Sacred land returned to North Carolina Cherokee
The tribe’s ancestors built the Noquisiyi Mound roughly 1,000 years ago.
The tribe’s ancestors built the Noquisiyi Mound roughly 1,000 years ago.
(Southern Partisan) - Jordan Oocumma grew up hearing stories of the mound.
His grandparents imbued his childhood with tales about the strip of land at the center of a Cherokee town built by their ancestors more than 1,000 years ago. But for about two centuries, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians — the federally recognized tribe with ancestral ties to the mound — has not held the deed to it.
The Cherokee were forced out of the town in the 19th century, setting off a spate of land ownership disputes in what is now Franklin, North Carolina. For generations, the mound was passed between non-Native private citizens and the town government.
Now, that’s changing.
On Monday, the Franklin Town Council voted unanimously to start the transfer of the mound’s deed to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. For decades, tribal members have been stewards of the mound, helping erect a kiosk beside it that tells visitors about its ancestral ties.
“It’s good to go back to the people,” said Oocumma, the mound’s groundskeeper. “Everybody’s excited.”
The land, called the Noquisiyi Mound, is…
Would be nice to have the Mississippi River delta back in the family
Indigenous should be allowed their sacred places. Where they can respect their ancestral heritage. As Europeans should be able to reclaim, retain their cultural identities! It’s a battle all the true minorities face.