We Are All People of the Mountains

Creating a partnership around Nikwasi Mound

Background

Two hundred years ago, the Native people living in present Macon County suffered a terrible wrong with
the loss of their homelands.

The Treaty by which that occurred allowed Cherokees who wished to remain and become citizens to
claim reserves of 640 acres around their homesteads. Hoping to preserve the places most dear to them,
the Cherokee pursued a policy of claiming parcels that included those sites. One of their most sacred
places, Nikwasi Mound, was claimed by a Cherokee woman, Na-ha, or Rebecca, and her husband Gideon
Morris.

After the loss of their territory, the Cherokee suffered a further insult. The treaty that had granted
individual reserves was flagrantly ignored. The head of the survey party appointed by the State
personally burned Rebecca and Gideon off their land and forced them to abandon it.

Rebecca sued the federal government. The courts supported her claim and granted cash compensation
to the Morrises and the other reservees who had suffered losses.

They did not get their land, or their sacred places back.

Not all the settlers approved of the violent action that cost the Morrises their reserve. Jesse Siler, who
was among the richest of the newcomers, became a friend and ally when they moved to a house in the
little village of Franklin, near his home. He later acquired the Morris reserve. He and his descendants
cared for the mound while it remained in their family.

Many years later, in the 1940s, two of Siler’s descendants, Weimar Jones and Bob Sloan, were leaders in
a campaign to save the Mound from the commercial development that began after World War II. Since
their successful efforts in 1946, the Mound has been owned by, and tended by, the Town of Franklin.

During the 19th century, the Mound was a prominent landscape feature. It stood in a field near the river,
and the State Road passed by on the north side. Travelers could not help but note it, and all travel
writers who came through the region mentioned its antiquity and uniqueness in admiring terms.

The 20th century was not so kind. Plowing and weather caused some erosion, and some small digs
occurred. The fields were infilled to raise the bottomland above flood stage. Today, the Mound is
smaller than it was in 1820. It appears even smaller than it is because some of the base is under many
feet of fill. Commercial development has crowded it and reduced its importance on the landscape. But,
it is still an impressive presence. It still deeply moves people who know its history, especially those
whose ancestors lived in its shadow and gathered with one another in the town house on its summit.

Descendants of the pioneers also have strong attachments to the Mound, rooted in 200 years of their
own history. Those feelings are especially strong among those who helped to preserve the ancient place,
or whose families were involved in that effort.
This unique and important site holds layer upon layer of history and prehistory – history that is overlaid
by powerful emotions and deep spiritual beliefs.

A new beginning

Today, we have an opportunity to bring this story full circle in a manner that honors the original
inhabitants of our town and the settlers who followed them here – but also honors the descendants of
both groups, who are still here.

Deeding Nikwasi Mound to Nikwasi Initiative Inc. will give the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians joint
ownership with us and ensure that, in perpetuity, they share equally with us in its care and preservation.

Nikwasi Initiative has been working since 2013 to build friendships between the people of Franklin and
Macon County, and our Cherokee neighbors.

It has been a richly rewarding process. We have learned how much we have in common.

Many in our region share more than our common humanity – many have family bonds that have
remained strong through the generations. Many people in Franklin and Macon County have Cherokee
ancestry, and many Cherokee have roots among the early settlers.

Regardless of where we came from, or what our individual stories and ancestry may be, we are all
people of the mountains.

We share this beautiful place where we are blessed to live. To keep it beautiful, healthy, and
prosperous, we need each other.

Most of us have few opportunities in our lives to do something truly meaningful. Tonight, we have such
an opportunity. We can take a step beyond the symbolic “extending the hand of friendship” and offer
concrete proof that we are friends and intend to develop our friendship with our neighbors across the
hills.

This is an historic moment.

The next 200 years start now. We can begin writing a new history based on mutual support, respect, and
friendship. Those are enormously powerful resources that can bring a brighter future to all of us.

Respectfully submitted,

Barbara McRae
Vice-Mayor — Town of Franklin
About Nikwasi Initiative Inc.

Nikwasi Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, organized as a Community Development Organization. Its

partners are the Town of Franklin, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Macon County, and Mainspring
Conservation Trust. The board is made up of representatives of all the partners, and all have contributed
financial support to its operation.

Nikwasi Initiative was organized in 2013 as Mountain Partners. Its goal was to nurture understanding
and reconciliation between the people of Franklin and Macon County and the Eastern Band. The group
incorporated and won nonprofit status in 2018.

The partnership has pursued development of the Cherokee Heritage Corridor, a trail linking significant
Native American sites. Efforts by Mainspring to restore brownfield sites and improve properties along
the Little Tennessee River, near the Mound, inspired further attention to Nikwasi. The group has
continued to work on ways the Mound can be enhanced and interpreted for visitors as part of the
Corridor. A kiosk with interpretive panels will be erected this spring as part of that process

The Eastern Band has furthered efforts to enhance the area around the Mound through a significant
investment in adjoining property. Nikwasi Initiative has been an active partner in discussions relating to
a possible museum annex/visitors center there.

As these efforts focus strongly on revitalization of this important section of Franklin, the potential
economic benefit to the town and county is enormous.