Cherokee Stories Told In Great Smoky Mountains National Park
On April 21, a unique series of exhibits, portraying traditional Cherokee stories, was unveiled at the Oconaluftee River Trail in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The trail starts at the park’s Mountain Farm Museum at Oconaluftee Visitor Center in North Carolina and follows the Oconaluftee River into the town of Cherokee. The interpretive trail features seven exhibit panels in both the Cherokee and English language, retelling Cherokee stories about how the mountains have affected their beliefs for hundreds of years. The panels are illustrated by local Cherokee artists.
Funded by the Cherokee Preservation Foundation and The Ford Foundation, and developed in collaboration with The Eastern Band of the Cherokee, The Mountain Institute, and Museum of the Cherokee Indian, the project will eventually tie into a proposed recreational greenway and heritage trail along the Oconaluftee River in Cherokee.
