 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Interactive Map - Places to Go - Tidbits & Shopping - Lodging & Contacts |
|
Sites in Cherokee "We're trying to educate and entertain. With our new exhibit, children stop and listen and learn as they go through. After visitors tour the museum, they will know who the Cherokee are, and why we are still here..." The Museum of the Cherokee Indian, a non-profit organization located on the Qualla Boundary, tells the story of the Cherokee people and sets the scene for the Cherokee Heritage Trails. Here the Cherokee community presents its perspective on its own history and culture. The museum's new high-tech exhibit, installed in 1998, takes the visitor from 11,000 years ago to the present. Cherokee people were involved in creating the exhibit: elders as well as scholars consulted on the script; life size figures were created from full-body casts of local people; and many of the voices in the audio portions of the exhibit come from tribal members. This new award-winning exhibit combines artifacts with interactive technology, special effects, and colorful graphics. At the Cherokee Voices Festival in June, Cherokee people demonstrate crafts, tell stories, perform music, and do traditional dance. Elders who do not usually travel long distances to festivals often participate in this event. Throughout the summer and fall, Cherokee artists and crafts people exhibit and demonstrate inside the museum. Because of its arts activities, the museum has been designated a Primary Arts Organization by the North Carolina Arts Council. In addition to public events, the museum sponsors classes taught by Cherokee master artists for Cherokee youth and adults in order to help preserve and perpetuate the language, music, basket making, and other traditions... Contact: Ken Blankenship, Executive Director. The Qualla Arts and Crafts Co-op sells only the best quality crafts, hand-made with natural materials by Cherokee people. Here you will find meticulously made baskets, pottery, woodcarving, bead work, jewelry, dolls, blowguns, and other items. But the co-op is more than another crafts store. For more than fifty years, it has provided year-round income for Cherokee crafts people by buying crafts during the winter as well as during the summer tourist season. Profits are shared with all co-op members, who must be enrolled in the Eastern Band. The co-op has helped Cherokee traditions survive, and has held high standards for their quality. In the process, it has become one of the most successful Native American crafts cooperatives in the country. In addition to the sales area, an exhibit room provides information
on crafts traditions through displays of materials, photographs
of the process of creation, and examples of work. The Qualla Co-op
is a non-profit organization that has been active in supporting
crafts throughout the region as a member of the Southern Highlands
Handicraft Guild and one of the founding members of Handmade in
America. Its work and its members have been documented in three
videos: "Cherokee Basketmakers," "Cherokee Woodcarvers,"
and "Cherokee Potters." Contact: Jackie Bradley, Director Qualla Arts and Crafts,
P.O. Box 310 Cherokee NC 28719 Oconaluftee Indian Village and Living History Museum The Oconaluftee Indian Village and Living History Museum portrays
an eighteenth century Cherokee village on a large site on the mountainside
above the town of Cherokee. Cherokee people demonstrate carving,
weaving, pottery, dugout canoe making, flint knapping, blowgun making,
and other traditional crafts as they would have been done in the
1700's. They work in a setting of natural beauty and authentic reconstructions
of Cherokee architecture. Expert guides lead you along the village's
paths, among streams and rhododendrons, taking you to houses constructed
of woven saplings plastered with mud, early log cabins, and brush
arbors. Their tour includes stops at a council house and dance grounds,
where guides lecture on Cherokee history, culture, language, government,
and traditions. When the hour-long tour is finished, you can also
visit a nineteenth century cabin and Cherokee garden. Delighting thousands of visitors annually, from kindergartners through senior citizens, "The Village," as it is locally known, makes history come alive. Its interpretation of Cherokee culture by contemporary Cherokee people, is based on both scholarly research and Cherokee oral tradition. Contact: Manager, Oconaluftee Indian Village Cherokee Historical
Association, P.O. Box 398 Cherokee NC 28719.
When you walk into Bigmeet Pottery you see portraits of all the
Principal Chiefs of the Eastern Band, along with a century of crafts
made by local people. Louise Bigmeet Maney and her husband John
Henry Maney created this pottery studio, retail shop, and exhibit
space. Louise passed away in 2001, and was designated a "Beloved
Woman" posthumously by the Eastern Band. Louise's family members were potters for generations. Her great
grandmother, Iwi Catolster, was photographed making pottery by M.R.
