August 1-4, 2024

The first four days of August we found ourselves in the ancestral homelands of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) for the 18th Protecting Mother Earth gathering.  Hundreds of domestic and international supporters, allies, and frontline communities joined us from far and wide.

The four-day gathering began in the predawn twilight, August 1, 2024, as parents with sleepy-eyed toddlers, elders, and youth from all walks of life formed a circle in an open meadow along the Oconaluftee River on the edge of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian reservation. We were all there to witness the traditional lighting of a sacred fire. The passing of the sacred fire from community to community to connect each of the previous PMEs was continued at the sunrise ceremony that kicked off this PME. IEN Executive Director, Tom Goldtooth, and  EBCI, IEN staff member, and founder of the local host organization Eastern Cherokee Organization (ECO) Mary Crowe, spoke about the site’s history and the gathering’s purpose.

As the speakers talked, two large elk descended from the nearby mountainside, stood for several minutes, and quietly observed the ceremony.

At the edge of the open meadow were tents, and pavilions, and where services were set up for the four days of workshops, plenaries, entertainment, and dining, 100 or more camps were set up for hundreds of feet along the river and under the shade of a variety of trees that make up the temperate rainforest canopy surrounding Qualla Boundary.

The largest of the event shelters, at 4,000 square feet, was filled each morning for the opening plenary session. IEN leadership, local EBCI, and ECO hosts opened the first morning’s plenary, welcoming participants from as far away as the Arctic Circle, Guam, and the Philippines and south to Colombia and Brazil. Local leaders discussed highlights of environmental justice issues in the region. Watch the videos to the left.

Dotted in among the rainbow of modern-day camping tents and several tipis were peaceful spaces where all aspects of wellness and healing – Body, Mind, and Spirit – were the priority. Near the edge of the river, constructed by local Eastern Band men, sat an “osi” or “asi” in the language of the EBCI, commonly known as a sweat lodge. Prayers and purification were offered each evening. Chosen Firekeepers lit, nurtured, and maintained a sacred fire throughout the gathering for this lodge.

Five hundred yards to the west, perched atop a slight outcropping above the rambling river, rested a screen-walled cabana, open between sunrise and sundown for appointed sessions of therapeutic massage and other holistic wellness practices were offered to the gathering’s more than 1,400 registered participants.

Moving west, around the PME grounds, sits a modest sage green, 3-bedroom, cozy ranch-style house that served as a daycare facility for attendee’s children up to 12 years of age. Teri Johnson, one of the founding organizers of the PME, and her daughter Kori, who was but a baby herself at the first gathering, lovingly entertained, educated, and ensured nearly 50 children with the help of several community volunteers, including parents when they weren’t engaging in roundtables, workshops, or volunteering in other areas of service to the spirit of the event.

Across the way from daycare, further to the west of the circular campground, was the site of what might have been the hottest topic of this PME Gathering: the kitchen, where some of the best traditional dishes of the EBCI were planned, prepared, and served up by local chef, culture bearer and traditionalist Tyson Sampson. Sampson, local elders like Gramma Amy Walker, and Cherokee community members began preparations for traditionally harvesting and preserving wild greens, 13 kinds of wild mushrooms, chestnuts, and berries last fall.

In the spring, at the site of the Cherokee Peoples’ Mother Town, known as Kituwah (Ga-doo-wah), EBCI community members planted vegetables that included 300 pounds of potatoes harvested just days before the start of the PME. With the help of 200 non-Indigenous, trained volunteers, meals with hearty entrees like elk meatloaf and an array of vegetarian dishes were served three times daily.  One of the local favorites is a traditionally prepared chestnut bread prepared by wrapping the bean mixture in hickory leaves. This bread has an exceptionally mild, sweet, and nutty flavor – and is a favorite staple at local celebrations and gatherings, especially liked by visiting tribes. On the final day, a creamy fresh Pumpkin cake with a pudding-like consistency was declared, by all lucky enough to taste it before it disappeared, to be the best pumpkin they had ever tasted. Approximately 1,000 people were fed on the first day.