Mialoquo

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Mialoquo
National Register of Historic Places
Mialoquo in Henry Timberlake's Draft of the Cherokee Country ", 1762

Mialoquo in Henry Timberlake's Draft of the Cherokee Country " , 1762

Mialoquo (Tennessee)
Paris plan pointer b jms.svg
location Monroe County, Tennessee
Coordinates 35 ° 36 '55.2 "  N , 84 ° 14' 25.7"  W Coordinates: 35 ° 36 '55.2 "  N , 84 ° 14' 25.7"  W.
NRHP number 78002616
The NRHP added 1978

Mialoquo (also Malaquo , Big Island or Great Island ) is a prehistoric and historic Indian site in Monroe County , Tennessee in the southeastern United States . There were significant settlements here by the Mississippi culture (c. 1000–1600 C.E.) and later as a village by Cherokee fleeing . While the archaeological site of Mialoquo was on the southwestern bank of the Little Tennessee River , the large island opposite, Rose Island , was probably also settled. Rose Island was inhabited at least semi-permanently from the middle archaic period .

Both Mialoquo and Rose Island are now below the surface of the Tellico Reservoir on the Little Tennessee River. The region is now regulated by the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency . Both locations can be seen north from the US Route 411 bridge at Vonore or west from Wildcat Point, a cliff on the east bank of the river.

geography

The Little Tennessee River flows through a cut between the Great Smoky Mountains and the Unicoi Range in the state of Tennessee and empties into the Tennessee River after about 80 kilometers . Since the Tellico dam was built in 1979, the Tellico reservoir has covered the last 53 kilometers of the river. Before the flooding, Mialoquo was located at the tributary of Island Creek, 27 kilometers above the mouth of the river. Rose Island was between 27 and 29.6 kilometers above the estuary. Both places were just south of a bend in the river called Wears Bend, and north of the tributary of the Tellico River . Wildcat Point, a cliff above the two sites, is connected to Tellico Parkway by a hiking trail. The hills and ridges that flank the river are part of the physiographic region of the Ridge-and-Valley Appalachians .

history

The former location of Mialoquos (directly behind the railway bridge)

According to the ethnologist James Mooney means Mialoquo in the language of the Cherokee Great Iceland (dt. Big Island) The name of the settlement refers to from the location and next to Rose Iceland, which before the establishment of the Tellico Dam, the largest island in the Little Tennessee River was. Mialoquo was first mentioned in Henry Timberlake's Draft of the Cherokee Country in 1761 . Timberlake visited the Overhill Villages as a peace negotiator and reported on 18 houses in Mialoquo and Rose Island but did not mention a meetinghouse. He told of 24 warriors who lived there under the leader Attakullakulla , who at the time was a tribal leader in the nearby village of Tuskegee .

Since the Cherokee considered a settlement as a town only if it had a meeting house, the lack of such a house may be the reason for the late historical mention. Historical evidence indicates that Mialoquo were built by refugees from the Lower and Middle towns , after their villages were destroyed by the colonialists in 1861. John Norton wrote in his diary that after James Grant destroyed the town of Kituwah , the survivors fled to the Big Island . Mialoquo does not appear on a map of Overhill Towns from 1757, but is on the Timberlake map, indicating that the village was established between 1751 and 1761.

At the time of the Revolutionary War , Dragging Canoe became the leader of Mialoquo. In 1776, after the Cherokee had allied themselves with the British, the colonialists sent William Christian to subdue the enemy Overhill Towns. Christian reached the area without resistance and established his headquarters in Mialoquo. There he held peace talks with the tribal leaders Attakullakulla and Oconastota . However, when Dragging Canoe refused to participate in the talks, Christian destroyed Mialoquo and four other Overhill Towns.

Archaeological finds

Cyrus Thomas, a Smithsonian Associate , conducted a survey of the mounds in the Little Tennessee Valley in the 1880s and claimed to have found Mialoquo. After the planned construction of the Tellico Dam became known in 1967, the University of Tennessee undertook rescue excavations on both Rose Island (40MR44) and Mialoquo (40MR3).

