cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3519761
The highest peak at Great Smoky Mountains National Park is officially reverting to its Cherokee name more than 150 years after a surveyor named it for a Confederate general.
The US Board of Geographic Names voted on Wednesday in favor of a request from the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians to officially change the name Clingmans Dome to Kuwohi, according to a news release from the park. The Cherokee name for the mountain translates to “mulberry place.”
“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,” Superintendent Cassius Cash said in the release.
“The Cherokee People have had strong connections to Kuwohi and the surrounding area, long before the land became a national park. The National Park Service looks forward to continuing to work with the Cherokee People to share their story and preserve this landscape together.”
Kuwohi is a sacred place for the Cherokee people and is the highest point within the traditional Cherokee homeland, according to the park. The peak is visible from the Qualla Boundary, home of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Great Smoky Mountains National Park closes Kuwohi every year for three half-days so that predominantly Cherokee schools can visit the mountain and learn its history.
The name was changed from a confederate brigadier general to a native name so its a double win
Always a fun time.
Up next? Tahoma!
It makes sense to me when a place is given an english name when the native language name is something that uses sounds or orthography that english speakers have a really hard time getting right. I’d prefer an attempt at adopting the native names even in those cases, but even anglicizing the place names still leaves the native connection to the place intact.
What really annoys me is when the native name is super easy to pronounce, but they still give an alternate name. It’s such a blatant part of ethnic cleansing.
