In recent years, the phrase “God gives his toughest battles to his strongest soldiers” has evolved from its originally earnest and spiritual meaning to an ironic online take on the resiliency needed, given the current state of affairs, to maintain day-to-day existence. It’s a rebuke of the idea that if bad things come into our lives, it’s because we know how to handle them — or that we must suffer immensely, with a brave face, in order to grow. 

Four women — Shennelle Feather, Lavita Hill, Shannon Swimmer and Venita Wolfe — were elected to a previously all-male Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tribal council this fall, and they’re ready to make things happen. 

Lavita Hill has dreamed of joining tribal council since high school. 

Painttown’s Shannon Swimmer feels less like she’s taking on responsibility with her new role — and more that she’s “stepping into it.”

Shennelle Feather of Yellowhilll took the leap because she saw the right opportunity. 

Across the United States, Indigenous women face an epidemic of violence that is as urgent as it is often overlooked. For Cherokee families on the Qualla Boundary, these statistics are not abstract as they echo across homes, schools and community gatherings. 

To the Editor:

A recent edition of a local paper described the visit of an Israeli envoy to bring relief supplies to our area after Helene.

Yet, the same country, Israel, bombs Gaza daily killing thousands of Palestinians with bombs made in the United States.

As I peruse the shelves in the Jackson County Library’s “new releases” section, it is evident to me that there are more new titles written by women than by men. And while this may be true in literary circles in much the same way it is in politics these days, many of the storylines in these books being written by women have to do with a feminine renaissance that is going on world-wide.

To the Editor:

I was in my 20s in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Legislative and legal decisions this year brought back memories from those days, and not pleasant ones.

Author Anne Jobe will be hosting a special reading at 6 p.m. Wednesday, May 15, at the Macon County Public Library in Franklin. 

The No Man’s Land Film Festival, the premier all-woman adventure film festival, will screen at New Belgium Brewing’s Liquid Center in Asheville at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28, and it will also stream online. 

By Stefanee Sherman • Rumble Contributor | Women are constantly told to do less, be less, say less. Many times told you’re too much, you're annoying, loud and bossy, the list goes on. We are raised trying to make ourselves smaller, likable and approachable, and on top of that most of us work harder and get paid less. We get told “smile more, you would be prettier,” be nicer, lower your voice, all of these things just to make others feel better about themselves. The thing is, we aren’t too intimidating, you’re just easily intimidated.