If you are searching for your dream lake home in Tellico Village, one of East Tennessee finest lake and retirement communities, you’ll see some streets are named for various Charokee words. You may not understand all their meanings but here is some background about the countless Overhill Cherokee towns that are buried under water on Tellico Lake in East Tennessee. The history of this region and its native people is still full of mysteries and surprises even after decades of extensive archaeological projects.
The modern town of Vonore is a historically and culturally-rich, prominent archaeological site just a few miles south of Historic Loudon, Morganton, and Greenback. Vonore’s natural beauty and historical significance draws outdoor lovers and history buffs and from all over the world. Tellico Lake features year round water for boating, great fishing, and fantastic lake communities like Rarity Bay and Tellico Village.
Fascinating places like the Tellico Blockhouse, Fort Loudoun, the Fort Loudon State Historic Site & Park, the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, the Tanasi and Chota Memorials, and the community of Toqua form a crescent around this part of the Little Tennessee River.
This territory in and south of Vonore covers what is now Monroe County, and was once a major settlement of the Cherokee Indians. Much of Vonore’s notoriety centers around the Seven Years War and the Cherokee Warriors’ efforts at Fort Loudoun.
Fort Loudon State Historic Site & Park
Since 1965, Fort Loudoun has been a registered National Landmark. It was named after the fourth Earl of Loudoun, who was the commander of British forces in America at the time. Loudoun is also the namesake with a slightly varying spelling for the nearby historic City of Loudon.
When Europeans began invading and settling in North America, it was a race against time to claim one’s own territory. The British and French were particularly ambitious.
French soldiers in Canada and New England formed an alliance with the Shawnee Indians and began moving South. British soldiers on the East coast wanted to move West, and so the troops inevitably clashed.
During one such clash, the French troops were destroyed, but the British realized they must act quickly to form alliances with other Native Indian tribes in order to keep their footing.
Fast forward to Cherokee land surrounding the Little Tennessee River. British troops arrived and somehow earned the trust/alliance of the Overhill Cherokee Indians, gaining Cherokee warriors and protection in exchange for some of the supplies they were moving through the Carolinas on the British trade route.
Originally Fort Loudoun was constructed in 1756 and served as a military garrison for less than five years. The Cherokee eventually realized they had been betrayed outside of the Fort, so they captured and burned it down.
Ruins were left untouched for the most part until the 1930s, when the Fort Loudoun Association was established, and in the late 1970s it became an official State Park of Tennessee.
Today, the reconstructed fort and the ruins of the 1794 Tellico Blockhouse overlook a romantic and reflective landscape. Reenactments, trade fairs, and festivals take place in the park all throughout the year.
The Tellico Blockhouse
Just across the lake from Fort Loudoun, you can see the remains of the old Tellico Blockhouse.
It was used for about 17 years to manage trade routes, monitor Cherokee residents, provide necessities for passage of European or white settlers and travelers, and other purposes.
The Blockhouse is often overlooked in favour of Fort Loudoun, unfortunately. I will even admit I had been to Fort Loudoun twice before visiting the Blockhouse, but now I want to go back often. .
Sequoyah Birthplace Museum
Sequoya was half-Cherokee and half-European. He was born in 1776, nearly two decades after Fort Loudoun was constructed, in what used to be the Tuskegee village.
Tuskegee was allegedly created at the same time or shortly after Fort Loudoun was built, with assistance by the British, to provide housing for their Cherokee allies. Sadly the village was destroyed by fire, and the land is now flooded by the Tellico Lake.
When he was a soldier, Sequoyah spent a lot of time thinking about how his fellow Cherokee could not write home, read (especially war-related news and military orders), or document anything about their lives like the European settlers. He was fascinated how they wrote symbols on paper, gave the page to someone else, and that person understood exactly what the author intended.
Sequoyah proposed the idea of developing a Cherokee alphabet and written language, which his friends and family ridiculed him for. Many sources say his wife constantly sabotaged his work and discouraged him from continuing.
After twelve long years, and with unwavering support from his daughter, Sequoyah finished his syllabary and began teaching others how to use it.
Within four years, the Cherokee Nation had mastered Sequoyah’s syllabary and the Cherokee became more literate than the average European settlers of the region. It is worth noting that his syllabary was so effective and precise, he and his daughter were accused of witchcraft and even put on trial.
Sequoyah also invented a numbering system that allowed him to keep financial records like a ledger. Having these new systems allowed the Cherokee to gain literacy, create and share information, advocate for themselves in legal matters, chronicle their personal and cultural knowledge and stories, and to navigate the new America.
The Cherokee were the first Native Americans to have or use written language, and would likely not have survived without Sequoyah’s revolutionary contributions. The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum tells about Sequoyah and the Overhill Cherokee as a whole, their way of life, their innovations and inventions, and the people who helped and hurt them.
One example is the case of missionary Samuel Worcester who helped the Overhill Cherokee fight and win official ownership of their land during a Supreme Court case, but it was soon reversed by President Andrew Jackson.
The state of Georgia confiscated and divided Cherokee territory, gave it away to European settlers, and drove the Cherokee out. Jackson, if you remember, was the same chap who signed the Indian Removal Act and carved the Trail of Tears into the landscape of American tragedy. Wooster continued to be an ally to the Cherokee but his efforts were thwarted and he was ostracized by his own people.
An amphitheater, monuments, and burial mounds are on site. You can tour an example of a typical home that the settlers and some Cherokee lived in during the period and take a walk along the 1.5-mile waterfront path.A short drive from Sequoyah Birthplace Museum will take you to the Tanasi and Chota Memorial Sites, which are an extension of the museum. The memorials were created in 1989 as a collaborative effort between Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Historical Commission Foundation. I have been twice and on both occasions, parking was plentiful and we did not cross any other humans.
Tanasi Memorial
Tanasi and the neighbouring town of Chota were, together, the home of the Overhill Cherokee and the Capital of the Cherokee Nation from 1721-1730. If you say Tanasi slowly you will make the connection of how Tennessee received its name.
Eventually the more popular Chota sprawled into Tanasi territory, war destroyed the towns, and then everything was flooded when TVA created a dam during the Tellico Dam and Tellico Lake project in the late 1970s.
Chota Memorial
Continue driving once you have visited the Tanasi Memorial and you will find the parking circle for the Chota Memorial. There is a short but lovely walk through a wide clearing in the woods that leads you directly to it.
A pillar for the entire Cherokee Nation plus six other pillars for each clan that lived here all form a large circle.
The Deer Clan, Wild Potato Clan, Wolf Clan, Bird Clan, Long Hair Clan, Blue Clan, and Sequoyah’s Paint Clan are represented in the memorial.
Oconastota, also known as Aganstata and as Stalking Turkey, was the most revered warrior (skiagusta) of the Overhill Cherokee. His remains were found during an archaeological dig and relocated to a spot at the head of the Chota Memorial.
The site itself is maintained by the Eastern band of Cherokee and was built on top of the original Chota townsite, elevated several feet above flood level.
Before TVA initiated its plans to flood the area, Tellico Reservoir archaeological project dug up an exciting amount of artifacts. Many of these can be viewed in the long-standing exhibit at the McClung Museum in Knoxville, TN.
Original Article HERE.
Reposted by Jack Vincent, Lakefront Living Realty TN