By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
FRANKLIN, N.C. – A small piece of property located adjacent to the Noquisi Mound, sometimes referred to as the Nikwasi Mound, has been given a Cherokee name. Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) approved Res. No. 344 (2024) during its clean-up session on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025 that designated the 0.56 acre lot adjacent to the Mound as Gaduni Kanohesgi which means “The Franklin Storyteller”.
The resolution states, “In 2019, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) purchased real property located at 454 East Main Street, Franklin, N.C., containing 0.59 acres, more or less, adjacent to the Noquisi Mound; and the real property was formerly the site of Dan’s Auto Service, a motor vehicle service station, and currently has on it a paved parking area and a concrete block building which needs to be removated to make it useable.”
A small piece of property located adjacent to the Noquisi Mound (shown in photo), sometimes referred to as the Nikwasi Mound, has been given a Cherokee name. Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) approved Res. No. 344 (2024) during its clean-up session on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025 that designated the 0.56 acre lot adjacent to the Mound as Gaduni Kanohesgi which means “The Franklin Storyteller”. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photo)
Juanita Wilson, an EBCI tribal member and co-chair of the Noquisi Initiative Board of Directors, submitted the legislation on Nov. 7, 2024.
Following the resolution’s unanimous passage on Tuesday, she told the One Feather, “As you see the resolution has been tabled for almost a year. We originally requested the naming for two reasons: 1 The building needed to have a Cherokee name as it is part of the property on which the mound sits. We felt it strengthened our community’s relation and connection to the mound. While the building is a separate property, Noquisi Initiative has stewarded not only the mound, but the building and the property surrounding it. 2 We were preparing to submit a federal grant to support the economic strategies for the property. While we were not able to move forward with the grant proposal, the priority was the naming of the building to reflect our ties to the mound and properties around it. We approached the Cherokee Speaker’s Council and they named it, Gaduni Kanohesgi.”
The resolution states that a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) will be drafted between the EBCI and the Noquisi Initiative “to define the roles and expectations of the parties regarding the stewardship by the Noquisi Initiative of the real property…and for the potential development of a Cherokee culture learning center on the property”.
Elaine Eisenbraun, Noquisi Initiative executive director, was happy with the passage of the legislation. “To keep the project active while the resolution was tabled, we moved forward as we feel the Speakers have spoken. We will always respect that. In any event, it’s nice to see the unanimous support from Tribal Council.”
She added, “In regard to the MOA, that is another facet that we’ve worked hard to keep on the table, because we feel that it is most important that we maintain a strong partnership between Noquisi Initiative and EBCI in decisions and actions that will advance the development of the building into a unique and extraordinary learning center for our people and for visitors who are eager to learn more about us. There is an extraordinary opportunity here to assure better protections for the Mound, to provide a unique learning space for our people, and to help people everywhere better understand the history and present-day culture of Cherokee people.”
Information from the Noquisi Initiative states the following regarding the site, “Noquisiyi, later interpreted as Nikwasi, means star place and was a Cherokee town situated in present-day Franklin, North Carolina. Though its exact age remains unknown, Noquisiyi appears on maps as early as 1544, and British colonial records first mention it by name in 1718.”
It continues, “At the heart of Noquisiyi on the banks of the Little Tennessee River, the town’s meeting hall once towered over the landscape, built atop the mound which was formed by Cherokee women carrying baskets of soil to that location. Today, Noquisiyi Mound, the settlement’s only surviving landmark, rises as the gateway to Franklin.”