Harrington for the Smithsonian near the turn of the 20th century. Contact: Bigmeet Pottery, P.O. Box 583 Cherokee, NC 28719
Talking Trees at Oconaluftee Island Park In the middle of downtown Cherokee, the Oconaluftee Island Park
has become a haven for walking, wading, picnicking, and just sitting
by the river. All summer, children build dams and dikes of river
stones out from the shore to make wading pools, and then the winter
rains and spring floods wash the stones back to the shoreline, ready
for another season of creative rock piling. In addition to the natural
magic of water, sun, and river stones, this park has talking trees. Created by the Eastern Band and the agricultural extension office, Talking Trees at Oconaluftee Island Park gives voice to the trees through audio installations on a walking trail around the island. The push of a button activates voices in Cherokee and English languages speaking for the black cherry, yellow poplar, Carolina silverbell, shortleaf pine, sycamore, butternut, red maple, flowering dogwood, and the river itself. Traditional Cherokee religion believes that all living things are our relatives and can speak to us in a spiritual sense. Here one can enjoy the stories of trees as well as walking, picnicking under the gazebo, or just sitting with one's feet in the river. Contact: Agricultural Extension Office, Cherokee NC 28719. Sites near Cherokee Mingo Falls, called Big Bear Falls in the Cherokee language, cascades
two hundred feet nearly straight down past granite boulders and
rhododendrons one of the most beautiful waterfalls of the mountains.
But you must hike up to meet it—161 rough-hewn steps built
along the rushing creek that descends from the falls. At the top
of the stairway a short path leads to a bridge at the base of the
falls, a safe place to stand and take in the sight. Cherokee people
who live on the Qualla Boundary enjoy this waterfall as one of the
beautiful places to visit on tribal land. As you travel up Big Cove Road to Mingo Falls, you enter a part of the Qualla Boundary that is geographically remote, where people speak the Cherokee language a little differently, and where many of the old traditions are practiced. Kalvnyi, the Raven Place, as Big Cove is known in Cherokee, is a large watershed around Raven's Fork and its tributaries. Big Cove's remote woods and creeks have been home to some of the Eastern Band's most respected tradition bearers, who have kept alive and passed on to succeeding generations the myths, songs, dances, and medicine formulae of the Cherokee. Contact: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, P.O., Box 455
Cherokee NC 28719
William Holland Thomas Marker at Campground Cemetery A white child whose father died before he was born, William Holland
Thomas became the adopted son of Yonaguska and helped the Cherokees
remain together as a tribe on their land in western North Carolina
through Removal the Trail of Tears, the Civil War, and after. He
was known as Will Usdi, or Little Will because of his short stature,
but his efforts played a large part in enabling the Eastern Band
to continue to live in the mountains of western North Carolina as
they do today. At Campground Cemetery, near the original location
of Quallatown, a large granite marker commemorates this "friend
and benefactor of the Cherokee people." Located at the corner of the Campground Cemetery, this marker
symbolizes Thomas' importance to the Cherokee, although his actual
remains lie in the Hazelwood Cemetery in Haywood County. Many of
Thomas' papers and diaries, along with his portrait and his traveling
trunk now belong to the Museum of the Cherokee Indian. Thomas helped
the Cherokee to remain in North Carolina after the Trail of Tears
and to acquire legal rights, serving as their representative from
1839 to 1867, a period in which the rights of Native people were
not generally recognized. He also organized and led the Thomas Legion,
made up of Cherokees and mountaineers, which fired the last shots
of the Civil War in North Carolina. Contact : Cherokee United Methodist Church P.O. Box 367
Cherokee NC 28719
Yonaguska and the Gospel of Matthew The New Echota Press in Georgia published the Gospel of Matthew
in 1829, translated into Cherokee language and syllabary by Rev.
