Kuwohi joins other Cherokee-based place names in our region

A Day Away by Mike Steely

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names recently approved a request from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to officially change the name Clingmans Dome to Kuwohi, the Cherokee name for the mountain that translates to “mulberry place.”
Kuwohi is a sacred site for the Cherokee people and stands at 6,643 feet. It is the tallest point in Tennessee, the Smokies, and along the Appalachian Trail. The peak was formerly named for Thomas Clingman, a lawyer, U.S. representative and senator, and Confederate brigadier general from North Carolina.
Probably the most known place name based on Native American history is “Tennessee,” based on the Cherokee village site called Tanasi. The river that separated Tanasi and Choto was also dubbed Tanasi by early traders and is now called the Little Tennessee.
Tuskegee was also on the Little Tennessee and is where the Cherokee alphabet’s creator Sequoyah was born.  The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum and a monument to the Tanasi village are located in Vonore.
Tellico Village and Tellico Plains derive from the Cherokee name Tahlequah, meaning “rare-peace place.” Chilhowee means “valley of many deer.”
Citico is a Creek word meaning “frog” and Tuskegee means “island town.”  Hiwassee means “savannah” or “meadow.” Sequoyah means “sparrow.”
Pellissippi means “winding waters” and was the Cherokee name for the Clinch River.  Etowah is a Creek word meaning “town.”
Unaka means “white.” Oneida means “long awaited” or “people of the Standing Stone.”
Cherohala Skyway from Tellico Plains to Robbinsville, North Carolina, is a combination of Cherokee and Nantahala, the two national forests over which it passes. Nantahala means “land of the noon day sun.”
Chattanooga in Cherokee means “rock coming to a point.” Ellijay means “green ground place.”