Rose Island

Rose Island was discovered by hunters and gatherers from 6000 BC. u. Currently visited regularly on a seasonal basis, possibly as early as 7500 BC. u. Z. like the Icehouse Bottom site just three kilometers to the north . These early residents likely took advantage of the nearby chert deposits in the surrounding hills. Rose Island was also found between 350 BC. u. Z. and 100 n. U. Currently used during the Woodland period . Artifacts from the archaic period include arrowheads, various stone artifacts, chipped wedges and a drill. Artifacts from the Woodland period include arrowheads, drills, scrapers, branches, ring collars and a bird figure.

Mialoquo

Approximate location of the structures at the Mialoquo site

Mialoquo is believed to have been inhabited as early as the archaic period, but it is unclear to what extent it was used. Of the 60 structures found, eight (mostly garbage pits) were Mississippi culture, the rest Cherokee. The distribution of the structures makes a short-term settlement likely. The type of Qualla pottery connects the place with the Middle Towns in North Carolina ; the more than 6000 found fragments support the theory that Cherokee fleeing the Middle Towns sought refuge in Mialoquo in the 1760s. The collection of clay pots is similar to that in nearby Tomotley , which is also believed to have taken in refugees. The uncovered structures showed the hollows of former wooden posts that belonged to a community hall, 6 residential buildings and a smaller rectangular structure whose purpose is unknown. The residential buildings show a round and a rectangular structure, which were typical of the winter and summer buildings of the Overhill Cherokee. The parish hall was octagonal, with a diameter between 16 and 18 meters. The rectangular residential buildings were between 6.7 and 9.8 meters long and 3.7 to 4.3 meters wide. The round winter house had a diameter of 7.2 meters, the unknown rectangular structure was 4.6 meters long and 2.9 meters wide.

Almost 5,000 stone artifacts have been found in Mialoquo, including arrowheads, scrapers, drills and a stone pipe. Euro-American artifacts were also found, including tobacco pipes, parts of weapons and ammunition, glass beads and two jaw harps .

literature

  • Jefferson Chapman: The Rose Island Site and Bifurcate Point Tradition University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 14, 1975 (English)
  • James Mooney: Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee , C and R Elder, 1972 (English)
  • Kurt Russ, Jefferson Chapman: Archaeological Investigations at the Eighteenth Century Overhill Cherokee Town of Mialoquo (40MR3) University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 37, 1983. (English)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ James Mooney: Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee , C and R Elder, 1972 (English) p. 508
  2. ↑ Kurt Russ, Jefferson Chapman: Archaeological Investigations at the Eighteenth Century Overhill Cherokee Town of Mialoquo (40MR3) University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 37, 1983. (English) p. 16
  3. ↑ Kurt Russ, Jefferson Chapman: Archaeological Investigations at the Eighteenth Century Overhill Cherokee Town of Mialoquo (40MR3) University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 37, 1983. (English) pp. 16-18
  4. ↑ Kurt Russ, Jefferson Chapman: Archaeological Investigations at the Eighteenth Century Overhill Cherokee Town of Mialoquo (40MR3) University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 37, 1983. (English) pp. 18-19
  5. ↑ Jefferson Chapman: The Rose Island Site and Bifurcate Point Tradition University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 14, 1975 (English) p. 13
  6. ↑ Jefferson Chapman: The Rose Island Site and Bifurcate Point Tradition University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 14, 1975 (English) pp. 273-274
  7. ↑ Jefferson Chapman: The Rose Island Site and Bifurcate Point Tradition University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 14, 1975 (English) pp. 49-52
  8. ↑ Jefferson Chapman: The Rose Island Site and Bifurcate Point Tradition University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 14, 1975 (English) pp. 72-94
  9. ↑ Kurt Russ, Jefferson Chapman: Archaeological Investigations at the Eighteenth Century Overhill Cherokee Town of Mialoquo (40MR3) University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 37, 1983. (English) pp. 68, 82-83, 129
  10. ↑ Kurt Russ, Jefferson Chapman: Archaeological Investigations at the Eighteenth Century Overhill Cherokee Town of Mialoquo (40MR3) University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 37, 1983. (English) pp. 38-56
  11. ↑ Kurt Russ, Jefferson Chapman: Archaeological Investigations at the Eighteenth Century Overhill Cherokee Town of Mialoquo (40MR3) University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology, Report of Investigations 37, 1983. (English) pp. 57-59, 101