Bessie Queen French, center, an elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, cuts the ribbon to officially complete the new Soco Falls Trailhead project on the morning of Wednesday, July 23 in Wayohi (Wolftown) on the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee, N.C.). (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – Adjacent to one of the most beautiful vistas in the Great Smoky Mountains, Bessie Queen French, an elder of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) cut a ribbon to officially complete the Soco Falls Trailhead Improvement Project. The event, which was attended by many EBCI children in the Cherokee Youth Center summer program, occurred on the humid morning of Wednesday, July 23 in Wayohi (Wolftown) on the Qualla Boundary (Cherokee, N.C.).
“Our elders before us had the foresight to know that tourism was a driving force for Cherokee,” said Shawn Crowe, an EBCI tribal member who served as emcee for the event. “It still is today and this is just a part of it. It is an attribute to the Tribe…To see what we’ve done here with this today, as a tribe, is just beautiful and needs to be commended.”
Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks speaks during Wednesday’s event.
Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks commented, “I’m very thankful of the partnerships that we’ve created with our contractors, especially our internal staff.”
He added “It is a good day. I’m glad to be just a small part of leading these projects. We have a lot to do. Downtown is finished, and obviously this one…so we have a lot of things that we want our visiting public to come in and really take advantage of. Cherokee has a lot to offer, but we haven’t always done a good job of marketing that. That’s changing. There will be more people here. We’re starting to see more restaurant opportunities and more things for people to do – especially the outdoors.”
Taline Ugvwiyu (Vice Chief) Alan B. Ensley noted, “I just want to thank Tribal Council. Myself and the Chief push a lot of projects and without Tribal Council’s help and the budget, all these projects would be impossible to even get off the ground. This project goes back to when Marie Junaluska served on Council. We both served on the Natural Resources Committee, and she wanted to highlight the Soco Falls, probably early 2000s.
It’s great to show off all of our natural beauties that we have in western North Carolina, and on Tribal lands.”
Sean Ross, EBCI secretary of commerce, said, “Today’s a glorious day. The reason I say that is anytime we can gather and discuss investment back into our natural assets, that’s a good day for all of us.”
Taline Ugvwiyu (Vice Chief) Alan B. Ensley gives remarks during the event.
In speaking of the project itself, Secretary Ross noted, “We’ve been working on this project for a little over six months. We moved the trailhead. We added a new trail system. The old trail system was in a very precarious spot right down the road, right off Hwy. 19, in a blind curve. Our community reached out time and time again and said, ‘this is not a safe condition for our community or our guests’. So, kudos to our elected officials. They listened.”
Rebecca Bowe, EBCI Project Management manager, commented, “Our group oversaw the planning, design, and construction of this project, which is one of many that we have in the hopper right now.”
She added, “It really was a partnership to get us here today…Owle Construction, Arrowhead. We also have part of the design team here which is John Architecture, Archadis, and Tribal Construction. They actually paved the way for us and got us started with this important project. We all just worked together and got us here today.”
Soco Falls is shown on the morning of Wednesday, July 23.
Bowe said that the project added a parking lot including handicapped accessible parking, an overlook, and a renovated overlook deck at the falls. “The trail – even though it’s a little longer – it does still give you that wow. You still get a great view of the waterfalls down below. We have a renovated overlook deck down there and we just hope everybody is able to enjoy it and enhance your experience while you’re here in Cherokee.”
Both Wayohi Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) representatives spoke during the event.
Dinilawigi Chairman Mike Parker said, “I look around here and I see all these young people and it’s fantastic. Everybody that’s here, thank you for coming. I want you guys to appreciate this and know that there’s always room for improvement and enhancement with these projects as we move forward.”
Rep. Bo Crowe commented, “We’ve had a bunch of phone calls about the cars parking on the side of the road. Now, at least, we have an access to where people can get down there and enjoy it.”
The project was paid for with ARPA (American Rescue Plan of 2021) funds.
Visitors were already enjoying the new observation deck on the morning of the ribbon-cutting.
