Great Smoky Mountains National Park peak reverting to Cherokee name

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted Wednesday to officially change the name of the highest peak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park back to its Cherokee name.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians submitted a request earlier this year to change the name “Clingmans Dome” back to its Cherokee name “Kuwohi,” which translates to “mulberry place,” according to a press release from the National Park Service (NPS) issued Wednesday.

“The Great Smoky National Park team was proud to support this effort to officially restore the mountain and to recognize its importance to the Cherokee People. The Cherokee People have had strong connections to Kuwohi and the surrounding area, long before the land became a national park. The National Park Service looks forward to continuing to work with the Cherokee People to share their story and preserve this landscape together,” park Superintendent Cassius Cash said in the press release.

Kuwohi is one of the most popular sites at the park and has more than 650,000 visitors per year. It is also the tallest point in Tennessee, the NPS release said.

The National Park Service “strongly supported the name restoration and applauds today’s decision.”

The name “Clingmans Dome” came after a survey by geographer Arnold Guyot in the late 1850s and was named after Thomas Lanier Clingman, a former U.S. House representative and senator from North Carolina. He was also a Confederate brigadier general.

The peak, however, “has always been known as Kuwohi to the Cherokee People,” the release said.

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