Destination Vacation: History, gambling and nature in Cherokee, NC

CHEROKEE, N.C. (WJHL)- Just a two-hour drive through the mountains from the Tri-Cities lies Cherokee, North Carolina, a town full of history, fun and adventure.

It’s home to the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. The Museum of the Cherokee People helps visitors dive into the tribe’s history, especially with its latest exhibit, Sovereignty.

“We’re talking about our tribal sovereignty history, and it is starting in 1930,” said Shennelle Feather, the manager of community programming for the museum. “So this will be right after the Trail of Tears, so it will be post-Trail of Tears information up to contemporary,”

Museum-goers will see Indigenous pottery, art forms and artifacts. There’s also a museum shop.

“We haven’t been able to tell our story from our perspective, the story of who we are as Indigenous People of North America has always been told from a European or Euro-centric perspective,” Feather said. “But we are now able to tell our truths and how we experienced history.”

The oldest Native American cooperative in the country is located across the street from the museum.

“Everything in here is made by members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians who have demonstrated their craft in front of our board of directors, and they’ve also [gone] on to be juried in by the full membership,” said Amanda McCoy, the Assistant Manager of Qualla Arts and Crafts . “It takes one generation to lose a craft or a language, it takes three to gain it back so we have to do everything that we can to keep these crafts alive.”

Handcrafted baskets, pottery, carving, beadwork, and more are on display and can be purchased.

“They actually go out into the woods and find these wide oak saplings, maple saplings and river cane, and they harvest those sustainably to bring them back to be able to start busting them down and making our baskets,” said McCoy. “They will also go out and gather natural root dyes and everything so you’ll see that 20 years from now, these baskets, the coloration hasn’t faded in them because it’s a natural material.”

Visitors can immerse themselves in the culture of the Cherokee people at the Oconaluftee Indian Village with demonstrations, a guided tour and dancing.

“Dances were seen as forms of prayer for us Cherokees originally. We were using them as ways of kind of communicating with the creator originally, but they were also done for fun as well as for courtship, getting to know another person,” said Devon Cucumber, a delegate and tour guide at the village. “The demonstrations that we have here are actually going to show more of the skills we were using in nature and things like that. From tying different belts and making clothing out of it, pottery and how we are able to carry it back to the villages full of water and things, storing seeds for the next season and then using stones like flint napping to kind of use for hunting.”

Everyone can take part and step back in time with real-life portrayals.

“We’re actually portraying life kind of how it was set up in the 1700s, showing the changing from times when European trading was coming along and kind of how things change to modern day,” Cucumber said. “[The homes in the village] are reconstructions, they’re kind of showing what they would have looked like back then and things.”

The story comes alive at night with “ Unto these Hills ,” a dramatic retelling of the Cherokee nation through the Trail of Tears.

“It goes into details about the Cherokees who remained here in the mountains and what happened during that Trail of Tears and what led to the creation of it, of why they were going out to Oklahoma at the time known as Indian territory,” said Cucumber, who is the prop technician for the show. “It has fight scenes. It has retellings of the Horseshoe Bend battle where a Cherokee man saved Andrew Jackson’s life during that time. You also have a dramatic retelling of how the man who had sacrificed his life so the people in the mountains could stay here.”

For those who want to take a chance and make bets at the Harrah’s Cherokee Casino , there are more than 3,000 slot machines.

“The majority of our guests, they love the slot machines. They’re really fun. They’re bright, they’re exciting, but then we have some serious players that love to play the tables too,” said Brian Saunooke, the Vice President of Marketing for Harrah’s Cherokee Casino. “We have one of the finest on-property sports books that you can find: huge television screens, very comfortable chairs, just a great atmosphere, really a social environment to bring your friends, come watch games.”

It’s the largest hotel in the Carolinas with over 1,800 rooms, dining experiences, shopping and other amenities.

“Ultra Star Bowling is an arcade, a bowling experience that we have here on property. We also have the pools associated with our hotel so three different sets of pools across the resort here,” Saunooke said. “We have our partnerships with two celebrity chefs. Gordon Ramsey, the food market is behind me here. We also have Guy Fieri’s Cherokee kitchen so those two celebrity chefs have put their mark on our property, and we also have fine dining with Ruth’s Chris, a lot of different options here for families to enjoy.”

A trip to Cherokee isn’t complete without seeing the wildlife, especially the elk.

“It’s believed that the last elk was shot and killed by the early settlers in 1790. In 2001, the National Park Service, in conjunction with the Eastern Band Cherokee Nation, decided to reintroduce the elk into the national park,” said Bryan Hickman, the owner of Scenic Tour and Adventure. “So, this side of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park has right around 250-300 elk now. That being said, this is the only wild elk herd in North Carolina.”

There are several ways to take in the stunning scenery of the Smoky Mountains, but Scenic Tours and Adventures offers a chance to get up close.

“We take people into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park here onto the Eastern Band Cherokee Nation, give folks a little Cherokee legend and lore, some early Appalachian legends and lore, and just teach people about the Smokies,” Hickman said. “We see elk about 98% of the time in the afternoons and also deer we see quite often; however, the elk are only active during the early mornings and the late part of the day. But also we see black bears about every 10 times that we go out and of course turkey.”

There are also plenty of fishing, hiking, and swimming opportunities, along with much more, perfect for a day trip or quick weekend getaway.

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