Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
towns. In
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
, the name was Kulsetsiyi (Syllabary:ᎫᎳᏎᏥᏱ), meaning "honey-locust place" from "kulsetsi" ( honey-locust) and "yi" (locative). The word "kulsetsi" came to be used for "
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
" as well, thus the town name was often rendered "Sugartown" by the
English colonists
The colonial history of the United States covers the history of European colonization of North America from the early 17th century until the incorporation of the Thirteen Colonies into the United States after the American Revolutionary War, ...
. One Sugartown was located on the
Keowee River
The Keowee River is created by the confluence of the Toxaway River and the Whitewater River in northern Oconee County, South Carolina. The confluence is today submerged beneath the waters of Lake Jocassee, a reservoir created by Lake Jocassee D ...
near Fall Creek, close to present-day
Salem, South Carolina
Salem is a U.S. town in Oconee County, South Carolina. The population was 135 at the 2010 United States Census.See http://factfinder.census.gov for population numbers and for municipality and CDP lists in the 2010 Census.
Geography
Salem is locate ...
. It was just upriver from the principal "Lower Town" of
Keowee
Keowee ( chr, ᎫᏩᎯᏱ, translit=Guwahiyi) was a Cherokee town in the far northwest corner of present-day South Carolina. It was the principal town of what were called the seven Lower Towns, located along the Keowee River (Colonists referred ...
. A second Sugartown was located on the
Cullasaja River
The Cullasaja River () , from the North Carolina Collection's website at the
Franklin, North Carolina
Franklin is a town in and the county seat of Macon County, North Carolina, United States. It is situated within the Nantahala National Forest. The population was reported to be 4,175 in the 2020 census, an increase from the total of 3,845 tabula ...
. The Cullasaja River's name is a rendering of "Kulsetsi". This Sugartown was near the principal "Middle Town" of
Nikwasi
Nikwasi ( chr, ᏁᏆᏏ, translit=Nequasi or Nequasee) comes from the Cherokee word for "star", ''Noquisi'' (No-kwee-shee), and is the site of the Cherokee town which is first found in colonial records in the early 18th century, but is much older ...
. A third Sugartown was located on Sugar Creek, a tributary of the Taccoa River, near the present-day city of
Blue Ridge, Georgia
Blue Ridge is a city in Fannin County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,253. The city is the county seat of Fannin County.
History
Prior to European colonization, the area that is now Blue Ridge was in ...
.
Several other locations also bear this name. Two unincorporated communities are known by this appellation. One Sugartown is in Chester County, Pennsylvania, and another Sugartown is located in
Beauregard Parish
Beauregard Parish (french: Paroisse de Beauregard) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 35,654. The parish seat is DeRidder. The parish was formed on January 1, 1913.
Beauregard Parish ...
,
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.
References
*Mooney, James. "Myths of the Cherokee" (1900, reprint 1995). See
James Mooney
James Mooney (February 10, 1861 – December 22, 1921) was an American ethnographer who lived for several years among the Cherokee. Known as "The Indian Man", he conducted major studies of Southeastern Indians, as well as of tribes on the Gr ...