Same Moon, Same Stars signifies that together we all live under the same sky and thus, we are all equal.
The artists of this mural are a small team from the Social Justice Program, cohort 7, at Palo Alto High School; they have been studying Cherokee Nation and have created a mural of Kimberly Teehee, the first representative of Cherokee Nation appointed as a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. Her appointment fulfills the 1785 Treaty of New Hopewell and the 1835 Treaty of New Echota. The lack of a Cherokee Nation representative in Congress is only one example of the rights detailed to Cherokee Nation by the US Government that have been neglected for hundreds of years. Since 2019, she has been waiting to be confirmed into the House, and once voted in she will be a non-voting member. Delegate Designee Teehee is an activist and a lobbyist on Native American issues in the United States legislative branch. As of 2023, Teehee has yet to be seated and we encourage our community to urge their elected representatives to honor the treaty.
Land Acknowledgement
The creators of this mural acknowledge our school and mural exists on the land of the Muwekma Ohlone people. These peoples were stripped of their federal recognition as a tribe and declared to be extinct. They represent all known surviving indigenous peoples who trace their lineages to the historic tribes of the San Francisco Bay Area. We recognize, honor, and respect this nation as the traditional stewards of the lands and water on which we now live.
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Elements of Design
Kimberly Teehee
In August 2019, Kimberly Teehee was appointed as the delegate for Cherokee Nation in the United States House of Representatives. Delegate Designee Teehee is placed in the center of the Cherokee Seal to symbolize how she represents many perspectives of the Cherokee Nation.
Cherokee Seal
The seal of the Cherokee Nation contains a seven-pointed star inside of a wreath of oak leaves (blocked by Teehee in our art), symbolizing the eternal flame of the Cherokee people. The points of the star represent the seven traditional Cherokee clans. The arrangement of the 7 seven-pointed stars around the seal is modeled after the Cherokee Nation flag.
“Why Not Now?”
In a September 2019 interview with NowThis, Delegate Designee Teehee said, “Oftentimes I get asked ‘Why’ [seat a delegate now] and my response typically is, ‘Why not now?’ I think the time is right now because the foundation has been laid, we have a more educated congress when it comes to Indian issues, we have a more educated congress when it comes to honoring treaty rights.’” Despite the United States not honoring the Cherokee’s treaty right for so long, the treaties that guarantee this seat are still very much valid and necessary. Indigenous people in the United States today face so many issues stemming from colonialism - and today (if not yesterday) is the perfect time to start addressing them with legislative representation. While Delegate Designee Teehee was appointed in 2019, she still has not been sworn into office by the House. We encourage everyone to send a letter of support to their elected representative at www.cherokeedelegate.com to ask them to honor the treaty by seating Delegate Designee Teehee.
7 Stars
Seven is the most important number in Cherokee culture and history because of the seven directions, generations, and clans. The seven clans are: A-ni-gi-lo-hi (Long Hair), A-ni-sa-ho-ni (Blue), A-ni-wa-ya (Wolf), A-ni-go-te-ge-wi (Wild Potato), A-ni-a-wi (Deer), A-ni-tsi-s-qua (Bird), and A-ni-wo-di (Paint).
Fight for Funding
This shred of a fictional newspaper headline states, “Rep. Teehee and Cherokee Nation fight for Forward Funding of IHS.” Vital Indigenous services such as the Indian Health Service (IHS), are categorized as discretionary funding instead of mandatory funding which means that when the government shuts down, funding for these services stops. This poses a huge problem for the 2.6 million Indigenous peoples who benefit from the Indian Health Service. Delegate Designee Teehee and Cherokee Nation have been fighting for both mandatory funding and forward funding (an additional fiscal year of funding) for vital services. Due to their ongoing activism, the Biden Administration passed the 2023 budget with $9.1 billion dollars of forward funding for the IHS, which will cover two years. While this is a big success for Delegate Designee Teehee and a step in the right direction, she will continue her fight for mandatory funding.
Violence Against Women Act
This shred of a fictional newspaper headline states, “Teehee Fights for Justice for all Indigenous Domestic Violence Victims by Closing Loophole.” During her time as President Obama's Senior Policy Advisor for Native American Affairs, Teehee fought for many tribal causes including public safety, education, and environmental justice. One of her biggest achievements was her support for the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, specifically fighting to close a jurisdictional loophole. Previously, non-Indigenous perpetrators of violence could not be prosecuted by tribal courts, even if they were married to tribal members and lived on a reservation. The 2013 reauthorization of the bill included a provision to allow tribal courts to prosecute non-Indigenous people for domestic violence-related crimes. The VAWA also increases accessibility to emergency housing and ensures survivors of color are supported. The 2022 VAWA reauthorization passed with additional amendments for tribal courts to prosecute crimes of stalking, sexual violence, child violence, and more.
