Smoky Mountains’ highest peak returns to Native American name
Smoky Mountains’ highest peak returns to Native American name and attracting more Tourists for adventure Tourism
More than 150 years after a surveyor named the tallest peak of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park after a Confederate general, the peak is now officially returning to its Cherokee name.
According to a press release from the park, the US Board of Geographic Names decided on Wednesday in support of a request by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to formally rename Clingmans Dome as Kuwohi. The peak is known as “mulberry place” in Cherokee.
Superintendent Cassius Cash stated in the statement, “The Great Smoky National Park team was proud to support this effort to officially restore the mountain and to recognise its importance to the Cherokee People.”
Long before the region was designated as a national park, the Cherokee people had close ties to Kuwohi and the surrounding area.
The National Park Service is eager to collaborate with the Cherokee People in order to communicate their history and jointly conserve this area.
According to the park, Kuwohi is the highest point in the historic Cherokee lands and a holy site for the Cherokee people.
From the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ house at the Qualla Boundary, one can see the mountain.
Every year, Kuwohi is closed for three half-days by Great Smoky Mountains National Park so that schools, mostly attended by Cherokee students, can visit the mountain and learn about its history.
With over 650,000 annual Tourists, Kuwohi is one of the most well-liked attractions in America’s most visited national park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is located near the border between Tennessee and North Carolina.
After a study in 1859, geographer Arnold Guyot called the peak Clingmans Dome in honour of Thomas Lanier Clingman, a Confederate Brigadier General, lawyer, U.S. Representative, and senator from North Carolina, according to the park.
Principal Chief Michell Hicks of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians presented the proposal for name restoration in January.
Compiled by
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