Cherokee Reclaim Traditional Gathering Rights

For centuries, gathering sochan—also known as the green-headed coneflower—has been a rite of springtime for the Cherokee people. 

The young leaves could be boiled into a nutritious, cleansing dish, the first burst of green after a long winter. But when the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was established, new rules arrived as to what activities were prohibited on the newly preserved landscape. 

The Cherokee found themselves forbidden from practicing traditional gathering on this land, adjacent to their present-day home on the Qualla Boundary and once a central part of their territory.

This spring, that could all change. 

A 2016 federal rule shift made it possible for members of federally recognized tribes to forge agreements with the National Park Service for gathering culturally important plants from Park Service property. Securing these agreements is a long process, as each plant species to be harvested requires a separate contract, the terms of which must be backed up by an environmental assessment showing where the plant grows in the park, how dense those patches are and how much can be sustainably removed. 

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has been proactive about pursuing these agreements since the rule change was announced, and in October 2017 the Cherokee Tribal Council voted to allocate $68,100 toward the cost of an environmental assessment for sochan gathering.

“It’s an opportunity for our elders to do what they’ve always done, but I think it’s equally important that our grandchildren and the younger generation get into the park to gather where our ancestors gathered for millennia,” Principal Chief Richard Sneed told Tribal Council. 

The funding allocation put Cherokee on track to have the agreement finalized in time for the spring gathering season. With the sochan agreement done, the tribe hopes to pursue ramp gathering next.