Colors
We chose to paint Delegate Designee Teehee in the colors of the Cherokee flag as it is an important symbol of Cherokee Nation. Typically, Cherokee colors symbolize the cardinal directions: North, East, South, and West. While this holds true for yellow, da lo ni ge, which represents “up above” and green, itse iyusdi ᎢᏤ ᎢᏳᏍᏗ, which represents “here in the center,” Orange, a da lo ni ge, in the flag is shown simply to represent an “orange field.” Furthermore, white, u ne ga, is the cardinal symbol for “South” and also represents peace and happiness. It is said that white bread was used in treaty meetings in order to show the peace they brought then. Black, or gn ni ge, on the other hand, is adjacent to White, representing “West” but opposite in terms of portraying death, as black spirits always lived in the west. Red, gi ga ge, is “East” and shows “Success” and the color a warrior used to protect himself in battle.
Alma Mater
The center of the seal of Delegate Designee Teehee’s alma mater, Northeastern State University. She was involved with the Oklahoma Intercollegiate Legislature (OIL), a student-run mock government group, and was the first person in her family to go to college and took every opportunity to enhance her understanding of government. During her time at NSU, Delegate Designee Teehee was viewed as destined to succeed by her instructors which can be seen by her support for the VAWA and MMIW Act.
Dogwood Bloom
The Dogwood Bloom is a flower found on Dogwood trees, native to the Ozark Mountains. This tree has served many purposes throughout Cherokee history, notably its healing elements. Its leaves can be used to treat certain skin ailments, and its bark can be brewed into a medicinal tea, used to treat anxiety and mild depression.
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Handprint
The handprint represents all the Cherokee women and children that have been taken from their families. It is the symbol of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). The Violence Against Women Act has taken a step toward justice for Indigenous women, but there is still much more work to be done. For more information about MMIW and what you can do to help, please visit the NCAI website and the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.
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About the Artists
Megha Madhabhushi, Class of 2023
Project Manager
When introduced to the 1835 Treaty of New Echota and its drastic effects on the Cherokee, it became quite clear how euro-centric the content taught outside my SJP history classroom is. I was immensely moved by the continued neglect Cherokee Nation faced and the lack of efforts for reparations from the US Government. But, more interesting, was the lack of awareness of Delegate Designee Kimberly Teehee’s fight to get seated amongst my community. This was a relatable feeling as my country—India—never felt properly represented in school either. In order to bring more explicit diversity to Paly, I decided to take charge as Project Manager and make our mural a reality. Through this role, I was able to spearhead a connection between our group and Cherokee Nation and lead to the invitation of Delegate Designee Kimberly Teehee to hear and support our mural proposal in person! I thoroughly enjoyed leading this group to meet self-made deadlines by ordering all materials, organizing mural painting times, getting campus approval, continuously finding ways to promote the mural and Delegate Designee Teehee, and organizing our big reveal event. On the whole, this has been an inspiring and enriching experience!
Samantha Lee, Class of 2023
Communications Lead
Since December 2021 I have been working on the research team and focused on telling Cherokee Nation’s culture, history, and goals correctly - the way they want it to be told. Meeting Delegate Designee Teehee was such an inspiring experience and affirmed my passion for this project. I helped to research, write, and revise our explanation of elements that determined what symbols we included in our art and explained the narrative of our piece. I am especially proud of coming up with the idea for “Why Not Now” which I hope conveys the urgency and importance of Teehee’s seating as well as the two newspaper scrap headlines that highlight the amazing work that Teehee has already done. I am very grateful we were able to work with Cherokee Nation to change the things we say to be fully accurate and the narrative they want to be told. Recently, I have been in charge of creating a website where our explanation of elements, artist’s statement, and calls to action will live forever. Additionally, I wrote our land acknowledgment to the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe.
Kellyn Scheel, Class of 2023
Art Lead
As an artist, I believe art is an imperative tool that is often overlooked in Social Justice, so upon learning about the Treaty of New Echota in my Junior year history class I was inspired to use my artistic talents to bring light to Delegate Designee Teehee and her campaign. I appreciate murals as an agent to create change because of their ability to catch people's attention and spark interest through accurate representation. Throughout the design process, I worked alongside the research team to edit the colors, elements, and layout of the piece as necessary to guarantee a culturally accurate painting, going through around 15 versions before we reached a final design. In order to execute such a large project, we decided to divide the piece into 16 separate panels, each with a paint-by-number design, to enable a larger group to assist with the detailed painting process. While this project was difficult, I am proud of the time and dedication that each team member contributed, and am excited to see my art being used as an agent in creating social change.
