Displaying items by tag: cherokee
Government censorship rolls toward Smokies
This interpretive sign describing both the Smokies natural haze and the impact of air pollution on the park are among the numerous signs and exhibits targeted for removal from Great Smoky Mountains National Park by a Trump executive order. Save Our Signs
Trump executive order targets history, science and culture in Great Smoky Mountains National Park
This story was originally published by Compass.
GATLINBURG — The Trump Administration’s war against “woke” appears poised to extend to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Ten interpretive signs within the park referencing slavery, science and the Cherokee are included in a leaked dataset of national park educational features subject to removal, according to a Compass review of the now publicly available document.
The signs are subject to removal per the “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order from President Donald Trump, issued in March 2025.
Pierce Gentry at WUOT first reported the inclusion of the Smokies in a massive leaked database that lists hundreds of Department of the Interior sites with signs, exhibits, films and publications that the administration deems offensive.
The Department of the Interior and National Park Service have already removed signs from park-service units elsewhere, including displays at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia that highlighted the people enslaved by George Washington during the Revolutionary War era. A lawsuit is pending.
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Has the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians lost its ‘right way’ at Exit 407?
Cherokee tribal council member, historian and ethnographer Will West Long holds a traditional Cherokee mask, which he often recreated. He was an active chronicler of Cherokee custom, heritage and tradition and died in 1947 on the Qualla Reservation in Swain County, North Carolina. WikiCommons
As plans gel for massive new developments, has the Eastern Band lost its ancient way?
SEVIERVILLE — The Tennessee Department of Transportation is eyeing a second interchange for exit 407 at Highway 66 along Interstate I-40 in Sevier County.
Exit 407, already one of the most congested interchanges in Southern Appalachia, accesses the main highway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the most visited national park in the nation. The park reported a record 14 million visitors in 2021.
The exit also serves crowds flocking to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.
But the new interchange would primarily serve a 200-acre development to be called Exit 407: The Gateway to Adventure.
Scheduled to open spring 2023, and fully operational in 2024, it’s expected to attract 6.7 million people annually. The first phase includes a theme park and a 74,000-square-foot convenience store with 120 gas pumps, making it the world’s largest such store.
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