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by JoKay Dowell, Special Projects Coordinator
After six years of dormancy, the Protecting Mother Earth (PME) Conference has returned to Cherokee territory. Held previously in 1996, the conference returns to Cherokee lands after 28 years since they last hosted the PME conference in the Big Cove Community, where ‘Our Rivers are Life’ was the theme.
This year marks the 18th Protecting Mother Earth gathering, bringing together Indigenous Peoples, allies, frontline defenders, and environmental justice advocates across Turtle Island and beyond. This year, the conference’s theme is an Indigenous Just Transition. It will feature various plenaries, workshops, roundtables, talking circles, and other demonstrations focused on the following topics: Climate Justice, Renewable Energy, Mining, Inherent Relationship Jurisprudence (IRJ)/ Rights of Nature/ Mother Earth, Environmental Health, Indigenous feminisms, False solutions to climate change, food sovereignty, Genetic & Geo- Engineering, and more!
There in the Great Smoky Mountains along the banks of the Oconaluftee River, with the Eastern Cherokee Organization (ECO) as our hosts, with the full support of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), we are preparing to welcome Indigenous Peoples, activists and Land and Water Protectors from as far away as Europe, Brazil and the Arctic Circle to the gathering on the Qualla Boundary land trust, in the verdant homelands of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.
Cherokee, situated on the Qualla Boundary, is the capital of the EBCI, one of three federally recognized Cherokee Tribal Nations and the only one in North Carolina. The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians is headquartered in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, as is the Cherokee Nation, the largest of 574 federally recognized tribes. The people of the EBCI are primarily descendants of Cherokee ancestors, known as the “Hideaway Cherokee,” who resisted or avoided forced relocation to what was Indian Territory during the infamous relocation era of Indigenous displacement throughout what is now the US.
It was a bloody period of legalized land theft, displacement, ethnic cleansing and mass murder spurred on by the Indian Removal Act of 1830, favored by President Andrew Jackson, which targeted primarily the Five Civilized Tribes in which some 60,000 members of the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole were forcefully evicted from their ancestral homelands in the Southeast of Turtle Island. Cherokees fought against removal with the SCOTUS ruling that removal was unconstitutional in the landmark case Worcester v Georgia. Despite that ruling, Jackson defied the Court’s decision and gave the orders for the armed evictions. From those five Southeastern Indigenous Nations, it is estimated that as many as 20,000 died on the infamous Trail of Tears.
Indigenous elders, men, women, and children were ousted from their homes with what they could carry, imprisoned, and then forced marched by the US Army in several detachments from different origins over several routes, both overland and by water, to what is now the state of Oklahoma. According to information found at rtr.cherokee.org, at the time of removal, the Cherokee were primarily in Georgia. However, Cherokee lands extended into Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, North Carolina, and other states in the Appalachian Mountain range. Though some estimates are higher, as many as 4,000 Cherokee died along the Cherokee Trail of Tears to what became the state of Oklahoma in 1907.
During that time of unimaginable despair for Indigenous Peoples in the Southeast, some Cherokee families resisted, managed to find ways to stay in their homelands, and avoided removal. With help from a local white businessman who lived among them, they bought back the land parcel by parcel, in the 1840s and 1850s. In those times, Indigenous Peoples could not hold title to land in North Carolina. The businessman William Holland Thomas agreed to hold title to their lands in his name. In 1866, under an NC charter, ownership of the land was transferred from Thomas to the Eastern Cherokee.
In 1868, they gained federal recognition from the US government as the EBCI, and that land became the basis of the trust land, the Qualla Boundary. Nearby, a sacred site they called Ktiuwah was long recognized by the EBCI people as their original town, their Mother Town, where their ancient ancestors had dwelled for thousands of years, raised crops and where many were buried. Like most of their ancestral lands, Kituwah was lost from the EBCI after the Removal. Kituwah was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 due to its historic and archeological significance.
In 1996, with the hard work of then Chief Joyce Dugan, the EBCI purchased 309 acres of land that included Kituwah, gaining trust status in 2021, meaning the land is owned by the EBCI, but the title is held in trust by the U.S. government on behalf of Indigenous Tribal Nations.
Built around 1000 CE, Kituwah is classified by archeologists as an earthwork platform mound. It marks a ceremonial site near the upper Tuckasegee River. Ancient Cherokee built a townhouse on top of the mound, which was used for communal gatherings and decision-making.
Archeological surveys have been conducted, adding to the EBCI’s knowledge of their ancestors’ usage of the site, including burials. In light of that knowledge, they have left their sacred Mother Town site undeveloped, with EBCI members accessing the site for purposes such as growing vegetables and traditional foods and medicines.
