Step into downtown Franklin, North Carolina, and you are looking at something far older than the modern town around it. Nikwasi Mound is a surviving earthen platform mound built around 1000 CE, and it remains one of the most visible reminders that this valley was a Cherokee mother town long before the United States existed.

What you will learn

• What a platform mound is and how it functioned as a civic and sacred center

• Why Nikwasi is often translated as Star Place

• How Nikwasi appears in colonial era records and why that matters for understanding Cherokee history

• The modern preservation story, including controversy, stewardship, and the return of the mound to Cherokee hands

Quick timeline

• Circa 1000 CE: Platform mound construction begins (best estimate)

• 1730: A documented meeting at Nikwasi involving Sir Alexander Cuming and Cherokee leaders

• 1946: The town of Franklin purchases the mound area for preservation

• 1980: Listed on the National Register of Historic Places (recorded as Nequasee)

• 2012: A herbicide related incident sparks controversy and renewed calls for respect and proper care

• 2019: Deed transferred to the Nikwasi Initiative nonprofit to oversee the site

• January 2026: Franklin votes to return the mound to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians

If you visit

Nikwasi Mound sits right off Main Street in Franklin. It is an easy stop, but it is also a living sacred place for many Cherokee people. Treat it with the same respect you would give any ceremonial site. Stay mindful, follow posted guidance, and do not treat it like a playground.

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