Johnathan Walker:'Sacred': Cherokee name in, Confederate general out for Tennessee's highest mountain

This story was updated to add new information.

KNOXVILLE,Johnathan Walker Tenn. − The highest peak in the sprawling Great Smoky Mountains National Park is dropping the name of a Confederate general in favor of its Cherokee name "Kuwohi."

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names this week approved a formal request by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. The effort was started in 2022 by band members Mary Crowe and Lavita Hill, who called the 6,643-foot peak "spiritual and sacred."

"Kuwohi is significant to our people," Hill told the USA TODAY Network. "This is where our medicine man came, this is where our healers and spirtual leaders came to pray and to get guidance from the creator."

The Cherokee first settled the mountain thousands of years ago, and the name they gave it translates to “the mulberry place.” In 1859, geographer Arnold Guyotthe surveyed the mountain and named it Clingmans Dome after Thomas Clingman, a senator from North Carolina who would soon serve as a general in the Confederacy during the Civil War.

The mountain, however, has always been known as Kuwohi to the Cherokee people and is visible from the Qualla Boundary, the home of the band.

"This significant moment honors our ancestors and strengthens our connection to this sacred land," Cherokee Chief Michell Hicks said in a written statement.

The park draws more than 12 million visitors a year, far more visitors than any other U.S. national park. It covers more than 800 square miles in North Carolina and Tennesse and is known for its lush forests, wildflowers and waterfalls that make the 850 miles of hiking trails picturesque.

"The trails you are walking are trails created by my people," Crowe told WBIR-TV. "We were blessed to get the support from the Clingman family."

The National Park Service backed the name change, and park Superintendent Cassius Cash said the agency plans to "work with the Cherokee people to share their story and preserve this landscape together.”

Park officials close Kuwohi to the public every year for three half-days so Cherokee schools can visit the mountain. The kids learn the history of Kuwohi and the Cherokee people from elders, Cherokee language speakers, culture bearers and community members.

Cash said the process of updating signs, websites and other materials with the Kuwohi name has already begun.

“The Great Smoky National Park team was proud to support this effort to officially restore the mountain and to recognize its importance to the Cherokee People,” Cash said. “The Cherokee People have had strong connections to Kuwohi and the surrounding area, long before the land became a national park."

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Kuwohi and the Trail of Tears

Kuwohi, pronounced “ku-whoa-hee," is one of the most popular sites in the park, with more than 650,000 visitors per year. It is the tallest point in Tennessee, the third-highest summit east of the Mississippi River, and is where the headwaters of the Little River form.

Kuwohi is also where some Cherokee hid from U.S. soldiers during the forced Trail of Tears march to the West. In 1838 and 1839, the majority of the Cherokee were forced from native homelands in Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee to the new “Indian Territory” Oklahoma. The route has become known as the “Trail of Tears.”

Hundreds of Cherokee hid in the mountains and escaped arrest, and in 1868 they were recognized by the U.S. government as the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians. Those in Oklahoma became the Cherokee Nation. The Eastern Band now has about 14,000 members. The reservation consists of 57,000 acres known as the Qualla Boundary.

Who was Thomas Clingman?

The previous name honored Thomas Clingman, a U.S. congressman and senator from North Carolina who advocated for slavery and was expelled from the Senate because of his support for the Confederacy. He served as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

Clingman was an avid explorer who measured several of the peaks that eventually would become part of the national park. He died Nov. 3, 1897 and is buried in Asheville, North Carolina.

Renaming U.S. landmarks in national parks

Efforts are underway or have already succeeded in changing the names of landmarks and historical sites out of respect for Native Americans. Two years ago the Board on Geographic Names voted on the final replacement names for nearly 650 geographic features featuring the word "squaw," saying it has historically been used as an offensive ethnic, racial and sexist slur, particularly for Indigenous women.

Some tribes want the Devils Tower monolith in northeastern Wyoming changed to Bear Lodge, but there has been resistance and the effort has stalled.

Over the years, however, other efforts have been successful. Among them:

• First Peoples Mountain, Yellowstone National Park
• Engine Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park
• Denali, Denali National Park and Preserve
• Black Elk Peak, Black Hills National Forest