Tanasi - Cherokee Registry

Tanasi
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Tanasi
Chota and Tanasi Cherokee Village Sites
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Monument overlooking the Tanasi site
Location:
Monroe County, Tennessee
Nearest city:
Vonore
Coordinates:
35°32′55″N 84°07′57″W
Built:
c. 1600–1700 A.D.
Governing body:
Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation
NRHP Reference#: 73001813
Added to NRHP:
1973
Tanasi (also spelled Tanase, Tenasi, Tenassee, Tunissee, and other such variations) (Cherokee: ᏔᎾᏏ) is a historic
Overhill Cherokee village site in Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The village is best
known as the namesake for the state of Tennessee. Although now submerged by the Tellico Lake impoundment of
the Little Tennessee River, Tanasi served as the de facto capital of the Cherokee from as early as 1721 until 1730,
when the capital shifted to Great Tellico.
The town of Chota developed immediately north of Tanasi (the two sites were divided by an unnamed stream) and
by the 1740s had become the more prominent of the two towns. Although Chota and Tanasi had distinct political,
social, and demographic traits, excavators in the late 1960s determined that the two towns are archaeologically
indistinguishable.[1] The two towns are grouped as a single listing on the National Register of Historic Places,
although Tanasi was given its own site designation (40MR62) in 1972.[2]
In the 1980s, the Tennessee Valley Authority placed a monument on the shoreline above the submerged site of
Tanasi that commemorates its history and its legacy as the origin of the name Tennessee. This monument is
approximately 12 miles (unknown operator: u'strong' km) south of Vonore, just off Highway 455 (Citico Road).
The site is managed by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation.[3]
Tanasi
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Geographical setting
The Tanasi site, looking northwest from the Tanasi
monument
The Little Tennessee River flows northwestward from its source
in the Appalachian Mountains and traverses a 40-mile
(unknown operator: u'strong' km) stretch of northern Monroe
County before emptying into the Tennessee River near Lenoir
City. In 1979, the construction of Tellico Dam at the mouth of
the river created a reservoir that spans the lower 33 miles
(unknown operator: u'strong' km) of the Little Tennessee and
the lower 22 miles (unknown operator: u'strong' km) of its
tributary, the Tellico River.[4] Tanasi is located along the west
bank of the Little Tennessee 27 miles (unknown operator:
u'strong' km) upstream from the river's mouth.[5] The site is
opposite a sharp bend in the river known as Bacon's Bend.
Before inundation, Tanasi was situated on a relatively flat terrace flanked by the river on one side and a series of
high, steep hills on the other. These hills, noted on Timberlake's 1762 map, are part of the Appalachian
Ridge-and-Valley Province, which spans much of the upper Tennessee Valley. The Appalachian Range proper rises
a few miles south of the Chota-Tanasi site.
Historical background
Tanasi first appears in the historical record in the early 18th
century, at a time when the fur trade between the English and
the Cherokee had grown to the extent that it required regulation.
Ethnologist James Mooney reported that the meaning of the
town's name is unknown, but noted its occurrence elsewhere
among Cherokee lands in Tennessee and North Carolina.[6] The
Cherokee name for the river upon which Tanasi was situated
was probably "Callamaco," but early Euro-American explorers
and traders renamed the river after Tanasi.[7][8]
Tennessee Historical Commission marker along Citico
Road
The Tanasi monument, up close
Among the earliest English agents to reside at Tanasi was
Eleazar Wiggan— nicknamed "Old Rabbit" by the Cherokee—
who operated out of Tanasi as early as 1711 and would serve as
a guide for later diplomats and emissaries.[9] In 1725, South
Carolina dispatched Colonel George Chicken to Tanasi to obtain
Cherokee assistance in the colony's struggles with the Creeks.
