By BROOKLYN BROWN
Cherokee One Feather Reporter
Cherokee, N.C. – Humor is one of the seven Cherokee core values. Friends Daltun “Falls a Lot” Watty, Justin “Running Snake” Lambert, and Gatlin “Squats to Pee” West have enveloped that core value fully with their YouTube channel, “Those 3 NDN’s”. They are a ghost hunting trio who take on the spookiest local haunts with humor as their ultimate weapon. All members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), Those 3 NDN’s hope to bring laughter and entertainment to their tribal community and beyond – and maybe prove that ghosts exist along the way.
Those 3 NDN’s are shown, left to right, including Gatlin West, Daltun Watty, and Justin Lambert. (Photo contributed)
The channel began two years ago because of three co-workers who became friends. “We were on the back of the trash truck, and I was sitting there thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be funny if we started a YouTube?’ But I was like, ‘Let’s be different about it, though. Let’s do paranormal, but we make it our own just being funny and being us,’” Watty said.
“It was supposed to be just like us three, chilling and hanging out, but then we actually started being paranormal investigators. About the second episode, we started going through the footage of it and seeing stuff on camera and it was like, ‘Okay, we’re really doing this. We need equipment.’”
With paranormal investigating becoming a centerpiece of their channel, what started out as fun became a point of connection to their community.
“What really got me into it was, one day we were on the back of the trash truck, and we had an elder pull up beside us and say, ‘I love you guys! Keep making more videos.’ That felt good,” Lambert said.
The trio said the infamous Asheville haunt known as Helen’s Bridge and the dormitories at the Unto These Hills Outdoor Drama were their most thrilling experiences so far. “At Helen’s Bridge, we heard her cry. We heard her scream and cry, and there was just stuff surrounding us while we were on the bridge. You could just hear running up in the woods and stuff,” Watty said.
At the dormitories, Watty and West said while they were talking to the spirit box and getting activity, they repeatedly received several unknown calls, and Watty received a voicemail with weird noises.
West said he thinks the community enjoys their videos because of nostalgia and relatability. “We’re just exploring the places that they grew up knowing stuff happened at and we’re going out and getting it on camera. And we just make them laugh.”
Watty wants the channel to reach larger audiences for awareness of Cherokee people and culture. “My goal is for us to grow because I want to show the world that Cherokee still exists. I want to bring our culture out, too, with the videos that we’ve made like the Drama or the Village and stuff like that. I want to show people we’re still here,” he said.
Lambert said he wants to expand to other reservations to see the similarities and differences of their paranormal histories.
