This year’s Kuwohi Sunset Celebration is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Kuwohi in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. (SCOTT MCKIE B.P./One Feather photos)
By SCOTT MCKIE B.P.
One Feather Asst. Editor
KUWOHI – The sun peeked through the moving clouds and fog covered the mountain peaks at Kuwohi (Mulberry Place) on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025 for a special event. Members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) and friends gathered at the site to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the restoration of the name of the area to its original Cherokee name, Kuwohi.
The U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) approved the application for the name restoration on Sept. 18, 2024. The name restoration effort was led by Lavita Hill, EBCI Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) Kolanvyi (Big Cove) Representative, and Mary “Missy” Crowe, an EBCI tribal elder.
Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones (D-District 52) presents a copy of Tennessee General Assembly Bill H.J. 452 to Mary Crowe, an EBCI tribal elder, and Lavita Hill, EBCI Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) Kolanvyi (Big Cove) Representative, during the Kuwohi Celebration on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2025.
This year’s Kuwohi Sunset Celebration is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 18 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Kuwohi in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The event is being hosted by the Center for Native Health with the following collaborative partners: EBCI Dinilawigi (Tribal Council), EBCI Community Clubs, Museum of the Cherokee People, U.S. National Park Service, Mary Crowe, Rep. Hill, and Elawodi (Yellowhill) Rep. Shennelle Feather.
You can register for the event here. There will be two food trucks on hand, and EBCI tribal members will receive a free meal with a ticket obtained by registering.
Trey Adcock, a Cherokee Nation citizen and Center for Native Health executive director, commented, “It’s really significant the work that Lavita and Missy and their allies put into making this change a reality. As a place, Kuwohi is really, really special and it’s just so significant to be a small part of a larger partnership that will help future generations of Cherokee youth to understand the significance. This is a great example of what can be done when relationships are meaningful and you have the right people in the right place at the right time for the right reasons.”
When asked what his hopes are for the event, Adcock noted, “Oftentimes, people think about teaching and learning as only happening within the walls of a classroom. So, for me personally, I hope people understand the dynamic role that place can play in terms of curriculum and pedagogy. And of course, culturally I think it’s just so neat that the kids get to spend the day up there learning about all the cultural connections to Kuwohi, reconnecting to the ancestral landscape in such a profound way.”
Katie Tiger, a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and Center for Native Health director for land and wellness, added, “My hope is that participants carry that sense of being rooted in Kuwohi into their daily lives, finding inspiration in what a dedicated team, fully supported by the resilient EBCI community, can accomplish together.”
The Museum of the Cherokee People said in a statement to the One Feather, “The restoration of the name Kuwohi is much more than a change to a sign or map. It honors our connection to these mountains since time immemorial.
We recognize the tremendous work that Lavita Hill and Mary Crowe undertook to make this restoration possible. Having two Cherokee women lead this work is deeply meaningful to us. Seeing Cherokee women reclaim and restore the name of a place within our ancestral homeland is an acknowledgement rooted in action, relationship, and healing.”
At the 2025 event, EBCI Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks thanked Crowe and Rep. Hill for all of their work on the name restoration effort noting, “As we think about what we’re doing today, what comes to mind for me is, we’re not rewriting history, but we’re reestablishing true history.”
Their statement continues, “Kuwohi Celebration is an opportunity to celebrate that work and to come together as Cherokee people. So much of the history we are asked to commemorate centers on loss, displacement, and difficult moments. This is something else: this is a moment of pure joy. We want Cherokee people to feel pride, connection, and a renewed sense of belonging with one another and with Kuwohi.”
At the 2025 event, EBCI Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks thanked Crowe and Rep. Hill for all of their work on the name restoration effort. “As we think about what we’re doing today, what comes to mind for me is, we’re not rewriting history, but we’re reestablishing true history…I think it’s our job, it’s our role…we’ve got to find that passion to do these things. Thank you ladies for all your work.
It’s our jobs to make sure that we reestablish the true history…that has to change. People need to know…we have to make an effort – each and every one of us.”
Background
Dinilawigi passed legislation on July 14, 2022 which officially lent support from the EBCI for the name restoration effort. That legislation, submitted by Crowe and Hill, describes the area, “Kuwohi or ‘mulberry place’, is the highest point in our area and has significance to us as Cherokee as it was visited by medicine people who prayed and sought guidance from the Creator regarding important matters facing our people, and then returned to our towns to give guidance and advice.”
In 2023, Hill and Crowe were recognized for their efforts by the Tennessee General Assembly with the passage of Bill H.J. 452. That legislation, submitted by State Rep. Justin Jones (D-District 52), stated, “Ms. Crowe and Ms. Hill are testaments to the power of dedication and determination, and their laudable mission deserves to be acknowledged; now, therefore, be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the One Hundred Thirteenth General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, the Senate concurring, that we honor and commend Mary Crowe and Lavita Hill on their efforts to restore the traditional Cherokee name of ‘Kuwohi’ to Clingman’s Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and wish them all the best in their future endeavors.”
That legislation passed 92-0 in the Tennessee House of Representatives on March 20, 2023, and it passed 31-0 in the Tennessee Senate on March 30, 2023. Gov. Lee signed it on April 11, 2023.
The Dinilawigi (Tribal Council) of the EBCI passed Res. No. 72 (2024) unanimously during its regular session on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2024 that approved the submittal of an application on behalf of the Tribe to restore the name. The application to BGN was filed by Hill and Crowe on behalf of Ugvwiyuhi (Principal Chief) Michell Hicks and Dinilawigi on Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024.
Res. No. 72 speaks to the support for the name restoration regionally stating, “…community support for the restoration of the Kuwohi name has been overwhelming, including formal support from multiple local governments, including the counties of: Buncombe, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain, Graham, Clay, and Cherokee, and the towns of Asheville, Andrews, Murphy, Hayesville, Fontana Dam, Lake Santeetlah, Robbinsville, Canton, Clyde, Maggie Valley, Waynesville, Dillsboro, Sylva, Webster, the Village of Forrest Hills, Franklin, Highlands, and Bryson City in western North Carolina, and the counties of Knox and Cambel in eastern Tennessee.”
As stated above, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) approved the application for the name restoration on Sept. 18, 2024.
