Cherokee Statue

For many centuries before European colonists came, the area now known as Greenville County was home to my ancestors of the Cherokee Nation. In remembrance of our Cherokee ancestors, Greenville has erected a ten-foot bronze statue of an “asgaya,” the Cherokee word for man, and has placed him in front of the Greenville Water Supply.

The sculpture, created by artist Doug Young, is a tribute to the water supply that aided life in both the European settlements, and the Cherokee lands. It depicts a man presenting his satchel of water toward the sky as a sacrifice to the gods in thanks of their blessing of water. In our Cherokee culture everything in the natural world is sacred, and water is considered one of the most valued blessings the gods can provide. The water flowing from the satchel of the asgaya is clean and clear to represent its cleansing, healing power.

But I also think of the tragic blood loss that still has not healed and may never be.

Before the American Revolution, my people lived with the European traders in the area. In 1684 my ancestors signed a treaty with the European settlers to establish trade along the rivers and streams in the area. Furs, pelts, food, and other survival items would be exchanged with the colonizers on our lands. In times of piece, our leaders were our spiritual guides, including those who blessed the rivers.

However, as more colonizers came, we felt threatened and allied our family with Cherokee warriors, and adopted the guns and modern war practices of the white settlers. We started fighting to keep trade routes, mostly rivers, from competitors. We even became involved in the war to help our English friends fight against French in what would become known as the French and Indian War, or the Cherokee War locally. In 1758 some of my ancestors even marched up to the French Fort Duquesne in Pennsylvania alongside the first permanent settler in this area, Richard Pearis, who had married into our tribe.

Unfortunately that alliance hurt us, because we continued to fight with the British when war broke out again in 1775. After the British defeat we were forced to give up that control, and we were eventually pushed off our lands into reservations more and more distant from our home here in Greenville.

The statue of the asgaya represents the gifts our natural world gives us, but it also reminds us of the pain it can bring as well.