Leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) broke ground on the new Cherokee Cultural Grounds in Cherokee, N.C. on the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 12. Shown, left to right, are Wayohi (Wolftown) Rep. Bo Crowe, EBCI Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks, Tutiyi/Tsalagi Gadugi (Snowbird/Cherokee County) Rep. Michael Smoker, Kolanvyi (Big Cove) Rep. Venita Wolfe, Tsisqwohi (Birdtown) Rep. Boyd Owle, Taline Ugvwiyu (Vice Chief) Alan B. Ensley, Dinilawigi Taline Gahvsgi (Tribal Council Vice Chairman) David Wolfe, and Aniwodihi (Painttown) Rep. Michael Stamper. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
CHEROKEE, N.C. – Leaders of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) broke ground on the new Cherokee Cultural Grounds in Cherokee, N.C. on the afternoon of Monday, Jan. 12. The project is being built on the site of the old Cherokee Indian Fairgrounds and will include a terraced lawn amphitheater, a retractable stage, eight pavilions, picnic areas, food truck access, walking paths, and a large greenspace area.
EBCI Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks told the crowd on Monday, “We all carry a lot of memories here…I’m excited, more than any other project that we have on the agenda, for this project because this is ours. These grounds are ours. I was doing research on some of the resolutions that were touched on in the past – in the Crowe administration, or Chief Taylor when he was Chairman. It was all about making these grounds the best that we can make them for our people so that we can utilize them for cultural purpose, for ceremonial purpose, the fairgrounds. All these things were part of that intent. I’m just glad that we’re able to bring this project into fruition over the next several months.”
The site for the new Cherokee Cultural Grounds is shown on the shadowy afternoon of Monday, Jan. 12. Work is set to start on the site on Monday, Jan. 19.
He added, “As I was coming back into office and listening to the sound of the people, this was the number one request – get these grounds back in order. Because, that’s who we are. That’s what they’re about. We need to make sure that we leave these future generations these grounds to continue the Cherokee way.”
EBCI Taline Ugvwiyu (Vice Chief) Alan B. Ensley said, “It’s a great day. As a tribal leader, I’ve been through a lot of projects over the years. Like the Chief said, when we got into office this was the number one priority. The previous Ceremonial Grounds had stayed in place for 20 or 30 years…a lot of good memories on all the different fairgrounds that we’ve had here.”
The project is slated to start on Monday, Jan. 19 and will be completed by the spring or summer 2027.
EBCI Secretary of Commerce Sean Ross said, “This space is about the community. Every bit of the strategy that we put together is to build something that is directly related to attend to the needs of our people.”
He spoke to the name of the project – Cherokee Cultural Grounds – noting, “The question came up months ago, ‘what type of ceremonies are you going to do there?’ So, we thought as a group, ceremonial is very, very confining. Not everything that we do as a people here is ceremonial. But, everything that we do as EBCI members is cultural. It’s inherent in everything that we do from day to day. So, we want to celebrate that.”
Rendering of the terraced amphitheater
Becky Bowe, EBCI Project Management manager, said, “We’re just really excited to share this with the community. All these old, great memories that you all have been sharing here today, we hope that’s just a stepping-stone and we get to create new ones as we move forward.”
She went on to say, “You’re going to see this site change very quickly. We hope to share this and open this for you all next spring/summer of 2027. Some of the old features that were here before we’re going to bring back – just kind of a modern, new twist on it – with an amphitheater. We’ll have two restrooms/storage facilities on each side of the site. That way, it will make it more convenient for the community as they’re here for events.”
Dan McCoy, an EBCI tribal elder and retired long-time Dinilawigi Gahvsgi (Tribal Council Chairman), told several stories and his memories of the grounds. “I appreciated the communion that we had here, and the fellowship, and all the years that we had on this field here. I listened to a lot of stories from the elders.”
