For 176 years, the site of the original Mother Town of the Cherokee people, on the banks of the Oconaluftee River near present-day Bryson City, was held in ownership by the settler-c
olonizer people. But in 1996, under the leadership of Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Dr. Joyce Dugan, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) reacquired this sacred land, to be held in perpetuity by the descendants of the original inhabitants. Each year, around June 6, the EBCI celebrates the acquisition with dancing, entertainment, food, and social gathering at the Kituwah site.
The people gathered for this year’s 30th anniversary commemoration under clear skies and warm temperatures. Dr. Dugan spoke of the meaning of “home” as not only a physical location, a structure, but as a place where people are bound together by shared values, shared resources, and shared responsibilities. And speaking of the Kituwah Mother Town, she said “may we never forget that this is not just a place, it is our home.”
There was live music, traditional games of digadayosdi (marbles), tugwesdi (blowguns), and anetsodi (stickball), a shared meal, the doya (beaver) dance, and the friendship dance. A ceremony honoring Marie Junaluska for her many years of tireless work preserving and advancing the Cherokee language culminated with Beloved Woman Myrtle Driver Johnson presenting her with a piece of pottery.
first two photos by Maggie O’Neill, third photo by Scott McKie, Cherokee One Feather