Too-Cowee

Too-Cowee (sometimes Cowee) (also Stecoah), was an important Cherokee town located near the Little Tennessee River north of present-day Franklin, North Carolina, one of what were called the Middle Towns. The name translates to "pig fat" in English.

Too-Cowee
Looking downriver across the Too-Cowee site.
Alternative nameCowee [Stecoah]
RegionMacon County, North Carolina
Coordinates35°15′54″N 83°25′3″W
History
CulturesSouth Appalachian Mississippian culture, historic period Cherokee
Architecture
Architectural stylesplatform mound
Architectural detailsNumber of temples:
Cowee Mound and Village Site
Area53 acres (21 ha)
Part ofCowee-West's Mill Historic District (ID00001569)
NRHP reference No.73002238 (31Ma5) [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJanuary 18, 1973
Designated CPJanuary 8, 2001

Archeological site

The Cherokee occupied an existing developed site; it has been described as one of the best-preserved South Appalachian Mississippian culture sites in western North Carolina and has an earthwork platform mound. The Mississippian culture flourished from about 1000 to the 14th or 15th century. The site consists of about 53 acres (21 ha) of rolling fields and hills. The mound was part of the site, which became an important cultural center of the mountain Cherokee who later migrated south and occupied this area. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an archaeological site in 1973.

History

British colonists attacked the village during the Anglo-Cherokee War, which accompanied the later years of the French and Indian War. It was attacked by colonial Patriot forces during the American Revolutionary War, when the Cherokee sided with the British.

During and after the revolution, the Cherokee fought a series of actions in the Chickamauga territory to evict encroaching European-American settlers.[2] The Cherokee were forced out of the area and the site was abandoned.

Ownership transfer

In the 1840s, the Hall family acquired the property. The Halls held the land for 175 years, and refused to allow private archaeological access to the main platform mound and village area.[3] In 2002 Hall descendants began negotiations that culminated in the 2007 transfer of the village and mound to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, along with conservation and preservation easements held by the state.

See also

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Southern Indian Studies, vol. 2 - No. 2; Wood, William; Wilburn, Hiram; Archeological Society of North Carolina and The Laboratory of Anthropology & Archeology [at] The University of North Carolina; Chapel Hill; (October 1950); pdf download
  3. Middleton, Beth Rose (2011). Trust in the Land. University of Arizona Press. pp. 178–183. ISBN 9780816502295.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.