The Keetoowah mound at Ferguson Field

The ancient settlement of Keetoowah (Kituwah) or giduwa (Cherokee:???), on the Tuckasegee River near present-day Bryson City, North Carolina, is frequently cited as the original Cherokee city.

Cherokee oral traditions suggest that all Cherokee migrated to Keetoowah after the migration from the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern Canada as early as 3,000 years ago. The Cherokee base this belief on cultural and archaeological evidence, but there is no consensus. The ancient Cherokee had a hereditary priesthood called the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni. These were also not the ugus/owls/white chiefs or the colona/ravens/red chiefs — in other words, although they obtained much power through fear, they were not the regular rulers. Almost the only thing we know about them is that they were killed off by the whole people for their bullying and corruption.

The ancient site of the Mother Town Keetoowah is still visible in western North Carolina in the same general area as the Qualla Boundary. It has been re-claimed in recent years by the Eastern Band of the Cherokee and is being restored as a center of community wellness and renewal. Keetoowah was an ancient "mound" site and the mound, despite being burned repeatedly during the colonial period and plowed over for corn since the Removal, is still visible at that location. Moundbuilding was not confined to the Cherokee, but was common in various Woodland and Mississippian cultures throughout the Mississippi Basin, such as in Tennessee to the west, Georgia to the southwest, and Ohio and Illinois to the northwest. The Cherokee and any pre-Cherokee inhabitants of Keetoowah were likely part of vast trade networks that connected mound sites through the eastern United States.

Some Cherokee traditionalists refer to themselves as Ah-ni-ki-tu-wa-gi (spelled variously in local Oklahoma dialects as Ki-tu-wa or Gi-du-wa), Keetoowah people. The meaning of the word Kituwah is known to contemporary Cherokee speakers, although it is not widely reported because of its sacred nature. Honoring the mother town was analogous to honoring Selu, the Cherokee Corn Mother (of the ancient Green Corn Ceremony and many other connections). Honoring of mothers is a concept that has pervaded Cherokee culture. Even well into the twentieth century, descent and family organization were based on the female line and clan membership.

During the Green Corn Ceremony practiced by the Cherokee, one of the two social dances performed is of ancient origin, and may have originated from the mother town of Keetoowah. The dance is called "ye-lu-le" which means "to the center". During this dance, all of the dancers shout "ye-lu-le" and move towards the fire in the center of the sacred dance circle. This dance symbolizes the dispersal of the sacred fire given to the people in their ancient legends. During Green Corn ceremonies in traditional Cherokee society, the coals of new fire were carried to all the Cherokee, and used to kindle the ceremonial fires in each town, before any of the new corn could be eaten. The home fires in outlying Cherokee communities were then extinguished before the ceremonies and re-lit from the coals of the fire kindled during the Green Corn Dances.

External links

• The Pluralism Project: Kituwah Mound
• Cherokee Preservation Foundation

References

fr:Keetoowah