The view from Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The mountain is the tallest peak in the park and sits on the Tennessee-North Carolina border. It's sacred to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, who hope to see the name of the mountain changed to Kuwahi, which their ancestors called the mountain for hundreds of years. Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council passed a resolution Thursday in support of changing the name of the highest peak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Clingmans Dome.
Long before the mountain on the Tennessee-North Carolina border was a National Park attraction, the Cherokee referred to it as Kuwahi, which translates to "mulberry place." Tribal medicine men would journey up the mountain and pray for guidance, then share the visions they had with the rest of the community.
Lavita Hill, treasury specialist for the tribe, said she and her friend, fellow activist Mary Crowe, spent the last month preparing the name change proposal for the tribal government's approval. Hill said she was inspired by Yellowstone National Park's renaming of Mount Doane to First Peoples Mountain, which was based on the recommendation of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Council.
Long before the mountain on the Tennessee-North Carolina border was a National Park attraction, the Cherokee referred to it as Kuwahi, which translates to "mulberry place." Tribal medicine men would journey up the mountain and pray for guidance, then share the visions they had with the rest of the community.
Lavita Hill, treasury specialist for the tribe, said she and her friend, fellow activist Mary Crowe, spent the last month preparing the name change proposal for the tribal government's approval. Hill said she was inspired by Yellowstone National Park's renaming of Mount Doane to First Peoples Mountain, which was based on the recommendation of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Council.
