Cherokee Fire shirt

Fire is an important symbol in Cherokee culture. The drawing is composed of many overlapping flames of words, written in Cherokee syllabary letters. The foundation of the fire (ᎠᏥᎳ, ajila) is the mound of ᎦᏚᎩ (gadugi), or service provided by the community. When we dance around the sacred (ᎠᎸᏉᏗ, galvkwdi*) fire at the ceremonial ground (ᎦᏘᏲ, gatiyo), it is done in an honorable or respectful way (ᎠᏥᎸᏉᏗ, ajilvkwodi); This brings medicine (ᏅᏬᏗ, nvwodi) to the people. This is beautiful (ᎤᏬᏚ, uwodu) and I like that (ᎠᎩᎸᏉᏗ, agilvkwdi). All of these words are inseparable and interlinked, as are the concepts they attempt to communicate. *in Cherokee, v is a vowel sound like the u in run, but nasalised.