Samuel Worcester and Elias Boundinot. A copy of the gospel made
its way to the "Kituhwa Cherokee" on the Oconaluftee. Yonaguska, as peace chief, insisted that this be read to him before it was circulated among the people. His comment still circulates in oral tradition today: "It seems to be a good book. Strange that the white people are not better, after having had it so long." Side trips Kituhwa was the first Cherokee village, and the Kituhwa Mound
was its center, according to Cherokee myth and legend and according
to the beliefs of Cherokee people today. Bordered by the Tuckaseegee
River and the low hills of the Smokies that rise all around it before
giving way to the slopes of Thomas Ridge and Clingman's Dome, the
Kituhwa Village held the sacred fire. This place named the Cherokee
people: Ani-Kituwagi was what they called themselves. While they
also called themselves Ani-Yvwiya, the real people or principal
people, and their neighbors used the word Chalaque, meaning those
of foreign speech, the name of this particular place distinguished
them as a people from all others. Contact: Cultural Resources Office of the Eastern Band of
Cherokee Indians, P.O. Box 455, Cherokee NC 28719
Deep Creek The cold clear waters of Deep Creek rush over rocks and gather
in pools for miles, running downward between two high ridges covered
with hardwood forests and many varieties of wildflowers. The creek
gets its name from being deep down between the two ridges, but is
not in itself deep except in a few "holes." A wide trail follows
beside the creek, crossing back and forth on bridges as one rapidly
ascends the lower slopes of Clingman's Dome, or Kuwahi. Here one
experiences the mountains intimately - ferns brush against bare
legs, delicate wildflowers catch the eye, rumbling water makes background
music as it freshens the air with spray. Now part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park's half-million
acres in North Carolina and Tennessee, Deep Creek can be accessed
through Bryson City, which is about seven miles from the town of
Cherokee. Miles of trails extend into the park from here, used by
hikers, horseback riders, mountain bikers, fishermen, and in the
summer, "tubers" who carry large, inflated inner tubes
a mile up the creek and then float back down in the refreshingly
icy waters. An outfitter can provide horseback tours. Campsites
for tents and RV's are available here, as are rest rooms, and a
large picnic shelter for group events. Primitive campsites can be
found farther up the trails. Contact: Deep Creek Campground 1912 East Deep Creek Rd. Bryson City 28713
Oconaluftee watershed Mtn. Farm Museum and Clingman's Dome Oconaluftee Visitors Center/ Mountain Farm Museum The Mountain Farm Museum depicts rural agricultural life in the
Appalachians, and serves as the center for the National Park Service
as you enter the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from the Cherokee
side. Although presented as an Appalachian farm, it also represents
Cherokee farms during the same period, 1820 - 1920. During the summer,
living history demonstrations of farm life include some Cherokee
people from the Qualla Boundary. A new walking trail along the Oconaluftee
River connects the Mountain Farm Museum and the Qualla Boundary
and provides interpretation on wayside signs about the cultural
and spiritual significance of mountains for the Cherokee. Situated in an open field below high hills, the farmstead includes
a two-story log house from the 1840's. The house is furnished, down
to the leather britches (dried beans) hanging by the fireplace.
Historic structures include a large barn, pig pens, corn cribs,
split rail fence, drovers' barn, and outbuildings. Inside the visitor
center, a new hands-on Discovery Center allows visitors to explore
the diversity of the mountain ecosystem. Contact: Mountain Farm Museum, Great Smoky Mountains National
Park, 150 Hwy. 441 North Cherokee NC 28719
Known as Kuwahi or Mulberry Place to the Cherokee, this high peak
was one of four mountain peaks under which the bears had their townhouses,
where they would gather to dance before going to their dens to sleep
for the winter. According to Cherokee mythology the Magic Lake was
also located here - where sick and wounded bears would go for healing.
To human eyes, however, the magic lake just looked like clouds filling
the valleys from the vista of the mountaintop. When Removal threatened
the Cherokee, these slopes became a refuge for those who hid in
their rugged terrain. More importantly, however, this mountain was
held sacred by the Cherokee. The legends say that at one time, medicine
people came here to fast and pray, and they received instructions
from the Creator on how to live. These instructions were brought
down the mountain and given to the people at the village of Kituhwa. Kuwahi became Clingman's Dome, named for Thomas Clingman, senator
from North Carolina, who in the mid-nineteenth century disputed
with Edwin Mitchell the most accurate way to measure the height
of mountains. Although the senator argued that another peak in the
Black Mountains was highest, Clingman's Dome, at 6,643 feet, is
the highest peak in the Smokies, while Mt. Mitchell, in the Black
Mountain Range east of Asheville, is the highest peak east of the
Mississippi. Contact: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 150 Hwy. 441
North Cherokee NC 28719
According to Cherokee legend, the giant Judaculla jumped from his
farm high on Tanasi to the creek below, landing on a rock. The scratches
made by his landing can be seen today on "Judaculla Rock,"
located on Caney Fork. The spirals, circles, squiggles, and figures
carved into this large soapstone rock suggest maps, messages, and
the iconography of legends, but have not been interpreted. The rock
itself may have served as a source of soapstone for making bowls
during the Archaic period, about five thousand years ago. The carvers
who removed the bowl forms created the hollowed-out surface of the
rock that now exists. Designs carved into the surface of the rock
include crosses in circles, hands, spear throwers, and sun symbols
that may come from the Mississippian period of Cherokee culture.
