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Editorials - 08/02/01

Bushyhead spoke out to preserve dialect
Robert Bushyhead was a voice to be reck-oned with, and one that commanded respect. But that respect was never just for himself. He spoke for the entire Cherokee Nation. And because he spoke out, today the Kituhwa dialect is preserved. It's preserved at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh, at the Cherokee Indian Museum, on countless videotapes and in curriculum textbooks in Cherokee schools.

As a youngster attending government boarding school, he was punished for speaking Cherokee. But that didn't stop him. In fact, it fueled his life's ambition of preserving the Cherokee language. łNo other language sounds exactly like it... it has a flow, a rhythm that is beautiful. And once you lose that rhythm, then, of course, you're lost," he often said.

Bushyhead died Saturday at the age of 86. With his passing, we all lost another precious link to our past.

We join the Cherokee nation in mourning his loss. Thankfully, the rhythm of his work lives on each time the Kituhwa dialect is spoken.

Goals of breastfeeding week need our support


During National Breastfeeding Week we'd like to join our local health department in sup-porting this most natural means of providing proper nutrition and nurture to infants.

Babies who are breastfed are healthier because infants are rarely allergic to their mother's milk, unlike some children's reaction to formula. Breastfeeding also lowers the risk of food allergies, colic and asthma. Human milk provides antibodies that protect babies from common childhood illnesses, like ear infections and colds.

Nursing a baby provides documented benefits to the mother as well. A mother's uterus has been shown to return to its normal size more quickly when she breastfeeds her infant. Other advantages to the mother include no bottle to wash, no formula to mix or buy and an easier time of loosing weight in the months after birth. Breastfeeding benefits both mother and baby as they enjoy this unique time together.

We're glad our health department is committed to providing the information and support mothers need to successfully breastfeed their infants, and we encourage every new mother to take advantage of this quality service.

We may live in the most technologically-advanced age the world has ever known, but Mother Nature is still the expert when it comes to nourishing babies.

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