
Noquisiyi (later interpreted as Nikwasi) means star place and was a Cherokee town situated in present-day Franklin, North Carolina.
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Though its exact age remains unknown, Noquisiyi appears on maps as early as 1544, and British colonial records first mention it by name in 1718.
At the heart of Noquisyi on the banks of the Little Tennessee River, the town's meeting hall once towered over the landscape, built atop the mound which was formed by Cherokee women carrying baskets of soil to that location. Today, Noquisiyi Mound, the settlement's only surviving landmark, rises as the gateway to Franklin.

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PC: Scott McKie B.P./One Feather Photo

Our Mission:
Noquisi Initiative preserves, protects, and promotes culture and heritage in the original homelands of the Cherokee people.
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Our Vision:
Intercultural understanding is universal!
"With funding from the US Biosphere Network and Germany's Henkel Foundation, we have an opportunity to brainstorm new ways to educate backyard and commercial growers along with students in responsive ways to improve vegetable production and healthy eating for our area. "