(C. 900-1500 A.D.) The rock itself lies among meadows and low hills on an ancient
trail, with a spring nearby. Above Judaculla Rock, in the watershed
drained by Caney Fork, several legendary sites associated with Judaculla
mark the rough high country that separates the watersheds of the
Tuckaseegee River and the Pigeon River. His farm was Judaculla Old
Fields, about a hundred acres on the slope of Tennessee Bald that
can be viewed from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Judaculla's Dance Hall
became known as Devil's Courthouse. Beyond them, Looking Glass Rock
and Pilot Knob are also associated with Judaculla in Cherokee stories. Contact: Jackson County Administration Office 401 Grindstaff
Cove Rd. Sylva NC 28779
The Mountain Heritage Center of Western Carolina University sits
on an old Cherokee town site on Cullowhee Creek, which drains into
the Tuckaseegee. The village mound was located between the Mountain
Heritage Center and the Continuing Education Building near Cullowhee
Creek, which runs through campus. At the Mountain Heritage Center, displays and exhibits feature
Cherokee artifacts. Their permanent exhibit provides information
on the origins of white Appalachian culture, "The Scots-Irish Migration."
Their annual festival, Mountain Heritage Day, attracts 40,000 people
and regularly features some Cherokee craft demonstrators and performers.
For more information on this event, see the end of this chapter.
Western Carolina University offers a minor in Cherokee studies and
maintains a satellite office on the Qualla Boundary. Contact: Tyler Blethen, Director, Mountain Heritage Center
Western Carolina University Cullowhee NC 28723
Haywood County - Cataloochee Valley NPS "Some men were working over in what we call Cataloochee now. A big storm came up lightning, thunder, rain, a big wind storm. And they saw it coming. It was coming fast, and they were looking for shelter... This high valley was used for hunting by the Cherokee and their
ancestors and was home to them and to white Appalachian settlers
before becoming part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
in 1934. Today, visitors can marvel at old growth trees on Boogerman
Trail, can sight abundant wildlife, including newly-released elk,
and can find still-standing Victorian houses and old country churches. Peaks reaching beyond 5,000 feet high encircle this 10,000 acre
valley: Cataloochee Divide, Balsam Mountains, Chiltoes Mountain,
Spruce Mountain, and Mount Stirling. The streams of Caldwell Fork
and Rough Fork drain into Cataloochee Creek at about 3,000 feet
elevation at the lowest point of the valley. People lived here in
small settlements as long as 5,000 years ago, and also stayed in
hunting camps. White settlers lived here from 1830-1934, and some
of their descendants still hold "homecomings" at the church in Cataloochee
Valley. Almost all of the Great Smoky Mountains were logged in the early
twentieth century, but some pockets of old growth trees remain,
such as the stand located up Boogerman Fork Trail. Today, under
the management of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cataloochee
valley offers miles of trails for hiking and horseback riding, trout
fishing, camping, and picknicking. It is a favorite area for local
horseback riders. The only difficulty in visiting Cataloochee Valley
is its rough access road - a one lane gravel road with switchbacks
ascending Cataloochee Divide from the east. Roads within the park
are both paved and gravel. On the way from Maggie Valley to Cataloochee
Valley, the privately-owned Cataloochee Ranch offers accommodations,
dining, horseback riding, outdoor recreation, and during the summer,
evening sessions of Cherokee storytelling and dance. Contact: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 150 Hwy. 441
North Cherokee NC 28719 Blue Ridge Parkway sites from Cherokee to Spruce Pine "I keep going back to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's statement up on top of Clingman's Dome area - it was actually Newfound Gap - but he looked out over the terrain and he said, "The savages have had this land for so long," and he pointed out to the beautiful mountains and he said, "They've done nothing. And look what we have done in only a few years." And he pointed down to this big gap that they'd cut into the mountainside... The Blue Ridge Parkway ends (or begins) in Cherokee. From here,
