"The drum is the heart beat of the earth. This is what the drum beat represents," Diamond told students at Oak Grove Elementary Friday, while rhythmically beating a hide-covered drum. Diamond is a full-blooded Cherokee who has devoted his life to educating children and adults about native culture and protection of the earth. Sitting beside a cloth teepee, amidst an array of hand-crafted artifacts, Diamond dispelled many of the notions we have of natives.

"We don't want to be called Indians," Diamond said. "Indians are people who come from India." He said he and his people prefer being called natives. Also, he is a member of the Cherokee nation, not tribe. "Each nation speaks a different language," he explained.

When it comes to hunting, Diamond said native people always sought the smallest animal. "We hunted for survival and we prayed before a hunt," he said. He added that native communities had no hunger problems and no homeless people.

When a native man married, Diamond said he would go and live with his wife's family. "The women are the leaders."

Diamond also elaborated on the implications of the circle in nature. "We knew the earth was round just by sitting in one place," he said, referring to the early natives. "We learned by watching," he said. "The sun is round, the moon is round, life goes in a circle, we start out as a baby and become a baby again in old age," he said.

Diamond wears his hair long, which is traditional for natives, and tanned hides on his legs. A woven wrap is edged in tiny shells. Pointing out the animal skins displayed on the ground around the teepee, Diamond explained that he did not take the life of any of the creatures. They were all victims of modern man and automobiles.

Diamond travels year round crisscrossing the United States offering his programs. His visit to Oak Grove was possible through the school's PTO in collaboration with Young Audiences.

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