Chicken indicated in his journals that the chief of Tanasi—
known as the Tanasi Warrior or Head Warrior of Tanasi—
ruled over the Cherokee Overhill, Middle, and Valley towns in
the region. Chicken recorded a speech in which the Tanasi
Tanasi
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Warrior pledged support for the English, and the two later engaged in a pipe-smoking session in which the Tanasi
Warrior told Chicken of recent Creek hostilities in the area.[10] Colonel John Herbert visited Tanasi on a similar
mission in 1727, and reported meeting with the "King and Long Warriour" of Tanasi at the Tanasi townhouse.[11]
In 1730, Sir Alexander Cuming— claiming to be an emissary of King George II— made an ambitious journey to
Tanasi in which he managed to obtain the Tanasi Warrior's allegiance for England. As evidence of his success
Cuming sought an esteemed symbolic headdress known as the Crown of Tanasi— described as resembling a wig
made of dyed possum hair— which he hoped to present to the king of England. To obtain this headdress, Cuming
enlisted the aid of Moytoy, chief of Great Tellico. Cuming used his flamboyance and influence to convince the
Cherokee to crown Moytoy "Emperor of the Cherokee," and in exchange, Moytoy obtained the headdress sought by
Cuming. Cuming departed for England shortly thereafter, taking with him a party that included Eleazar Wiggan,
future Cherokee leader Attakullakulla, and two Tanasi warriors named Clogoittah and Oukanaekah.[12]
The crowning of Moytoy in 1730 shifted the Cherokee center of power to Great Tellico, which was situated along
the Tellico River roughly 16 miles (unknown operator: u'strong' km) southwest of Tanasi. After the death of
Moytoy in 1741, however, Old Hop, the chief of Chota, began to consolidate power. The influence of Chota soon
overshadowed that of Tanasi, and by the early 1750s, Chota was clearly the more dominant town. In 1765, Henry
Timberlake, who had visited the Overhill towns as an emissary in 1761–1762, reported 12 dwellings and 21 warriors
at Tanasi, and identified Old Hop as chief of both Chota and Tanasi.[13] In 1775, the Tanasi Warrior was among the
chiefs who signed a treaty with the Watauga Association.[14]
Tanasi's relationship with Chota
Tanasi's relationship with Chota has long puzzled
historians and archaeologists. Some have
speculated that the two towns were a single
community with two districts and two
governments, not unlike the situation that
reportedly existed with Great Tellico and Chatuga
around the same time. Excavators in the early
1970s noted virtually no differences in the types
of cultural materials and features uncovered at the
two village sites. 18th-century traders and
diplomats, however, clearly identified two
separate towns.[15]
Detail of Tanasi (spelled "Tennessee"), as shown on Henry Timberlake's
1765 "Draught of the Cherokee Country"
Chota doesn't appear in the historical record until
around 1745, whereas Tanasi existed when
Euro-American traders first reported on the region in the early 18th century. The maps of John Herbert and George
Hunter, drawn in 1727 and 1730, respectively, show Tanasi but not Chota. In 1746, English agent George Pawley
met with Cherokee leaders at the Chota townhouse, indicating Chota had already usurped Tanasi as the more
dominant town. Missionary William Richardson visited the Overhill towns in the late 1750s and described Chota and
Tanasi as being separated by a "small river." Richardson's description is supported by Timberlake's map, which
recorded the two towns' situation in 1762.[16]
Tanasi
Archaeological findings
Cyrus Thomas, working for the Smithsonian Institution's Bureau of Ethnology, conducted a mound survey at the
Chota-Tanasi site in the late 1880s. Thomas reported the discovery of 13 burials and several artifacts. In 1939,
Thomas Lewis and Madeline Kneburg directed an excavation at the Chota-Tanasi site with the help of the Works
Progress Administration. Lewis and Kneburg, who were searching for cultural data with which to compare their
earlier finds at Hiwassee Island, uncovered 22 burials, 85 pit features, 982 postmolds, and one structure.[17] Between
1969 and 1974, University of Tennessee archaeologists conducted excavations at the Chota-Tanasi site in
anticipation of the flooding of the site by the construction of Tellico Dam. Two excavations— one in 1970 and one
in 1972— were focused specifically on Tanasi.
Although artifacts dating to the Archaic period (and even a fluted projectile point dating to the Paleo-Indian period)
were uncovered at the Chota-Tanasi sites, excavations were mostly focused on the sites' Cherokee occupation. Along
with locating the two village sites, investigators hoped to find evidence that would shed light on the Cherokees'
relationship to the region's Mississippian-era (c. 900–1600 A.D.) occupants.[18]
The 1972 excavations uncovered 191 features, 22 burials, 1005 postmolds, and 6 structures at the Tanasi site alone.