you can "ride the ridges," seeing the vistas of Cherokee
territory from the Qualla Boundary to Mount Mitchell. But the Parkway
offers more than vistas. Visit the home of the first man and woman
in Cherokee mythology: Kanati and Selu at Shining Rock Wilderness,
south of Cold Mountain. Stop at the Folk Art Center near Asheville
to shop for Cherokee baskets and contemporary crafts. Climb Mount
Mitchell, highest peak east of the Mississippi, called "Black
Mountain" by the Cherokee. As you travel the Parkway anywhere from middle Virginia south
you can look out at the vistas and know that everything in sight
was once Cherokee territory. The Cherokee trails followed the mountain
ridges, in some cases near Parkway routes. The old Indian trails
and buffalo migration trails also became the Appalachian Trail in
some places. The Cherokee typically lived in villages along rivers
and creeks at lower elevations than the Blue Ridge Parkway, but
during the winter, Cherokee men made hunting camps on the higher
elevations, much like people during the Paleo-Indian period eleven
thousand years ago. In Saltville, Virginia, American Indian artifacts
more than 14,000 years old have recently been discovered. (The antiquity
of this location has been recognized for centuries, however; a mastodon
tooth from this site was sent to President Thomas Jefferson.) Contact: Blue Ridge Parkway, 400 BB&T Building, One
Pack Square, Asheville NC 28801 Raven Fork View - Milepost 467.9, elevation
2,400 feet. This overlook provides a view of the Raven Fork river, referred to on the sign as Raven's Ford. This overlook stands on the ridge overlooking the Big Cove area of the Qualla Boundary, the watershed of the Raven Fork River and its tributaries. Called "kalanv" in Cherokee language and "corvus corax" in Latin terminology, the raven is a glossy black bird about two feet long, larger than a crow, with distinctive pointed feathers at its neck. Part of Cherokee mythology, and known around the world, this bird has become rare and is now seen mostly in remote areas and at higher elevations. Ravens tend to roost together in rock cliffs, and place names throughout the Appalachians mark their presence. When flying, they sometimes fold one wing and somersault through the air. The Raven Rock Dancers The Raven Rock Dancers include some of the children and grandchildren of Walker Calhoun, who leads the group with his singing and drumming. Walker Calhoun has maintained Cherokee dance traditions for his generation from his home near the Raven Rock cliffs. Awarded the National Endowment for the Arts Folk Heritage Award in 1993, for his role in maintaining and passing on traditions, Calhoun says that dances are a form of prayer, a way of honoring the animals and honoring the Creator. He says that the dances are what makes Cherokee religion different from Christian religion. View of Thomas Divide Milepost 464.5, elevation 3,735 feet. From the parking area, Thomas Divide appears as a high ridge ahead
and to your left. It runs northwest to join the spine of the Great
Smoky Mountains along the North Carolina-Tennessee border. The Thomas
Divide Trail runs along the top of Thomas Ridge leading towards
Tennessee. During the Civil War, the Thomas Legion of Cherokees
and mountaineers guarded the Qualla Boundary by keeping lookouts
on top of this ridge. Today, this overlook is also known for a strange phenomenon much
like the better-known Brown Mountain lights, which can be viewed
from the Parkway near Asheville. During the late summer months,
particularly, strange lights can be seen forming in the valley and
moving up the cove toward the top of Thomas Divide. Local residents
come about sunset to park, watch, and wonder. Also at this overlook, many Carolina silverbell saplings are growing throughout the woods. This beautiful and rare native tree (Halesia caroliniana) is found mainly in the southern Appalachians. Big Witch Gap - Milepost 461.6, elevation 4,150
feet. Big Witch Gap and Big Witch Tunnel are named for a Cherokee man
Tskil-e-gwa. Today, the Cherokee community here is still known as
the Big Witch community. Big Witch died in 1897, at that time the
oldest man of the tribe, who remembered the Creek War of 1812-14.
