The Athletes Unlimited Softball League (AUSL) celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day, highlighting Bandits utility player Cori McMillan.
McMillan is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Cori’s grandmother on her father’s side, Erma McMillan, lives in Cherokee on the Qualla Boundary in western North Carolina and has been the connector in Cori’s life to the culture and history.
When Cori would go visit her grandmother on the weekends, she knew what would be on the menu. On Fridays, Erma always made spaghetti. Then on Saturdays, she would make fry bread.
Sometimes called an “Indian Taco,” fry bread’s history is placed in the strife and trauma in the Native American fight for survival. In the mid-1800s, when the United States government forcibly removed many Indigenous Peoples from their ancestral homelands, it disrupted not only their way of life but also traditional foodways. Dependence on government-rationed commodities, such as powdered, preserved, and dry goods, was common. With these ingredients available, fry bread became a recipe across many tribes.
Cori, her aunt, uncle, and cousins would share fry bread on Saturdays together, topped with deer meat chili, lettuce, and tomato.
Food isn’t the only way Erma connects the family’s Indigenous heritage.
“Her Christmas tree is the most decorated thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Cori said. “She’s so proud of it; she takes hours putting it up.”
Erma’s tree is covered in handmade woven and beaded ornaments. She also collects woven baskets that adorn the shelves throughout her home.
“It just means so much. It shows a lot of the culture and what it’s about, and I just love learning about all of it from her,” Cori said.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Nation, and Cherokee people generally, are traditionally organized into seven distinct clans: the Wolf, Deer, Bird, Long Hair, Wild Potato, Blue, and Paint clans. Cori and the McMillan families are members of the Wolf clan. These clans are central to culture and social structure, with kinship and responsibilities often passed down through the matriarch.
Erma is the secretary of the Cherokee Historical Association and is a valued alumna of Oconaluftee Indian Village. She worked in Cherokee Central Schools, serving preschool children with special needs, before retiring.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is meant to encourage reflection, recognition, and celebration of Indigenous peoples in the United States. It celebrates the diversity of Indigenous peoples and their contributions to American history and culture. Cori is the first indigenous athlete to compete in the AUSL.
