Cherokee (Cherokee language: á£áŽ³áŽ©) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Swain and Jackson counties in western North Carolina, United States, within the Qualla Boundary land trust. It is located in the Oconaluftee River Valley around the intersection of U.S. Route 19 and U.S. Route 441. As of the 2010 census, the CDP had a population of 2,138.
Cherokee is the headquarters for the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. To continue the heritage of the Cherokee in the town, several signs for streets and buildings are written in both Cherokee syllabary and English (see image below).
Cherokee was previously known as "Yellow Hill", which is still used in Cherokee : ᎡᎳá¬á— Elawodi.
Economy
Harrah's Cherokee Casino opened in 1997 and dramatically "changed everything from jobs to education to health care" for Cherokee tribe members; in 2005, nearly four million people visited the casino and generated a per capita profit of roughly $8,000 annually.
Manufacturing and textile plants which previously existed in the area have since closed or moved overseas. Before the casino came to the area, national park tourism provided work for about half of the year, and most tribal members lived off public assistance during the winter.
Tourism
Cherokee is a tourist-oriented area, located at the entrance to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and at the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. In addition to the casino, it is the site of attractions such as:
- Cherokee Botanical Garden and Nature Trail
- Trail to Mount Guyot
- Museum of the Cherokee Indian
- Oconaluftee Indian Village
- Oconaluftee (Great Smoky Mountains)
- Qualla Arts & Crafts Mutual
Eastern Cherokee history, culture, and crafts are portrayed in the historical drama Unto These Hills, presented each year during the tourist season. It is also home to three roadside attractions with zoos: Cherokee Bear Zoo, Chief Saunooke Bear Park, and Santa’s Land. Retired game show host and animal rights activist Bob Barker has called for the black bear zoos at these attractions to be closed, prompted by the experiences he learned of from the family of Rep. Bill Young of Florida.
The Cherokee area was also the home of two, now-defunct amusement parks, Cherokee Wonderland and Frontier Land. The former was only open for a few years in the 1960s, while the latter opened a few years later and was open for many years before being converted into a water park and finally closing to make room for the Harrah's Cherokee Casino. When they were open, both parks featured their own 3Â ft (914Â mm) narrow gauge railroads (named Cherokee Wonderland Railroad and Frontier Land Railroad) as part of their attraction line-ups.
Notable people
Notable residents or natives of Cherokee include:
- Amanda Crowe, woodcarver and educator
- Billy Fives, professional wrestler
- Charles George, Medal of Honor recipient
- Clyde Moody, bluegrass musician
- William Holland Thomas, Cherokee leader and Confederate general
Education
Cherokee Central Schools operates the K-12 public school.
Pop culture
Scenes from movies such as Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier, Digging to China, Forces of Nature, The Fugitive, and Stroszek were shot in Cherokee.
References
External links
- Cherokee travel guide from Wikivoyage
- Cherokee Tourism website
- 2009 Boundary and Annexation Survey, a U.S. Census map for Cherokee and the surrounding area
- The argument for a basic income