He was reputed to be a skilled medicine man and herbalist as well
as someone who knew the rituals for killing an eagle so that its
feathers could be used for sacred ceremonies. Lickstone Ridge Overlook - Milepost 458.9, elevation
5,150 feet. Lickstone Ridge is a broad, flat -topped mountain running roughly
southwest. This overlook provides a panoramic view of most of the
Qualla Boundary. This tract of land, the Qualla Boundary, was not given to the
Cherokee by the federal government, so it is not technically a reservation,
although people call it that. Instead, this land was owned by Cherokee
individuals who purchased it with their own money following the
Removal in 1838. A few individuals held individual tracts of land
in their own names through the Treaty of 1819. Most Cherokees, concerned
about their legal status, put their land in William Thomas' name
until North Carolina recognized the Cherokee as a corporation in
1889.
Soco Gap - Milepost 455.7 Elevation 4,340 feet. A gap is a place where mountain ridges dip down or intersect,
creating a way for travelers to cross over the mountain. Many gaps
are at high elevations, and while some can be seen as part of the
skyline, others can be perceived only by passing through them. Soco Gap has been recognized for centuries by the Cherokees as
one of the gateways into their country. Its names reflect this:
"Ambush place" or ahalunvyi, referring to an encounter
with the Shawnees. Another name applied to a place nearby is: "Where
the Spaniard is thrown in the water" or Askwan digugv yi referring
to a place on Soco Creek near present-day Rocky Branch church. Soco
Gap was also the location of the legendary encounter between Tecumseh
and Junaluska, about 1811, when Junaluska refused Tecumseh's request
that the Cherokee unite with them to fight the whites. Today the Cherokee use "Soco" to refer to the road over the mountain, the gap itself, and the creek. A waterfall, Soco Falls, can be glimpsed from Rt. 19 on the Qualla Boundary, and is more visible in the winter. Soco also refers to the community of people who live on the Qualla Boundary near the foot of this mountain, in Wolfetown. A weaving and quilting pattern invented by Cherokee women in the 1930's looks like trails and mountains and was named "Soco Gap." This point on the Parkway accesses U.S. 19 which goes to Cherokee,
eight miles west, or to Waynesville, 13 miles east. Traveling east
Highway 19 passes through the resort area of Maggie Valley. A North
Carolina Historic Highway marker describing the Junaluska-Tecumseh
encounter can be found on Rt. 19 just off the Parkway. View of Hornbuckle Valley milepost 453.4, elevation
5,105 feet. The head waters of Hornbuckle Creek begin near the Parkway, and
the creek has created a cove leading down into Soco Creek, which
in turn runs into the Oconoluftee River. At this point the Plott
Balsam mountain range extends like giant wings on both sides of
the Parkway. "The creek is named for my father, James Hornbuckle. He died in 1896 at about 60. He served in the Union Army, enlisted in Knoxville, Tennessee, Company D, 3rd regiment under Major W.W. Rollins of Asheville... Waterrock Knob Milepost 451.2 Elevation 5,718 Here at the junction of two mountain ranges, the Plott Balsams
and the Great Balsams, you have a 360-degree view of the southern
Appalachians. The elevation of Waterrock Knob is 6,292 feet, and
the peak can be reached by a steep, half-mile hiking trail. The
spring that gives this peak its name is located off the trail. The new Visitors Center includes several displays. One describes
the black bear and its habitat. Another, with a life-sized tree,
describes the insects, diseases, and conditions that are killing
trees in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A map describes
the Snowbird Mountains as viewed in the distance. Publications on
sale here include numerous selections on the Cherokee. The new Visitors
Center is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week from May through
October, with rest rooms. Parking lot has room for cars and buses. Rabb Knob Overlook - Milepost 441.9 elevation 3,370 This overlook provides a view of Balsam Gap. Although gaps may provide the lowest point to cross a mountain range, they can still be quite high themselves, and Balsam Gap illustrates this, with an elevation higher than some mountains in the Blue Ridge Range. When you drive Route 23 and 74, the four-lane road between Waynesville and Sylva, you are driving through Balsam Gap. This route was used by Native Americans for centuries, perhaps thousands of years, as a natural gateway from the watershed of the Pigeon River west into the watersheds of the Tuckaseegee and Little Tennessee Rivers. Cowee Mountains Overlook - Milepost 430.7 Elevation 5,960 feet. At this overlook, a wayside exhibit shows the outline of the mountain
ridges and their names. It shows where the Little Tennessee River
cuts through the mountains, on the far side of the Cowee range,
running north from its head waters in present-day Rabun County,
Georgia. Wave upon wave of mountain vistas look much the same as
they have for thousands of years. The Little Tennessee River Valley, from the river's headwaters north to the Nantahala River, was the location of no less than fifteen Cherokee towns at the beginning of the eighteenth century. Today, modern towns and communities stand on several of these places, and highways follow the old trails in some locations. View of Tanassee Bald - Judaculla Old Fields - Milepost 423.7 Tanassee Bald lies on the south side of this mountain, facing
away from the Parkway. Its English name comes from Tanassee Creek,
which flows down from it into the Tuckaseegee. In the Cherokee language,
it is called Tsu ne gun yi or "There where it is white."
