Saunooke Village

Exploring Cherokee NC while RV Living Fulltime - Great Smokey Mountains, Clingmans Dome, Waterfalls

Exploring Cherokee NC while RV Living Fulltime (Part 2) - Great Smokey Mountains, Clingmans Dome, Waterfalls (EP12)

Places we visited in this episode...
Mountain Farm Museum
River Trail (near the Mountain Farm Museum)
Cullasaja Falls, Franklin NC
Little Tennessee River Greenway, Franklin NC
Scottish Tartans Museum, Franklin NC
Camp Host at Tuckaseegee RV Park playing guitar
Clingman's Dome, Great Smokey Mountains, NC/TN State Border
Elk spotted just outside of Cherokee
General's shower (very funny)
#rvliving #cherokee #visitnc

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Join us on our 3-year journey of discovery as we travel around the US and Canada in our 29-foot travel trailer with our Yellow Lab. There are so many wonderful things to see and do in this country when you are RV living and traveling on a budget!
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Cherokee, North Carolina

Cherokee is a census-designated place 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.


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Cherokee Pay Raise Concerns

CHEROKEE, N.C. -- Some members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee are challenging pay raises totaling nearly $1 million that tribal council members gave themselves.

Tribal council voted on the raises in October. They amount to around $10,000 for each council member. A group called The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for Justice and Accountability says the raises violate Cherokee code.

The code says raises are supposed to go into effect when the next council is seated. In this case, that happens later this Fall.

They think that they're worth more than they're getting paid, says Jody Taylor.

We need to tell them that we're going to take our power back and hopefully elect new council members that will work for the people, says Amy Walker.

Walker questions why former council members also got raises. She and other enrolled members have filed a complaint through an Asheville law firm, which calls the raises a blatant illegal government act. It demands the nearly one million dollars to be returned and used for health and elder services.

Walker says Tribal Council is supposed to take direction from Cherokee enrolled members.

They've moved totally away from that ancestry about who we are and our people are really upset about this one issue.

The plaintiffs want Tribal Council members to rescind the raises at their next meeting May 7.

Chief Michell Hicks says until he has more time to look at the complaint, he has no comment.


By Rex Hodge

Follow Rex on Twitter @RexHodgeWLOS

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WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.

Cherokee Burial Ground Decision

Cherokee Tribal leaders want what is believed to be a burial ground in Macon County, left alone.

Workers building the new Parker Meadows Recreation Park uncovered the remains while clearing land for a ball park. An archeologist believes the remains date back to the 1700's and are Native American.

Macon County and Tribal leaders met Monday in Cherokee to discuss how to proceed with the project. The head of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians says the tribe wants the remains left alone. We've got a good partnership. We'll just see what they come back with. Hopefully it accommodates our request, says Chief Michell Hicks. And this being their ancestors, we're going to adhere to their wishes, says Macon Commissioner Ronnie Beale.

Macon County leaders say they'll go back to the drawing board and look at other designs for the ball fields that would not disturb the grave site. We're going to go back to the drawing board sit down with our engineers and find a real cost, says Macon County Manager Derek Roland.

Roland says re-surveying and re-designing the ball fields will add to the cost of the $3.3 million project. But he says respecting cultures is the right thing to do.

That's a perspective is shared by Mark Downing, a Cherokee from Oklahoma, on the North Carolina reservation for the first time. Because you wouldn't want anybody digging up your ancestors, your grandmas and grandpas and put a baseball field on their cemetery.

Macon County leaders say they'll meet with engineers and architects Wednesday morning to discuss options for reconfiguring the recreation park.

By Rex Hodge
Follow Rex on Twitter @RexHodgeWLOS

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WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.

Reorganizing Cherokee Social Services

The death of a little girl three years ago is providing much of the motivation behind Cherokee reorganizing its social services.

In 2011, Aubrey Littlejohn died. An investigation found she was neglected, left in soiled diapers, had an untreated broken arm, and died with a body temperature of 84 degrees. Family members say Swain County DSS didn't do enough to protect her. Swain County social worker Candice Lassiter pleaded guilty to attempting to cover up the agency's role after Littlejohn's death.

There are a lot of situations out there where we see better care, more attention, more passion and compassion should have gone into the care of children, says Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Chief Michell Hicks.

Tribal leaders are now restructuring its medical division into a Health and Human Services Department. In turn, it will take over child protective services from surrounding counties.

So that we could provide a more comprehensive integrated service to give what we feel like a better service because we know our people, says Cherokee Public Health and Human Services Deputy Health Officer Vickie Bradley.

Littlejohn's family says Cherokee will do a better job.

And more people are going to be willing to take care of our own, I think because it's going to be our own people looking after them, says Littlejohn's Great Aunt Ruth McCoy. Our family is hoping when the facility gets set up or where it's going to be that it will be named after Aubrey.

I'm glad that it's happening you know. We need to take care of our own kids, said Karen Swayney. Littlejohn's great-aunt .

The reorganization will take a year to year and a half. All social services for adults and children will be centralized in one location. A director is expected to be named this week, and the director will decide how many people might be hired.

By Rex Hodge
Follow Rex on Twitter @RexHodgeWLOS

Related Links:
Social Services Reorganization

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WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.

Tribal Grounds Coffee Closed

People looking for a cup of coffee in Cherokee were surprised to find a popular shop shut down. Store representatives from Tribal Grounds met behind closed doors Wednesday with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Chief Michell Hicks says the store owner, Natalie Smith, has fallen behind on bills she owes the tribe. He says a non-profit organization, the Sequoyah Fund, will step in and run the store for the immediate future with foreclosure being discussed. Hicks says he hopes another operator can take over the store's lease and get it back open for business soon. Natalie Smith issued this response to News 13:I acknowledge there have been financial difficulties with my business and Ihave diligently pursed resolutions to those difficulties.  Unfortunately, Ihave not been able to meet the demands of the Business Committee and theSequoyah Fund.   To the best of my knowledge at this time no foreclosureproceeding has been instituted and I have not received any court orders orlegal documents of authority allowing the Sequoyah Fund to take over theoperation of my business.  However, the BIA and the Tribe have changed thelocks on my business over my express objections. This situation continues to develop and I am seeking legal assistance.-Rex Hodge

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Call the Newsroom: 828.684.1340


WLOS ABC 13 News serves the Asheville, NC area and the rest of western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. We keep our audience informed through local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of community events, sports and entertainment programming since 1954.

Opt-In SWNC: Michell Hicks, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI)

Michell Hicks, Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, welcomes attendees at the Opt-In Regional Summit, May 8, 2014, Cherokee, NC. More info: optinswnc.org.

NNAHM – Celebrating School Readiness in Tribal Early Childhood Programs across the United States

This webinar was hosted by the National Center on Tribal Early Childhood Development and its collaborating partners. It was designed to allow participants to increase their awareness of tribal, local, state, and national activities around tribal school readiness; to learn from tribal practitioners about school readiness; to build understanding of the research and resources available; and to identify additional areas of interest for shared learning and support.

A list of resources for American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) early childhood programs related to culturally responsive school readiness strategies was also shared.

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