Reed Jadzinsky, Class of 2023
Artist
After learning about the Cherokee Nation and the trail where they were forcibly removed in my SJP history class, I knew that I wanted to research these events further. After presenting the idea of working on a mural related to these subjects in class, I decided that I wanted to be a part of this project. I worked closely with the art team to come up with a design that honored Delegate Designee Teehee and Cherokee culture. As a group, we focussed on using elements that represented Delegate Designee Teehee and Cherokee culture, to help spread awareness on the 1835 Treaty of New Echota and the lack of action in following through with the US government’s commitment to seat a Cherokee delegate. Working on this project gave me many amazing opportunities, including obtaining real-world experience, such as solving logistical issues with our school, Cherokee Nation, and Delegate Designee Teehee. The highlight of this project was getting to meet Delegate Designee Teehee.
Rebecca Helft, Class of 2023
Art team and event co-lead
Since the inception of this project, I have been an active member of the artistic team, helping brainstorm what we did, and did not want to include, what we wanted it to look like, and painting the mural. More recently I have begun planning the unveiling event taking place on April 24th, and am so excited to see you all there! I believe that public art is critical to change, so I am very proud of the work this team has put into creating such beautiful, and meaningful artwork.
Ila Perinkulam, Class of 2023
Promotion Team
I am passionate about promoting our mural. I first got interested when we started to learn about the Treaty of New Echota, but I didn’t join the team until this year. I work on posts for the Instagram account (@samemoon.samestars)
McKenna Rausch, Class of 2023
Artist and Communications Contributor
I have been working on multiple aspects of the mural on both the art and communications sides. Sharing Delegate Designee Teehee’s story, as well as some elements of Cherokee Nations culture with my community has been an honor. I hope students see this mural and are inspired to learn more about Cherokee Nation and Delegate Designee Teehee.
Hazel Malik, Class of 2023
Research Team
I have had the distinct privilege of contributing to the inception and triumph of the Same Moon, Same Stars mural. Collaborating with my exceptionally gifted colleagues, we have collectively crafted a masterpiece that has left a profound, positive imprint on our community. My role in promoting the mural involved helping to compose an artist statement on behalf of our talented team, as well as orchestrating a highly effective due diligence process. I am profoundly grateful for this enriching experience, which has indelibly shaped my perspective and approach to life.
Harvey Vostrejs, Class of 2023
Promotion Team
Working with the Cherokee Nation on this project has been incredible. It’s been an honor to work with everyone to create this mural. Doing research on both historical and current events has been enlightening. I hope that this mural will inspire others to learn about both Delegate Designee Teehee and the history of the Cherokee Nation. By remembering and learning, stories stay alive. By forgetting, we repeat the same mistakes. It has been a privilege to participate in this project.
Evie Kramer, Class of 2023
Research Team
I have helped research, plan, and paint the Same Moon, Same Stars mural. It has been an honor to work on a project with such an inspiring group of students dedicated to a woman we are all inspired by. I hope this mural will teach others more about the Treaty of New Echota, help them think critically about U.S. History, and get Delegate Designee Teehee seated.
Anna Wingard, Class of 2023
Art Team
I took the initiative of working on this mural as a way to put what I have learned in class into an artistic setting that educates the real world on something very important to me. As a person of Indigenous heritage, I have enjoyed helping come up with ideas for the mural itself, painting it, as well as pitching in ideas for the title of the mural. This project has inspired me through the culture and teamwork that it took to pull it all together.
Eric Bloom
Teacher
A Paly History & Social Science teacher for 25 years and co-founder of the Social Justice Pathway, I am an advocate for student agency and project-based learning. Inspired by Diego Rivera's Pan American Unity Mural at SFMoma, I created the Prototype of a Mural Panel project as a way for students to examine western expansion in the 19th century, the Treaty of New Echota, and the Trail of Tears. The project asked them to look deeper at the relationship between Indigenous peoples of the Americas and the people of the United States and as a way for students to research and represent various topics related to The Treaty of New Echota. After the project finished, the students above asked if they could create a “real” mural - 500+ days of design, research, proposal writing, communication with all the interested parties we have, Same Moon, Same Starts. It is a remarkable, truly student-centered work, that highlights their capacity to do extraordinary things when I just get out of their way.