Because this was believed to be the farm of the mythical slant eyed
giant, it is also known as Tsunegun yi tsul kalu or Judaculla Old
Fields. From here the giant was said to jump down onto Judaculla
Rock, making the petroglyphs we can see there today. Judaculla Rock
is located on Caney Fork Creek, about twelve miles west of the bald
and two thousand feet lower. The Cherokee respected the balds found throughout the mountains and believed that the Nunnehi, the mythical spirit people, kept them cleared so that the eagles could hunt rabbits there. Scientists have not been able to explain their existence. Devil's Courthouse Milepost 422.4 Elevation 5,462 feet "The Devil's Courthouse" rises ominously above the Blue
Ridge Parkway. This bare rock summit is best viewed traveling from
the west towards Asheville. (Coming from Asheville, one approaches
through the Devil's Courthouse Tunnel.) The rugged granite formation
towers over the parking lot to its final height of 5,720 feet. A
trail leads gradually up to the rock summit, where a rocky platform
provides a 360 degree view of the French Broad, Tuckaseegee, and
Pigeon River watersheds. A cave deep inside the rock was described by the Cherokee as Judaculla's
dancing chambers and by the white settlers as "The Devil's
Courthouse." According to Eddie Bushyhead, Cherokee musician
and language expert, this place was used to administer justice in
the old days. Cherokees who were to be killed were taken here, their
hands and feet tied, and thrown off the top of the rock to their
certain death. "It was known as a place of execution,"
he said.
Shining Rock Mountain (Graveyard Fields Overlook)
- Milepost 418.8 Elevation 5,115 feet. A spur road to Shining Rock Wilderness can be found at Milepost 420.2 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Cherokee people still recognize Shining Rock as the home of the first Cherokee man and woman, Kanati and Selu. And Cherokee families travel to Graveyard Fields in the summer to pick blueberries. Pilot Knob, referred to in the story of Kanati and Selu, is located two miles directly south, across the Parkway. Shining Rock literally refers to a white quartz outcropping, the
Shining Rock Ledge formation located on the headwaters of the Pigeon
River, south of Cold Mountain, in Shining Rock Wilderness Area.
Here, five mountain peaks tower at 6,000 feet elevation. The Shining
Rock Wilderness area encompasses 18,500 rugged acres, accessible
only by foot trails, within the Pisgah National Forest. Rules for
wilderness areas apply here: groups must be no larger than ten people;
no fires are permitted; and no wheels are permitted. One horse trail
exists in this wilderness area. Contact: U.S. F. S. Pisgah Ranger District, 1001 Pisgah
Highway, Pisgah Forest NC 28768. Looking Glass Rock - Milepost 417.1, Elevation
4,493. This granite dome rises four hundred feet above the valley floor,
created by mountain streams eroding the softer gneiss around it.
Its appearance is made even more striking by the way light reflects
off of its white-side granite, particularly when the rock is wet.
The Parkway overlook is about five hundred feet above the top of
Looking Glass Rock, whose elevation is 3,969. The Cherokee associated this rock with Judaculla, Tsulkalu, whose
Old Fields, Dancing Chambers, and footprints are all located in
this region. Looking Glass Rock can be seen for several miles along
the Parkway. The Folk Art Center - Southern Highlands Handicraft Guild, Milepost 382 The Folk Art Center showcases the work of regional folk artists,
including the Cherokee, in its gift shop, exhibits, and special
programs. Operated by the Southern Highlands Handicraft Guild, The
Folk Art Center often features exhibits, craft demonstrations, and
festivals in its contemporary building constructed of native wood
and stone. Beginning in 1930, the Guild exhibited and marketed the crafts
of mountain people, including some Cherokee baskets, blowguns, and
carvings. When the Qualla Arts and Crafts Co-op was formed in 1949,
it joined the Guild, and individual Cherokee crafts people have
been members as well. Contact : The Folk Art Center P.O. Box 9545 Riceville Rd.
