Chooch Helped

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
This is Believe, one network, every topic, everywhere.

**Lisa Bueno** (0:07)
Okay, our friends. So today we are reading a story called Chooch Helped. This story was written by Andrea L. Rogers. It's illustrated by Rebecca Lee Kunz. And I cannot wait to read this story to you because guess what we're gonna learn today?
You're never gonna guess, I'm just gonna tell you. We're going to learn how to say words in a Native American language called Cherokee.
Have you ever heard of Cherokee before? The Cherokee people, the Cherokee Nation?

**SPEAKER_3** (0:46)
Sounds like a bird name.

**Lisa Bueno** (0:48)
It is an interesting name, isn't it? Well, it is the name of a tribe of people who lived here in the United States, before it was the United States. And they have a beautiful language, and we're going to get to hear some of it and learn some of the words.
So buckle up, you guys. Are you ready?

**SPEAKER_3** (1:08)
Yeah.

**Lisa Bueno** (1:09)
Today's story, Chooch Helped, is read by Mommy and... Here we go. This is a baby. We call him Chooch. The word for boy or son in Cherokee is a choocha. The word for girl is a gehuja. But everyone just calls me sissy. Chooch isn't really a baby anymore. We just celebrated his second birthday. Still, whenever Chooch makes a mess, everyone says he's just an oozdee. Let him help. Seems to me oozdee chooch just gets away with everything. What do you think oozdee means? Yeah, maybe.
Elysee, Painted, I'm your girl.
So we can see Elise's mural is beautiful. It's on her wall, and it has flowers and birds and a sun, and it follows a pattern. And Chooch has grabbed up a paintbrush and just smeared paint. Look at all of her beautiful murals.
Did he help?
Eddora tuned up the bicycles. Chooch helped. Well, here is Eddora, and he is working hard, organizing the way that the wheels are, and tightening everything up, making it look right. And Chooch is riding his little tricycle around.
Is he actually helping? Nope. Mm-hmm. Edgy sewed pucker toe moccasins.
Oh, what beautiful work she's doing. We can see the moccasins are shoes, right? Kind of like slippers. And she's sewing them, and she's designing them, and put beautiful flowers on them. And Chooch helped by what is he doing? Looks like he's just kind of tearing at the fabric. Oh dear. Eddudu played guitar.
Chooch helped.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:55)
I'm turning the guitar.

**Lisa Bueno** (3:57)
Yeah, the sister's watching him. And Chooch is reaching up and pulling on the tuning pegs on the guitar, and probably messing up the tuning.
But they say he's helping, right?

**SPEAKER_3** (4:13)
I don't know how he's helping.

**Lisa Bueno** (4:15)
Eddudu made grape dumplings.
Chooch helped. So we can-

**SPEAKER_3** (4:22)
He's dumping out all the flower. You can't make dumplings without flower.

**Lisa Bueno** (4:25)
It's true. He's making a huge mess.
Oogainali kicked crawdads. So what does that mean? Do you know? So he's farming for them. He's harvesting. He's out in the water, trying to get crawdads out of the water. Chooch helped. Well, kind of. Yeah, he's scooping them up, but I don't know if he's helping.
Alochi planted a garden. Chooch helped. And in the picture, there's the beautiful garden that she is planting, and Chooch is literally pulling the plants up by their roots. And laughing about it too, I tried to make a clay pot.
I shouted. I wonder what Heledstee means, but I can tell you what happened when she did it. When she shouted it, Chooch cried. In the pictures, he has reached in and grabbed a hold and has destroyed her pot. The clay has got a hole in it.
My parents yelled, Shouting is no help! I went in my room. I cried. Chooch helped. So in the picture, she's gone into her room and she is upset because he messed up her stuff and she yelled at him. And then her parents told her she's not allowed to yell at her brother. And she was upset. She cried. She went into her room to cry. And he came into her room, and he's wiping away her tears.
My parents called us into the dining room. We're sorry we yelled. And they hugged me. We want to show you something. You know, mom said, when you were rusty, you also used to help. Chooch learns by watching. You're one of his most important teachers.

**SPEAKER_3** (7:01)
I am?

**Lisa Bueno** (7:03)
I wondered. Chooch? I said. Want to learn how to make a pot?
I gave Chooch a ball of clay and he rolled and poked and mushed and pushed. And finally, he had a pot. He wanted to put it in the window to dry. I helped.