The Watershed Association of the Tuckasegee River (WATR) joined with the Museum of the Cherokee Indian on Nov. 17 to sponsor a program examining the traditional role of the river in the life and culture of the Cherokee.

The program began with a tour by the 25 participants of the museum, followed by a presentation by museum archivist Bo Taylor. It culminated with a trip to the river bank at Kituhwa, (Gee-do-wah.)

“We have a lot to learn from the Cherokee about the depth of their relationship to the river. It was a spiritual relationship. The Cherokee didn’t see the river as a natural resource. They saw it as another being in their community,” said David Wheeler, president of WATR.

Yvwe Gunahita, the “Long Man,” is that being. According to the Cherokee, the Long Man is the spirit or being who graces the river. He is called the Long Man because his head is in the mountains and his toes are in the sea.

“The water is a living breathing thing. It has life, has spirit, and we honor him,” Taylor said.

“The Cherokee were baptists before there were any Baptists,” Taylor said, referring to the fact that “going to water” was thought of as a kind of rebirth or rejuvenation. The Cherokee “go to water” for purification and healing. Going to water was a special part of many ceremonies, but it was also a routine part of Cherokee life.

There was a certain protocol to follow when going to water. One never dipped or scooped water against the current, said Taylor. Instead, it was always done in the direction of the flow. He said by applying the white, frothy foam from the rushing waters to one’s head, one would ensure good health in their later years.

According to Taylor, the river is especially potent in the fall. The leaves fall into the river and mix with the water to produce a particularly powerful “stew.”

After Taylor’s presentation, the group traveled to Kituhwa where Garfield Long of the Tribe’s cultural office spoke to them. Kituhwa is a 309-acre parcel of land just west of Cherokee between U.S. 19 and the Tuckasegee River. The site is thought by many to be the original homesite of the Cherokee. Archaeological explorations have documented 9,000 years of human activity at Kituhwa. Long and many Cherokee refer to themselves as Ani-kitu-hwagi, “People of Kituhwa.”

Long described some of the rituals associated with the river. He said Cherokee priests would take infants to the river when they reached four days old. The priest would hold the infants above the water and recite prayers. Then they would give the infant to the mother, wet their hands and rub the baby’s forehead and chest, very similar to a baptism.

The Cherokee would also gather at the river after funerals, where the priest would lead the family of the deceased in prayer. According to legend, if anything appeared in or on the water in front of the priest after the prayer, the death could be attributed to witchcraft. If the water remained clear, the death was from natural causes.

If there was an illness the priest could read the water and determine who or what had caused the illness. The priest would then recite specific prayers to neutralize and heal the afflicted.

Wheeler said learning about Cherokee attitudes toward the river was “more than simply archaic information.” The Cherokee people had a very benign ecological impact on the region, and Wheeler attributes that to their spiritual connection to the earth. He believes present-day communities along the Tuckasegee could learn about stewardship from the Cherokee community.

Long said the Cherokee were environmentally aware. He said villages were located near a confluence or fork in the river. That way, bathing and cleansing areas were kept separate from drinking areas.

He said the Cherokee respected the river because it sustained life, and if people were careless it could take life.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News