 Eastern side of Nikwasi mound | |
  Shown within North Carolina  Nikwasi (the United States) | |
| Location | Modern day Franklin, North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 35°11′06″N 83°22′25″W / 35.18499°N 83.37360°W |
| History | |
| Abandoned | 1819 |
| Cultures | South Appalachian Mississippian; Cherokee |
| Events | 1727 Treaty of Nikwasi |
| Architecture | |
| Architectural styles | platform mound, c.1000 CE |
Nikwasi (Cherokee: Ꮑꮖꮟ, romanized: Nequasi or Nequasee) comes from the Cherokee word for "star", Ꮓꮘꮟ Noquisi (No-kwee-shee), and is the site of the Cherokee town which is first found in colonial records in the early 18th century, but is much older. The town covered about 100 acres (40 ha) on the floodplain of the Little Tennessee River. Franklin, North Carolina, was later developed by European Americans around this site.
Today, a platform mound, estimated to have been built about 1000 CE, is the only extant feature left of the Cherokee town. The mound site and a small area has been owned and preserved by Franklin since 1946. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 as "Nequasee."[2]
The federally recognized Eastern Band of Cherokee, which is based at Qualla Boundary, has been working to re-acquire its traditional lands and sacred mounds in this region. In 2019 the town of Franklin transferred the deed for Nikwasi mound to the Nikwasi Initiative, a non-profit set up by the EBCI, as part of this effort.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
NRHPwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Nequasee – Franklin, NC, U.S. National Register of Historic Places