Restored: Kuwohi ᎫᏬᎯ (“Mulberry Place”)

The U.S. Board on Geographic Names recently voted in favor of the formal request submitted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) to officially restore the name of Clingmans Dome to Kuwohi.

Kuwohi is the Cherokee name for the mountain and translates into English as “Mulberry Place.” In Cherokee syllabary, the name is ᎫᏬᎯ.  Kuwohi is the geographical high point near the center of our ancestral Cherokee homeland, which holds deep cultural and spiritual meaning to us as Cherokees. Kuwohi is visible from the Qualla Boundary, the home of the EBCI.  Efforts are already underway to update signage, website and other materials with the Kuwohi name.

Kuwohi is one of the most popular sites in Great Smoky Mountains National Park with more than 650,000 visitors per year.

The History:
The Cherokee people have lived in the lands of Western North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee, and much of the southeastern United States since time immemorial. Kuwohi has long been a place of significance, where medicine people would gather to pray and seek guidance from the Creator on matters affecting the Cherokee. After receiving divine direction, they would return to their communities to share this wisdom. The mountain is featured in numerous Cherokee oral traditions, including stories about the Bears meeting in council beneath its peak. Mulberry Place is featured in one of my very favorite stories, the Origin of Disease and Medicine, which teaches us to respect our plant and animal relatives, not be greedy by taking only what we need, and maintain tohi (holistic concept of wellness).

With the arrival of Europeans came devastating diseases that decimated Indigenous populations. In the wake of these tragedies, the Cherokee people’s land, including Kuwohi, was violently taken through forced treaties, coercion, and oppression. During the Trail of Tears, when President Andrew Jackson forcibly relocated the Cherokee to Oklahoma, many lives were lost, and their heritage disrupted. However, some Cherokee people sought refuge in the mountains, including near Kuwohi, and it was in these lands that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) emerged. As a result, Kuwohi holds immense cultural and historical importance to the Cherokee.

How the Name Changed:
In the 1850s, a European-born geographer named Arnold Guyot was commissioned to survey the mountains of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. Guyot was a proponent of "scientific racism," a discredited theory that linked geography and climate to racial superiority. Using his privileged position, Guyot renamed many prominent mountains in the region after himself and his associates, dismissing the existing Indigenous names and their cultural significance. Guyot renamed Kuwohi after Thomas Clingman, a U.S. Senator from North Carolina with no meaningful connection to the Cherokee people. Clingman was a vocal advocate for maintaining slavery and, later, left the U.S. Senate to join the Confederacy during the Civil War. Today, Clingman is largely remembered for his role in the Confederacy, not for any positive contributions to the Cherokee community.

We can be proud of the work done by EBCI tribal members and allies to restore the original name of this important mountain, Kuwohi, and honor its cultural and historical significance to the Cherokee people.

— Sabrina McKinney, CNCV Chair and Communications Director