Date: 10/27/24 11:12 am From: Harry LeGrand (via carolinabirds Mailing List) <carolinabirds...> Subject: Name change to a major geographical feature and birding site in NC and TN
I was looking through the CBC's Recent Notable Sightings listing, and
yesterday I saw: Great Smoky Mountains NP--Kuwohi (NC), Previously
Clingmans Dome
So, I Googled "Kuhowi", and this is the official National Park Service News
Release, dated September 18, 2024:
--------------------------------
*GATLINBURG, Tenn.—*The U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted today in favor
of the formal request submitted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
(EBCI) to change the name of Clingmans Dome (FID #1326387) to Kuwohi
(pronounced koo-WHOA-hee). Kuwohi is the Cherokee name for the mountain and
translates to “mulberry place.” In Cherokee syllabary, the name is
ᎫᏬᎯ. The National Park Service strongly supported the name restoration and
applauds today's decision, which also received support from local
communities and governments.
Kuwohi is a sacred place for the Cherokee people and is the highest point
within the traditional Cherokee homeland. Kuwohi is visible from the Qualla
Boundary, the home of the EBCI. Efforts are already underway to update
signage, website and other materials with the Kuwohi name.
“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,” said Superintendent Cassius Cash. “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.”
The proposal was submitted in January of this year by EBCI Principal Chief
Michell Hicks following an effort started in 2022 by Lavita Hill and Mary
Crowe, both enrolled EBCI members, to restore the traditional name of the
summit.
Kuwohi is one of the most popular sites in Great Smoky Mountains National
Park with more than 650,000 visitors per year. It is the tallest point in
Tennessee and the third-highest summit east of the Mississippi River.
The park closes Kuwohi for three half days annually to provide access to
predominantly Cherokee schools to visit the mountain and learn the history
of Kuwohi and the Cherokee people from elders, Cherokee language speakers,
culture bearers and community members.
Clingmans Dome has always been known as Kuwohi to the Cherokee People. The
mountain became known as Clingmans Dome following an 1859 survey by
geographer Arnold Guyot, named for Thomas Lanier Clingman who was a lawyer,
U.S. Representative and Senator from North Carolina, and Confederate
Brigadier General.
----------------------------------------
Thus, Clingmans Dome is no longer the tallest mountain in Tennessee; it is
now Kuwohi. This major name change will affect the Carolina Bird Club's
Briefs for the Files and the Birds of North Carolina website, which I write
and edit. Thus, for the next few Briefs for the Files, if a report has
mentioned Clingmans Dome, I will say "Kuwohi, formerly Clingmans Dome" --
so that folks will know of the name change. Unfortunately, I do not plan
on going back into the species accounts (490-ish) and convert Clingmans
Dome --> Kuwohi, as the name THEN was indeed Clingmans Dome. But in the
future, the reports that mention this mountain peak will be written as
"Kuwohi, formerly Clingmans Dome".
