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Celebrating the preservation of Cowee’s Cherokee Mound

By Jessica Richardson, Staff Writer

The Warriors of Ani Kituhwa performed at the celebration.

A celebration was held at Carter Branch just across the Little Tennessee River from the Cowee Mound on Monday, April 23, in honor of the return of the Cowee Mound and 71 surrounding acres to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) after 188 years. Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee (LTLT), and North Carolina Clean Water Management Trust Fund spoke about their roles in returning the land to its rightful stewards. As Paul Carlson, LTLT executive director explained, the land will remain in a conservation easement.

“I look at this land, and think back about what has occurred over time with the travesties,” said Principal EBCI Chief Michell Hicks, “but I also look at what the plan was, there is a greater plan.” Hicks said that he believes that the Hall family and the Porter family were both meant to take care of the land until it was restored to the Cherokees.

The map shows conserved land along the Little Tennessee.

Cowee once served as a center for trade and commerce for the Cherokees. As Hicks explained, it was like New York City for the ancient Cherokees. Another speaker, Tom Hatley, Sequoyah Chair of Cherokee Studies at Western Carolina University, said that Cowee was known even in London, England as a diplomatic center, but that the Europeans imposed a one-sided vision for the region after the American Revolution that did not include the Cherokee people.

Paul Carlson discussed conservation of the Cowee Mound.

Hatley spoke about remembering history in a way that brings people back together. “I hope that this is less about history and more about the future of working together,” said Hatley.

“The whole project is something that I’m very proud of,” said Chief Hicks. “If this council is not known for anything else, it should be remembered that we worked very hard to complete the circle here.”

On a similar note, Chief Hicks spoke of the success of restoring the Ravensford property. He said that he was proud of the opportunity children will have to “grow stronger in the Cherokee way” at a school now being built there.

“I look forward to other ceremonies that we have here,” concluded Chief Hicks.

Lloyd Porter and his wife Delores accept a gift from from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians council.

Tom Beld, who began his speech in Cherokee, brought the message home about the value of restoring the land to Cherokee ownership. “The Eastern Band is not just getting a piece of land back. When the Chief did this, he was fulfilling a moral as well as cultural responsibility to reconstruct our heritage and rebuild the tribe and the property for our children and grandchildren to see how great a people we were and still are,” said Beld, Cherokee language professor at WCU.

Coming from Oklahoma, Beld said he grew up hearing stories about his relatives in the east. According to the story, the Creator wanted the Eastern Band to remain in the east and hold on to the land and that regaining the Cowee property was fulfilling the prophecy.

Tom Beld said that the land was destined to return to Cherokee ownership.

Beld said the tribe’s ancestors would also benefit. “This is a very important day and an important event,” said Beld. He said they were celebrating “in honor of all those who cannot be here today, those that were buried here and those who left the mountains so long ago… they now have a place to visit,” said Beld.

The Porter family, who owned the land after the Hall family, was recognized with a gift of a woven basket from EBCI council, for their stewardship of the land. Lloyd Porter and his wife Delores inherited the land from Katherine Hall Porter and James Porter.

“On behalf of our aunt and uncle, we accept this gift,” said Lloyd Porter. “It holds a lot of dreams and memories, we will keep it and cherish it.”

Sharon Taylor with the LTLT, worked with the families in the land purchase. “My greatest honor was to travel with Michelle and meet with James,” said Taylor. She said that when they met with James Porter, he was wearing a John Deere hat, and before they left, Chief Hicks put an Eastern Band pin on Porter’s cap and said, “Thank you for taking care of this land for my people.”

The purchase was made possible by contributions from the EBCI as well as funding acquired by LTLT and the N.C. Clean Water Management Trust Fund (CWMTF). Tom Massie, of Clean Water, said the purpose of the fund is to preserve water quality across the state. He spoke of the success of the program that has provided for 945 projects and leveraged more than $1 billion to preserve land. “The Land Trust for the Little Tennessee have been very important partners,” said Massie. He also recognized N.C. Senator John Snow, and Reps. Phil Haire and Roger West for securing funds in the General Assembly.

The EBCI council also awarded the CWMTF and LTLT awards for their help in the acquisition of the property.

The ceremony concluded with two dances performed by the Warriors of Ani Kituhwa with a warrior dance and a friendship dance, where several others were invited to join in. Walker Calhoun, tribe elder, gave the opening prayer and led the dances in song. The dance is performed as a war dance, but is also done at meetings when peace is celebrated, said Barbara Duncan, with the Cherokee museum. The last time that the Cherokee danced on that land was in 1819.