Cultural center planned at Lacon
By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
The Echota Cherokee Tribe of Alabama wants to revive a culture that thrived for more than 500 years in the southeastern United States. To help them reach their goal they recently purchased 50 acres of a rugged mountainside at Lacon and began to develop it as a memorial to their people–past, present and future.
The land is split by the Morgan and Cullman county line, fronts on Wilhite Road and is bordered on either side by Highway 31 and Interstate 65.
Already, a walking trail complete with man-made overlooks, bridges and an outdoor classroom snakes through the property. It provides a panoramic view of two natural waterfalls, huge rock outcroppings, giant hardwood trees and a number of rare native plants once used for medicinal purposes. It is handicap accessible and open to the public.
The trail was constructed in large part with the assistance of a 50-50 matching grant from the Alabama Mountains, Rivers and Valleys Resource Conservation Project Office. In addition, many man-hours of work were donated by Echota tribesmen and Boy Scouts.
A log house, which is modeled after those occupied by the Cherokees in the 1800s, is nearing completion on a site adjacent to the Echota tribal office. Its logs were salvaged from an old building in another location. When completed, it will serve as a museum containing authentic Cherokee artifacts and also will have a gift shop.
Amy Terry and Ginger Warren represent the Echota Tribe as office secretaries. Terry spends most of her time inside answering the telephone, handling correspondence, searching for grant assistance and processing applications for membership. Warren is trained to handle the same kind of duties, but prefers to work outside when she has the opportunity.
"I moved back here six years ago for the fourth time," said Warren, a three-eighths
Cherokee who lives in Hartselle. "This is where I belong; this is where my ancestors lived. I have an inner peace and I can feel a flutter in my heart when I'm out on the mountain trail alone. I can communicate through prayer with the Creator and my ancestors. The fire they left lives on."
The Echotas have a plan to build an educational and cultural center on their land. It consists of a museum, research library, gift shop, meeting rooms, kitchen, amphitheater tribal office and a living history village.
"By recreating a Cherokee village we will be able to show others how our people lived and worked before they were removed from their land," said Warren. "They will be able to observe while we make pottery, arrowheads, cook meals and do other things that were common back then."
A revival of the Cherokee language is another goal being pursued by the Echotas.
A beginner's class, open to 20 to 25 students, will be held in the near future. It will be open to tribal members as well as the general public.
"We feel there is a growing public interest to know more about the Cherokee culture and we're inviting anyone who has an interest in the Cherokee language to join this class," Warren stated. "If we can bring back some of the language, that will be a triumph. We'd like to be able to pass it on to our children and grandchildren."
The Echota Cherokee Tribe was organized in 1980 and registered with the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian in 2002. It received state recognition in 2004.
The tribe has seven clans and a membership of approximately 35,000. The Deer clan has about 5,000 members from Morgan, Cullman and Marshall counties.
Memberships are accepted from individuals who can show they are at least 1/32nd Cherokee. To obtain information about the application process, call the Echota office at 734-7337.
