Oak Ridge focuses on 'Roots of America': Cherokee names, history to be discussed March 9
The proposal approved by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Tribal Council to restore the name of Clingmans Dome to the mountain’s original name of Kuwohi (the Cherokee word for “mulberry”) is one of the topics of the second free talk in the “Roots of America” cultural exploration series.
Besides the reasons for seeking a name restoration, other topics in this “Roots of Indigenous Heritage” presentation will include a narrative on Cherokee history and culture by Lavita Hill and a presentation on modern-day Cherokee life and the work of the tribal government of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) by its leader, Chief Richard Sneed.
Hill, an enrolled member of the EBCI, will speak on “Cherokee Names in the 21st Century” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Pollard Technology Conference Center at Oak Ridge Associated Universities, 210 Badger Ave. Her talk will be preceded at 5 p.m. by a reception with food and drinks.
The four scheduled "Roots" talks are designed to educate people in the Oak Ridge area about the achievements and challenges of various ethnic groups that have made America strong.
Clingmans Dome, the tallest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, was named in 1859 after North Carolina senator and Confederate brigadier general Thomas Lanier Clingman.
“For well over 99% of the time that human beings have occupied these lands, people have called the mountain Kuwohi, not Clingmans Dome,” Hill said.
Hill lives on her family’s ancestral lands in the Big Cove Community in Cherokee, North Carolina. She is a graduate of Cherokee High School and Western Carolina University, where she earned a B.S. degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting and finance.
She currently serves as the treasury specialist for the EBCI tribal government in its budget and finance office. She teaches financial skills to tribal youth and administers tribal investment accounts.
Located in Cherokee, the EBCI was once part of a much larger Cherokee Nation population. However, when the “Trail of Tears” death march was mandated by the Indian Removal Act in 1830, the western Cherokee Tribe members were forced by the U.S. government to leave their ancestral home in the Smokies and make the long walk to Oklahoma, where they relocated. Many died along the way from brutal treatment, starvation, exposure and disease.
Chief Richard Sneed will talk about Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Chief Sneed will talk about EBCI, a sovereign nation because it has its own laws, government, elections and institutions. The Cherokees are self-governed and autonomous, but have relationships with the U.S. and North Carolina governments.
Sneed, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, is a graduate of Cherokee High School, the Universal Technical Institute in Phoenix, Arizona, and Southwestern Community College in Sylva, North Carolina. As an industrial arts teacher of vocational classes at Cherokee High School, he was recognized in 2013 as National Classroom Teacher of the Year by the National Indian Education Association. He has also served as the senior pastor of the Christ Fellowship Church of Cherokee.
In May 2017, he was officially sworn in as Principal Chief of the EBCI and was re-elected in September 2019. During his time in office, he has successfully passed legislation that enhanced transparency, accountability and economic opportunities for the EBCI. He was recently elected vice chairman of the Tribal Advisory Committee of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: Cherokee names, history to be discussed Thursday at Oak Ridge 'Roots' talk