As is customary in Indigenous cultures, the Eastern Cherokee people are welcoming and gracious. They still live within the mountains and lands that have sustained them physically and spiritually for at least 15,000 years. They are eager to share their culture, of which a significant part is their traditional foods, many of which they will be preparing Aug.1-4 for an expected 1,000 attendees during this year’s PME.
Based in the EBCI homelands of the Great Smoky Mountains, Tyson Sampson is an EBCI culture bearer, a medicine person, a chef, a business person, a wildcrafter with a background in the healing arts, and much more to his family and community. They are also this year’s PME lead on everything to do with food and meal planning.
Tyson made it clear that his goal is for PME attendees to taste the richness of their mountains, where they sustainably gathered wild greens like ramps, sustained by the waters of the Oconaluftee and Tuckasegee Rivers, the deep connections to the ancestors at Kituwah where in the springtime, community members including EBCI elder Amy Walker, a former Licensed Social Worker now more than 80-years-old who’s been growing food on Kituwah for 10-15 years, planted 300 pounds of potatoes now being unearthed for cooking at the PME.
“This is who we are,” Sampson said. “This is what we do. Our community members, elders included, and about 200 non-Native volunteers have been out since spring, really since last fall, foraging and gathering mushrooms, greens, berries, everything our mountains and Kituwah have to offer.”
Sampson trains all their volunteers in an Indigenous version of “Right Relationship,” in which the volunteers learn to interact with Cherokee people and culture, as well as learn Indigenous ways of doing and being that are respectful and non-judgemental. A descendant of the Big Witch family, Sampson also founded an apothecary for ethnobotanical accessibility, Big Witch Botanicals. They said they do their work in honor of their mother and the women who raised them. Matriarchy runs deep among the Cherokee. So does the concept of reciprocity, giving back to those who have enriched our lives.
In the days leading up to the opening and lighting of the Sacred Fire at the 2024 PME, local EBCI community members, volunteers, and EBCI employees are on-site at the PME campground, erecting event tents and other structures, like the onsite kitchen. Longtime IEN supporter, volunteer, and the 2024 PME contractor, EBCI member Lisa Montelongo joins IEN Indigenous Just Transition Organizer Mary Crowe, also a descendant of the Big Witch family, on the ground by the Oconaluftee River at the PME site, preparing to unload generators and other items for the kitchen and dining area.
At daybreak on Thursday, August 1, 2024, the 18th IEN Protecting Mother Earth Gathering will officially open with the lighting of the Sacred Fire. The previous PME was held in 2018 in Nisqually, WA, and Hanford McCloud and family are bringing the “Fire”—the original coals from the last gathering—and passing them to Cherokee elders, who will receive and continue to steward the Sacred Fire. These coals have come from all the sacred fires from the previous 17 PMEs that connect the lives and spirits of all who have come before
All attendees, including media representatives, will be required to register at the entrance, including those who pre-registered. There are no registration fees or charges for meals, camping, or daycare. Such an educational and spiritual gathering is a huge undertaking. Participants are asked to volunteer in several areas, including the kitchen, daycare, clean up of dining and workshop areas, and the campground in general. With the exception of those traveling by air, campers are expected to come self-sufficient with camping gear, pillows, towels, toiletries, personal medications, and special dietary needs.
Plenary and workshop areas will be marked accordingly, as will areas for parking, restrooms, and significant areas within the PME grounds, such as the kitchen, camping for attendees, and an Indigenous Traders’ Village with IEN merchandise and Indigenous arts and crafts vendors. There will also be a wellness area. IEN Teaching Garden staff Kaylee Carnahan will organize a seed and plant exchange, trade, and barter areas that have been added to the PME experience this year. IEN and EBCI Tribal Security will be present throughout the camp. No drugs or alcohol are allowed.
The Sacred Fire will burn for prayer, meditation, or respite throughout the event. The fire will be tended by a Firekeeper 24/7. Please be quiet and respectful while approaching and while close to this area. No trash or cigarette butts are to be discarded in the Sacred Fire.
The Indigenous Environmental Network extends its deepest gratitude to the Eastern Cherokee Organization, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and all the volunteers, community members, and organizers who have helped prepare for this four-day cultural and spiritual gathering. The dedication and energy that have gone into every aspect of this gathering are a visible expression of love and respect – as many Nations come together this week – separate, distinct, and vibrant communities working together for the future of all life on Mother Earth.
