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0:00The US is home to 63 stunning national parks. But
the most visited one, the Great Smoky Mountains.
0:06The Smokies are amazing, particularly because of
their beautiful landscapes and biodiversity.
0:11I particularly love "Smoky streams,"
which are these cascading, tumbling,
0:15beautiful bits of water. We get a lot of
folks who come here for the leaf season,
0:21but the colors are vibrant all year round, and
we're so fortunate to be in this beautiful
0:27place. These mountains are widely called
shaconage, which is a Cherokee word meaning
0:32blue. People often embellish the translation to
say the land of blue smoke or the place of blue
0:38smoke. There's a Dolly Parton song that's
famous that uses that word. But what gives
0:44these mountains their iconic blue hazy effect? And
what is their significance to the Cherokee people?
0:54The Smoky Mountains are located on the borders
of Tennessee and North Carolina. In 1926,
0:59President Calvin Coolidge signed a bill authorizing
the creation of the Great Smoky Mountains National
1:05Park. It's over 500,000 acres and home to over
20,000 documented species. The Smokies' location
1:11and landscape contribute to its temperate climate.
My name is Stephanie Kyriazis and I'm the chief of
1:16resource education here at Great Smoky Mountains
National Park. I think the landscape is much
1:21more dramatic in person. You get on some of the
ridges or some of the overlooks and there's just
1:26layer after layer of mountains that
you can see. This helps to create the weather
1:31pattern called orographic precipitation or relief
rainfall. It's a temperate rainforest. We do get
1:37a significant amount of precipitation the
difference from the rainforest you may think
1:41about. It's not as warm and humid, but we do
get a significant amount of rain in the Smokies.
1:46Warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico is forced
up by the mountains. As the air rises, it cools,
1:52causing the water vapor to condense into water
droplets and forming clouds. And when the clouds
1:57grow larger and can no longer hold the condensed
water, rainfall occurs. This rainfall is part of
2:02the reason why the Smokies appear smoky. But the
direct cause of this blue smoke is something a
2:09little more green. Smokies are also smoky because
all of that vegetation does sort of release a kind
2:15of a gas that that leads to a little bit of haze
under some conditions. This gas is known as
2:21VOC's, volatile organic compounds. The trees and
vegetation expelling water vapor are part of what
2:28creates this haze. You can think of it as the
forest breathing. The molecules from this haze
2:33scatter light from the sky, making a blueish
hue. The Great Smoky Mountains, lush forest,
2:38and natural resources made it the perfect place
for new settlers to begin their lives in the
2:43Americas. But as you can imagine, they were not
the first people to be enchanted by the Smokies.
2:49So, I don't know if you can tell by the video yet,
but the Great Smoky Mountains are more than just a
2:54place you read about. It's something you have to
experience for yourself. From the acres of misty
2:59forest to the tiniest of critters, the Smokies
are truly alive. And that sense of wonder and
3:05adventure doesn't have to stop there. Beyond
the Blue Ridge Mountains where the Smokies are
3:09in North Carolina, you'll find quiet towns,
museums like the Museum of Cherokee people,
3:14beautiful hiking trails, and restaurants that
feel distinctly North Carolina. There's really
3:19a little bit of something for everyone there.
So, for real, visit North Carolina. And now,
3:25let's get back to the video because
there is so much more I want you to see.
3:33My name is Shana Bushyhead Condill. I'm a citizen
of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and I'm
3:38honored to serve as the executive director of the
Museum of the Cherokee People. As Cherokee people,
3:44we know that we are of this place. And when
we say that, what we're saying is that since
3:50time immemorial, we know that we have been
here. The Smoky Mountains are in the heart
3:55of historic Cherokee homeland, and their presence
in this region dates back thousands of years. The
4:01Cherokees' territory covered much of what we know
today as West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, North
4:07Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, and
Alabama, which means that by the time Europeans
4:13reached the Smokies in the 1500s, Cherokee
settlements were already established throughout
4:18the region. There were townships that span that
whole ancestral territory. And there would have
4:24been areas and land that would have been more
contested or even shared with other tribes for
4:32like hunting and that kind of a thing. But with
the arrival of European settlers came smallpox,
4:37raids, and destruction of Cherokee villages, and
forced displacement of native people from their
4:42homes. The US government passed the Indian Removal
Act of 1830, which in time led to ethnic cleansing
4:49and displacement of nearly 100,000 native people.
This decade of massacre and capture is known as
4:56the Trail of Tears. Several hundred Cherokee
people hid in the Smoky Mountains to evade
5:01their captors. Some were able to use the law
to reacquire their lands, and others managed to
5:07return after the forced removal. Today, their
descendants are known as the Eastern Band of
5:12Cherokee Indians. The story of how we came to be
the Eastern Band and how we came to be in this
5:19place is a story that started immediately after
removal in 1838 and continues today. We are still
5:26working to acquire land back. We all hold
ties to this place. So, we have generation upon
5:33generation of folks who also call these mountains
home. Today, the Cherokee people are continuing
5:38to advocate for the restoration of their history
in the Smokies and other parts of the US. One of
5:44the big wins in recent memory about a year ago
now is that the highest peak in the Great Smoky
5:50Mountains was named after a Confederate
general. And we had two Cherokee women who
5:57worked tirelessly to get the name restored back to
Kuwohi, which is our name for that sacred space.
6:05The Great Smoky Mountains are not just one of the
most magical national parks you can visit in the
6:10US, they're also a testament to the enduring
link between land and identity. It's home to
6:16an abundance of biodiversity and remains a place
where terrain served as protection for indigenous
6:21people. But preservation of this land is an
active endeavor. So when a lot of people come
6:27to the Smokies, they see this beautiful forested
landscape and imagine that it's been that way
6:31forever. However, in the late 19th and early
20th century, the park was almost completely
6:37clear-cut by logging companies that were working
in the mountains. It really took the last hundred
6:42years for that forest to recover. And so today,
you know, most people think of the the Smokies as
6:48a very forested landscape, but there are really
only a handful of patches where we have true old
6:53growth trees that still remain. For a forest
biologist, our landscape will still look
6:59like it's in its adolescence, maybe. Most people
when they come to the Smokies can't tell that it
7:03ever was a practically barren landscape. Coupled
with pollution and the effects of climate change,
7:09there's still plenty to be done to look after
this treasure in southern Appalachia. To come
7:15and actually experience these mountains
and these views and the expanses, I mean,
7:21I will always believe that it is the most
beautiful place I've ever seen in the world.