Asheville NC 28805
View of Asheville - Milepost 380 This overlook provides a view of the city of Asheville, known
to contemporary Cherokee as "Ashes place" or Kasdu-yi,
a translation into Cherokee of its English name. Its older Cherokee
name was Untakiyasti-yi, meaning "Where they race," the
name of the old Cherokee town on the French Broad River. People
have lived for at least two thousand years old at this location
where the Swannanoa River joins the French Broad. Farther east on
the Swannoa River, archaeologists have been studying an even older
site on the property of Warren Wilson College, where people have
lived for seven thousand years. White settlers began living here after the Revolutionary War, although the land was not officially taken until the Treaty of the Holston in 1791, which included present-day Knoxville Tennessee and Greenville South Carolina.
Side trip Mount Mitchell Mount Mitchell, at 6,684 feet, is the highest peak east of the
Mississippi, higher by 41 feet than Clingman's Dome. It is named
for Dr. Elisha Mitchell, who died surveying its slopes in 1857.
The museum here tells the story of his rivalry with Thomas Clingman,
who claimed that his peak was higher. Interpretive panels also tell
the story of Big Tom "Bearkiller" Wilson, who had hunted
this region all his life and who not only guided Mitchell to the
top of the mountain, but also recovered his body by tracking a ten-day
old trail. Just as Wilson knew the mountain before Mitchell's arrival,
generations of Cherokees knew the mountain before the arrival of
the Scots-Irish settlers. The Cherokee called this "Black Mountain." At the state park at the summit, you can visit the museum for
more information about the mountain and its fauna and flora. Hiking
trails loop through the spruce forest, and a short steep walk takes
you to a four-story observation tower on the very top of the mountain.
Picnicking and camping are allowed in the thirty-two-thousand acre
Mt. Mitchell Cooperative management area, administered by the Pisgah
National Forest and the North Carolina Wildlife Commission. Be prepared
for cooler temperatures and stronger breezes on the mountain. Contact: Mount Mitchell State Park Rt. 5 Box 700 Burnsville
NC 28714 Gillespie Gap and the Museum of North Carolina
Minerals - Milepost 330.9, elevation 2,819 The Cherokee and their ancestors used a quarry near the present Museum of North Carolina Minerals to get soapstone as long as ten thousand years ago. Soapstone, or steatite, was carved into sinkers for fishing nets, weights for atlatls, and "cooking stones" - small slabs with holes in them that were heated and then dropped into containers to cook the soups and stews. This ancient technique cooked food quickly, although indirectly, because the containers, made of hides, wood, gourds, and baskets, could not be placed into the fire without burning them. Beginning about five thousand years ago people began carving soapstone bowls, which could be placed directly on coals to cook food, and these became valued trade items. The Museum of North Carolina Minerals exhibit provides information on all of the minerals native to the state, and the museum itself is located in an area known for its deposits of soapstone, feldpar, mica, emeralds, rubies, garnets, anethysts, quartz crystal, and other semiprecious stones. Mica was also valued by the Cherokee and was traded from this region as far north as present-day Ohio, especially in the later Mississippian period. Contact: Museum of North Carolina Minerals 79 Parkway Maintenance
Rd. Spruce Pine NC 28777 Editorial Note: For an in-depth look at each one of the interpretive centers along the Cherokee Heritage Trails, including complete articles and quotes, detailed information on all the historical sites, amazing full color photography depicting the land and its people, stories from many of the Cherokee Elders and much more about the wonderful Cherokee culture, make the Cherokee Heritage Trails Guidebook a part of your personal library. Click here to find out more. |
© Copyright 2003. Cherokee Heritage Trails. All rights reserved.For technical issues, contact webmaster@cherokeeheritagetrails.org
Website Services Provided By SMNET"The Customer Friendly ISP"
