Historical Significance
– Nikwasi—Cherokee for “Star Place”—was built around 1000 CE during the South Appalachian Mississippian period, forming a central feature of an agrarian Cherokee town spanning roughly 100 acres along the Little Tennessee River
– A central townhouse atop the mound maintained a continuously burning sacred fire and functioned as the community’s ceremonial, political, and spiritual hub
– The town appears in colonial records by 1718 and hosted the 1727 Treaty of Nikwasi between the Cherokee and British colony of South Carolina
Cultural Evolution
– Nikwasi’s form has evolved layer by layer, likely built atop older woodland‑period mounds, featuring terrace additions during Lamar (Proto‑Creek) cultural influence (~1400 AD), and later modified by Cherokee
– Recent geophysical surveys (2009 GPR) reveal 1–2 m of alluvial sediment and fill, indicating the mound was once more prominent on the landscape
-Infrared analysis confirms the presence of earlier construction phases including a stepped ramp oriented southeast toward solstice alignments
Modern Challenges
– Surviving centuries of colonial violence—French and Indian War usage in 1761 and destruction during the 1776 Rutherford expedition—the mound has remained intact thanks to Cherokee, Franklin, and local advocacy
– Purchased by Franklin residents and schoolchildren in 1946 to protect it, the mound was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as “Nequasee”
– In 2019, stewardship transferred to the Nikwasi Initiative (Eastern Band of Cherokee, Town of Franklin, Macon County, and Mainspring)
