Members of the Kolanvyi Indian Ball Team go for the ball during an exhibition stickball game held during the Annual Kituwah Celebration at Kituwah on the evening of Friday, May 31. The Kituwah Celebration of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) is held annually to mark the return of the site to the Tribe. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
KITUWAH – The smell of bean bread wafted through the air as the sounds of children laughing, Cherokee songs being sung, and men and boys playing stickball could be heard. It was all at Kituwah, the Mother Town of the Cherokee.
The Kituwah Celebration of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), held annually to mark the return of the site to the Tribe, was held this year on the evening of Friday, May 31.
Kituwah, located just outside of Cherokee, N.C. near Bryson City, N.C., was placed into trust for the EBCI by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, U.S. Dept. of the Interior in 2021. The property was purchased by the EBCI in 1996, and according to the Public Notice to Acquire Land into Trust, the site totals 307.03 acres.
Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks told the crowd during Friday’s event about how the site came back to the Tribe in 1996. “It gave me a high appreciation of why we’re here. I hope it (Kituwah Celebration) continues in perpetuity because this place is extremely important to us as the Cherokee people.”
Former Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Joyce Dugan was instrumental in getting Kituwah back for the Cherokee people. In 1996, she took a resolution to Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) asking that they purchase the property, then known to most as Ferguson Fields, for $2.1 million. Dinilawigi passed the legislation unanimously.
Ugvwiyuhi Michell Hicks, who was serving as the Tribal Finance Officer in 1996, said he was asked by then-Ugvwiyuhi Dugan to put some funding together for the purchase.
“I didn’t know a lot about it. I was young and didn’t get to spend a lot of time like many of you young people here studying the history of this land and the meaning of this land. So, I began to put some numbers together. I was looking at the resolution that came forth in ’96 and this property cost us just over $2 million to bring back in the hands of our Tribe. Over time, I’ve come to appreciate the thoughts that Chief Dugan and the Council had at that time, and the meaning – bringing not just 300 plus acres of property that’s absolutely beautiful, but our culture and our history. And all the graves that sit below us, and there’s a lot of them, and around us. The homes that were here, the gardens that were here, the voices…everything that it meant to be Cherokee.”
He added, “We put a financing package together and asked the lawyers to help us to negotiate this piece of property. I’m more appreciative today than I’ve ever been of playing a small part of that.”
“It gave me a high appreciation of why we’re here. I hope it (Kituwah Celebration) continues in perpetuity because this place is extremely important to us as the Cherokee people.”
Miss Cherokee Scarlett Gigage Guy, who works in the Cherokee Language Master Apprentice Program (CLMAP) started her comments by stating, “I’m grateful to the (Cherokee) speakers who came out today. I’m happy to see you all.”
With help from Charlie Bigwitch, a Cherokee first language speaker, Guy wrote a piece about Kituwah that she read to the crowd – first in the Cherokee language and then in English.
She said, “I’m standing here, the Kituwah town is beneath my feet and the Kituwah mound is here behind me. But, it’s beneath all of our feet. All of us are standing here with our town, our Mother Town, right here and with our mound, our Mother’s Mound, right behind us. I think that’s important to keep in mind. Today, let’s all be thinking about the importance of Kituwah and what it means to our people. I’m glad that we are all here, that we are all home, the place where we all began.”
“We began as one, we return as one.”
Landon French, an EBCI tribal member and Cherokee language instructor at New Kituwah Academy, gave a speech in the Cherokee language in which he said, “When you are here, you feel something. When you are here, you are connected to your ancestors and descendants. Kituwah is a special place.”
Landon French, an EBCI tribal member who works as a Cherokee language instructor at the New Kituwah Academy, gave a speech about Kituwah solely in the Cherokee language.
He provided the following translation of his speech to the One Feather. “Today, we celebrate this place because it is ours. That was not always the case. The land had other owners. They owned the land monetarily. Their name was on the land deed. They used the land for various reasons and for various resources.
I said they owned it monetarily because they did not have a connection to Kituwah. They saw it as something to be used and not cared for. They saw Kituwah yield crops, but they could not see beyond. They did not have the connection we have. When you are here, you feel something. When you are here, you are connected to your ancestors and descendants. Kituwah is a special place. It’s a place Cherokees have taken care of, a place that connects every Cherokee, a place Cherokees will continue to watch over forever times two.”
Miss Cherokee (Nation) Keeleigh Sanders was present at Friday’s event and commented, “It’s beautiful out here, I love it. Thank you all for having me. It’s been so much fun learning about our culture down here and meeting new people.”
Several activities were held during the event including Cherokee social dances led by the Museum of the Cherokee People staff, two exhibition stickball games by the Kolanvyi (Big Cove) Indian Ball Teams, song selections by the Cherokee Repertory Choir, and flute music by Matthew Tooni.
