Nikwasi

The town (also known spelled as Ꮔꭷꮟ Nucassee) was founded sometime before the mid-1500s, as it appears on a 1566 map. It is first mentioned in 1718 in the records of the British colonies in America. The town was a spiritual, cultural, and ceremonial center for the local Cherokee people, (Note: Kituwa, found on the Tuckaseegee River, is considered the first "Mother Town".) The Cherokee people kept the ever-burning sacred fire of Nikwasi located in the fire pit of their townhouse constructed on top of the mound. The fire had been kept burning since the beginning of their culture, and every townhouse had a fire pit for it. Treaty of 1727 As was typical in the Cherokee heartland, the people built their townhouse or meeting hall on top of the central platform mound as their expression of public architecture, as it enabled the community to gather. The people of Nikwasi likely met here with a colonial delegation who came from Charleston, South Carolina in 1727; Colonel John Herbert took part in a treaty council held in the town house on December 3, 1727. Following the Cherokee signing of the treaty with South Carolina, a self-appointed royal ambassador, Alexander Cuming, was hosted at the town from April 3 to 4, 1730. During the negotiations with the Cherokee, Cuming had met with Uku (or "First Beloved Man") Moytoy (known also as Ama-edohi). The Cherokee rebuilt their town. By the time of the American Revolutionary War, the Cherokee had become allies of the British, hoping they would support the expulsion of settlers from Cherokee territory. During the Rutherford Light Horse expedition, rebel forces leveled the town on September 10, 1776. Rutherford burned the town and its farmlands to the ground. After an austere, harsh winter, the town sued for peace with the colonists the following Spring. The Cherokee rebuilt again and continued life at Nikwasi. After the Revolutionary War, European-American migration west and settlement in Native American territories continued. In 1819 the federal government forced the Cherokee of this area to cede their lands and move into the Qualla Boundary. At that time Nikwasi mound and an associated 690 acres was first acquired by European Americans. This Indian Removal effort gathered force in the 1830s after Congress passed legislation in 1830 to authorize it. ==The mound==

The platform mound (now better maintained than in the 1963 photo) is conspicuous to the many drivers who pass by daily on US 441 Business in downtown Franklin. A single 5′ x 5′ test shaft dug by University of North Carolina archaeologists in 1963 constitutes the entirety of formal excavation known to have been undertaken at Nikwasi. The mound's excellent state of preservation owes much to the fact that it was never opened by the Smithsonian during the 1880s, when its staff excavated some ancient mounds. In 1980, the mound was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), in the transliterated spelling of "Nequasee." The Mainspring Conservation Trust acquired Watauga Mound and part of its historic town site in 2020, for conservation. It is located north of Franklin along the Little Tennessee River. Mainspring is working with the EBCI and Nikwasi Initiative to preserve this property and have it be part of the Nikwasi-Cowee Corridor. On February 26, 2026, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians officially regained ownership of the Nikwasi Mound after over 200 years, following a vote by the Franklin, North Carolina town council to return the land. ==See also==