit of death. The shaman would invoke the Red Man to the assistance of his patient and consign his enemy to the fatal influences of the Black Man. According to Thomas Mails, in his book, "Cherokee People," the mythological significance of different colors were important in Cherokee lore. 

Red

Red was symbolic of success. It was the color of the war club used to strike an enemy in battle as well as the other club used by the warrior to shield himself. Red beads were used to conjure the red spirit to insure long life, recovery from sickness, success in love and ball play or any other undertaking where the benefit of the magic spell was wrought. 

Black

Black was always typical of death. The soul of the enemy was continually beaten about by black war clubs and enveloped in a black fog. In conjuring to destroy an enemy, the priest used black beads and invoked the black spirits- which always lived in the West,-bidding them to tear out the man's soul and carry it to the West, and put it into the black coffin deep in the black mud, with a black serpent coiled above it. 

Blue

Blue symbolized failure, disappointment, or unsatisfied desire. To say "they shall never become blue" expressed the belief that they would never fail in anything they undertook. In love charms, the lover figuratively covered himself with red and prayed that his rival would become entirely blue and walk in a blue path. "He is entirely blue," approximates meaning of the common English phrase, "He feels blue." The blue spirits lived in the North. 

White

White denoted peace and happiness. In ceremonial addresses, as the Green Corn Dance and ball play, the people symbolically partook of white food and, after the dance or game, returned along the white trail to their white houses. In love charms, the man, to induce the woman to cast her lots with his, boasted, "I am a white man," implying that all was happiness where he was. White beads had the same meaning in bead conjuring, and white was the color of the stone pipe anciently used in ratifying peace treaties. The White spirits lived in the South. 

There are three additional sacred directions: 

Up Above = yellow
Down Below = brown
Here in the Center = green 

Cherokee Color Words

yellow	da-lo-ni-ge		black	gv-ni-ge
red	gi-ga-ge		blue	sa-go-ne-ge
purple	gi-ga-ge-s-di		brown	u-wo-di-ge
pink	gi-ga-ge-i-yu-s-di		gray	u-s-go-lv sa-go-ni-ge
white	u-ne-ga		green	i-tse-i-yu-s-di
silver	a-de-lv-u-ne-gv		orange	a-da-lo-ni-ge

Shimmering color arched against grey sky,
Painted by dancing light on air-borne mist.
Wide flung by a sacred Hand...
The Hand that formed of dust and nothingness
The solid Earth below.
Beauty and promise together blended,
Beauty ethereal, promise divine.
Given to grace the clouds and the rain,
Given to bless the world-weary heart...
Shimmers... fades... brightens...
To vanish in brilliance...
Shines through the dark in my soul.

by Red_Unicorn (Barbra Mann)©1997 

"The Children opened the Elder Brother's bag and out of it flew the first Butterflies. Their wings were bright as Sunlight and held all of the colors of the flowers and the leaves, the cornmeal, the pollen and the green pine needles. They were red and gold and black and yellow, blue and green and white. They looked like flowers dancing in the wind! They flew about the heads of the Children and the Children laughed! As those first Butterflies flew, they sang and the Children listened!..."

Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel: all claimed that they were the best, the most important, the most useful, the favorite.

GREEN said: "Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope. I was chosen for grass, trees, leaves - without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority."

BLUE interrupted: "You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing."

YELLOW chuckled: "You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun."

ORANGE started next to blow her trumpet: "I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and pawpaws. I don't hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset, my beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you."

RED could stand it no longer. He shouted out: "I am the ruler of all of you - I am blood - life's blood! I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy."

PURPLE rose up to his full height. He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: "I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me - they listen and obey."

Finally, INDIGO spoke, much more quietly than all the others, but with just as much determination: "Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace."

And so the colors went on boasting, each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening - thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.

In the midst of the clamor, rain began to speak: "You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don't you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me."

Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands. The rain continued: "From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky in a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow."

And so, whenever a good rain washes the world, and a rainbow appears in the sky, let us remember to appreciate one another.