Two townhouses were uncovered at the Chota-Tanasi sites, one of which was slightly smaller and older than the
other. The older of the two townhouses may have been the Tanasi townhouse, the existence of which was reported
by traders and emissaries in the 1720s. However, it's also possible that the older townhouse was an earlier version of
the Chota townhouse, and that excavators failed to uncover the Tanasi townhouse. The older townhouse had a
diameter of just over 50 feet (unknown operator: u'strong' m). In 1986, the remains of the 22 burials uncovered at
Tanasi— along with those uncovered at Chota— were reinterred in a burial mound at the Sequoyah Museum near
Vonore.[19]
References
[1] Gerald Schroedl (ed.), Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee (Report of Investigations 38, University of Tennessee Department
of Anthropology, 1986), 5.
[2] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee, 29.
[3] Gerald Schroedl, " Overhill Cherokees (http:/ / tennesseeencyclopedia. net/ imagegallery. php?EntryID=O020)." The Tennessee Encyclopedia
of History and Culture, 2002. Retrieved: 26 March 2008.
[4] Richard Polhemus, The Toqua Site — 40MR6 Vol. 1 (Knoxville, Tenn.: The Tennessee Valley Authority, 1987), 1.
[5] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee, 5.
[6] James Mooney, Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee (Nashville, Tenn.: C and R Elder, 1972), 534.
[7] J.G.M. Ramsey, The Annals of Tennessee (Johnson City, Tenn.: Overmountain Press, 1999), 47.
[8] Mary Rothrock, end note in John Haywood's The Natural and Aboriginal History of Tennessee (Jackson, Tenn.: McCowat–Mercer Press,
1959), 424.
[9] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanassee, 8.
[10] Samuel Cole Williams, Early Travels in the Tennessee Country, 1540–1800 (Johnson City, Tennessee: Watauga Press, 1928), 97–101.
[11] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanassee, 9.
[12] Williams, Early Travels in the Tennessee Country, 122–127.
[13] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee, 9–12.
[14] Ramsey, The Annals of Tennessee, 120–121.
[15] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee, 5, 10, 534, 548.
[16] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee, 9–12, 534, 539, 548.
[17] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee, 16–20, 38–39.
[18] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee, 1, 16, 379, 531.
[19] Schroedl, Overhill Cherokee Archaeology at Chota-Tanasee, 170–181, 204, 265.
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Tanasi
Resources
• "History and Genealogy:Frequently Asked Questions "What is the meaning of the name 'Tennessee'?"" (http://
www.state.tn.us/TSLA/history/history_faqs.htm#01). Tennessee State Library and Archives. Retrieved
2006-03-19.
• "History" (http://www.smokymountainsvisitorsguide.com/history.htm). Smoky Mountain Visitors Guide.
Retrieved 2006-03-19.
• Mooney, James. "Myths of the Cherokee" (1900, reprint 1995).
External links
• Frank H. McClung Museum (http://mcclungmuseum.utk.edu/)
• Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation (http://www.nc-cherokee.com/)
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Article Sources and Contributors
Article Sources and Contributors
Tanasi Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=494243246 Contributors: Bkonrad, Bms4880, CalicoCatLover, Embryomystic, Ganymead, Gazpacho, Hmains, Jllm06, John
Cardinal, Khatru2, Noformation, Pfly, RxS, Tet1969, TreyGreene, WillOakland, 12 anonymous edits
Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
File:Tanasi-monument-tn1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tanasi-monument-tn1.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: Brian Stansberry
Image:Tanasi-site-tennessee1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tanasi-site-tennessee1.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: Brian Stansberry
Image:Tanasi-thc-marker-tn1.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tanasi-thc-marker-tn1.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Contributors: Brian
Stansberry
Image:Tanasi-monument-cherokee-tennessee.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tanasi-monument-cherokee-tennessee.jpg License: Creative Commons Attribution
3.0 Contributors: Brian Stansberry
Image:Timberlake-map-tanasi-1765.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Timberlake-map-tanasi-1765.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Henry Timberlake
License
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