ACT: Following in Cherokee footsteps across WNC
April 27th, 2016 by NC BTS
Many thanks to Jim Kautz for sharing a link to this article in the Asheville Citizen Times which highlights the work of NCBTS volunteer and board member, Lamar Marshall:
FRANKLIN – Crossing the green field and climbing the hill, Lamar Marshall stops and unfolds his topo map from his backpack. This wind-whipped summit overlooking a bend of the Little Tennessee River is not a natural feature, but a mound made by the land’s ancient inhabitants in a town once called Cowee.
Standing where the Cherokee council house once held a sacred fire, Marshall can point out the path below, winding beside native canebrakes into a nearly forgotten past of the Cowee Valley.
For the last eight years, Marshall has been following in the footsteps of the Cherokee along trails that once linked dozens of their ancient towns along this river and across Western North Carolina.
“These are arteries into the past that connect us with the culture of this place,” Marshall said. “When I walk along these trails, I am seeing the exact same views, the same mountains that natives have seen for thousands of years. We’re standing in the same spot that William Bartram or Dragging Canoe may have stood.”
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