My Cherokee Ancestors

My great grandmother was Sarah Jane Townsend Cloud. She was an enrolled tribal member of the Cherokee Nation. Her great, great grandfather was Chief Charles Renatus Hicks. Like many Cherokee he was baptized by the Moravian missionaries and received the name Renatus which means “born again”. He became chief after the death of Pathkiller. Another of her ancestors was Chief Broom who was Chief of Broomtown in the old Cherokee Nation before the Trail of Tears. Sarah’s husband, my great grandfather was James Laomner Cloud. He is a descendant of Bryan Ward, the husband of Nanyehi (or Nancy Ward in English) who was known as the Gigau or “beloved woman” of the Cherokee . Grandfather Cloud was also descended from Chief Old Hop of the old Cherokee Nation before the Trail of Tears.

By Don

I am a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, born within the fourteen county boundaries.  When I was young my father was on the radio as "the voice of the Cherokee Nation" .  I lived in a log house in Salina with one cold water faucet and an outhouse in back.  I have worked in the computer field since the days of punch cards. In the military I was in the Air Force during Vietnam, and in the navy on both ballistic missile and fast attack submarines. While in the navy I wrote a program adopted for use aboard all U.S. submarines. Then assigned to submarine development squadron twelve, I wrote tactical and intelligence programs. After the military my focus was on computer based learning.  I created the first online school to combine automated lessons and grading with live instant help, shared whiteboard, and tutors.  Working with family members we launched and sold several virtual schools around the world.