The plasticity of place : the lives of Cherokee sacred places and the struggles to protect them
- WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Nathaniel Francis Holly (Creator)
- Institution
- Western Carolina University (WCU )
- Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
- Advisor
- Andrew Denson
Abstract: Through an analysis of a variety of primary and secondary sources, this thesis outlines
the malleability of “sacredness” and the importance of specific places to individual and
collective identities. The first section of the thesis introduces the reader to the concept of
“sacred” as a means to establish a theoretical foundation for the remainder of the
analysis. After defining “sacred,” biographies of three places sacred to Cherokees –
Chota, Nikwasi, and Kituwah – are created. Each of the chapters follows a similar
formula: after rooting each place in the Cherokee sacred geography and an analyzing
each place’s historical importance, the chapters conclude with an examination of the
complex struggles to protect each sacred place. The first chapter centers on Chota, an
ancient white, or peace, town located near Vonore, Tennessee on the Little Tennessee
River. The second chapter focuses on Nikwasi, home to the mythical Nunnehi, located in
modern day Franklin, North Carolina along the Little Tennessee River. The final chapter
is devoted to Kituwah, the ancient Mother Town of all Cherokee people, located near
Bryson City, North Carolina along the Tuckasegee River. In the end, by comparing each
of these chapters, this thesis argues that ideas of sacredness are malleable and that certain
places are integral to the identity of Cherokees and non-Cherokees alike.
The plasticity of place : the lives of Cherokee sacred places and the struggles to protect them
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Created on 3/1/2012
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2012
- Subjects
- Cherokee Indians -- Religion
- Cherokee Indians -- Folklore
- Sacred space -- North Carolina