When the Cherokees were invited to remove west of the Mississippi in 1809, Drowning Bear, chief of the Qualla Indians, petitioned President Jefferson that he might be permitted to remain with his followers, among his native mountains, and his prayer was granted. He was eminently a peaceful chief and declined every invitation of the Government to emigrate westward. When Drowning Bear was about sixty years of age he became ill and fell into a trance that lasted for about twenty-four hours. When he recovered, he told his attendants that he had been to the spirit land, and held communion with his friends who had been long dead, that they were all very happy. He also stated that he had seen many white men and that some of them appeared to be unhappy. The Great Spirit talked with him and told him his time had not yet come to leave the world that he had been a good and honest man, and that he must return to his people, and govern them with great care and affection so that he might finally come and live with the Great Spirit forever. That was when his people gave him a new name, “Yon-na-yous-ta,” or How like an Indian. This beloved chief governed his people like a father. He spoke of the many evils to families resulting from intemperance, bringing his audience to tears. On that occasion, everyone signed their name on a piece of paper: “The undersigned drink no more whiskey.” The reputation of Yo-na-gus-ka as an orator was co-extensive with his entire nation. When once invited by the officers of Government to remove westward, even after he and his people had become citizenized, he was told that in the West he would have an abundance of the most fertile land and plenty of game; also a government of his own; that he would be undisturbed by the whites, and that the United States Government would ever protect him from future molestation. In replying to this invitation, as he stood among armed soldiers, he remarked in substance as follows : “I am an old man and have counted the snows of almost eighty winters. My hair, which is now very white, was once like the raven’s wing. I can remember when the white man had not seen the smoke of our cabins westward of the Blue Ridge, and I have watched the establishment of all his settlements, even to the Father of Waters. The march of the white is still towards the setting sun, and I know that he will never be satisfied until he reaches the shore of the great water. It is foolish of you to tell me that the whites will not trouble the poor Cherokee in the Western country. The white man’s nature and the Indian’s fate tell a different story. Sooner or later one Government must cover the whole continent, and the red people, if not scattered among the autumn leaves, will become a part of the American nation. As to the white man’s promises of protection, they have been too often broken and they are like the reeds in yonder river—they are all lies.” “North Carolina had acknowledged our title to these lands, and the United States had guaranteed that title but all this did not prevent the Government from taking away our lands by force; and, not only that, but sold the very cow of the poor Indian and his gun to compel him to leave his country.” “Is this what the white man calls justice and protection? No, we will not go to the West. We wanted to become the children of North Carolina, and she has received us and passed a law for our protection, and we will continue to raise our corn in this land.” ” people of Carolina have always been very kind to us, and we know they will never oppress us. You say the land in the West is much better than it is here. That very fact is an argument on our side. The white man must have rich land to do his great business, but the Indians can be happy with poorer land. The white man must have a flat country for his plow to run easily, but we can get along even among the rocks on the mountains. We never shall do what you want us to do. I don’t like you for your pretended kindness. I always advise my people to keep their backs forever turned towards the setting sun, and never to leave the land of their fathers. I tell them they must live like good citizens, never forget the kindness of North Carolina, and always be ready to help her in times of war. I have nothing more to say.” The Cherokees of Qualla had officially separated from the Cherokee Nation in 1820 and did not follow the Cherokees on the Trail of Tears. When Yo-na-gus-ka was about to die, he summoned his chiefs and warriors by his bedside and talked to them at great length about the importance of temperance, and in opposition to the idea of their emigrating to the West, and made them swear that they would never abandon the graves of their fathers, or his own grave, which was marked by a pile of stones on the margin of the Soco. He died in 1838, aged 75 years. Today, about 11,000 of their descendants carry on some of these Native American traditions within the 56,000 acres of the Cherokee reservation known as the Qualla Boundary. Qualla Town represents a great history and is an interesting town to visit.
Sources: Letters from the Alleghany Mountains by Lanham; https://nctrailoftears.org/wayside-exhibits/qualla-town
