The indecipherable rock art of Judaculla means different things to different people
“From the Cherokee perspective, Judaculla Rock is a cultural validation of who we are as a people. We cannot allow our identity to be defined by someone else.” — Tom Belt, (Smoky Mountain News, 2014)
When the film crew from America Unearthed (on the History Channel) showed up to record footage for their “documentary” on Judaculla Rock in 2014, Keith Parker wasn’t there to participate. The Parker family had looked after the rock for decades until it was deeded to (Andrew) Jackson County, North Carolina in 1959, but Keith apparently wanted no part in any discussions about ancient aliens or Celtic origins for these soapstone carvings by Native Americans in the Carolina backcountry.
An archaeologist for the state also refused to participate, as did Tom Belt — a Native American and Cherokee culture and language expert at Western Carolina University. This should tell you something about both the origins of this rock art and the quality and accuracy of the programming on the History Channel. You have been warned.
Online gamers may know him as the rare white gorilla (“Earth Spirit”) by the lake in “Northern Stranglethorn” (World of Warcraft), but Tsul’kalu’ (Judaculla) is also the “slant-eyed giant” of Southeastern Ceremonial Complex and a legendary figure in Cherokee mythology. According to the archeologist Johannes Loubser (2009), Judaculla has been “featured prominently in the religious experiences, beliefs, and rituals of the Cherokee people since history was recorded for this part of the world in the nineteenth century.”
“To the skeptic who grins at the suggestion Judaculla ever lived, the Cherokee are quick to point out that their god of the hunt left his mark upon the earth so that all could see he had existed.” — John Parris (Sylva Herald and Ruralite, 1950)
According to the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the petroglyphs on the rock that bears Judaculla’s name were “carved intermittently within the Late Woodland to Late Mississippian periods from about 500 A.D. to 1700.” The rock is located about six-miles from the town of Cullowhee, which is believed to be a shortened and anglicized form of Judaculla-whee, meaning Judaculla’s Place.
“The Cherokee have always disclaimed authorship, and have no remote idea as to the meanings of the symbols.” — J.B. Hicklin (The Waynesville Mountaineer, 1938)
Loubser describes the rock as “in effect a nexus between the mindscape and the landscape of the Cherokee people who once inhabited the Caney Fork Creek and Tuckasegee River Valleys.” But in 1945, the chief of the Cherokee people saw in the carvings a more specific and practical purpose.
“Chief Blythe, present chief of the Cherokee tribe, has made a study of the carvings and pronounces the rock carvings to be a record of a peace treaty between the Cherokee and the Catawbas and that the treaty should last as long as the rock should last.” — Frances Whitt, The Sylva Herald and Ruralite (1945)
As did Milas Parker five years later…
“I believe that this line running across the rock must have been the dividing line between the hunting grounds and the Indian settlements. I believe that the Indian conceived the idea of game for food conservation and that this rock is emblematical of the greatest and most effective game conservation law ever written by man. Evidentally [sic], there were super minds among the red men who knew that continued hunting at all times in all places would eventually destroy all their game for food and eventually they would all starve for the want of meat… — Milas Parker, as quoted by John Parris in the Sylva Herald and Ruralite (1950)
Or maybe it’s a picture map of the Battle of Taliwa (1755), or the record of a treaty between the Cherokee and Euro-American’s in 1793 (Loubser, 2009). Or, as Loubser notes, maybe it “served multiple purposes in historic times, depending on the time of year and on the occasion.”
But we’re pretty sure it wasn’t aliens.
“The scepticism that I advocate amounts only to this: (1) that when the experts are agreed, the opposite opinion cannot be held to be certain; (2) that when they are not agreed, no opinion can be regarded as certain by a non-expert; and (3) that when they all hold that no sufficient grounds for a positive opinion exist, the ordinary man would do well to suspend his judgment.” — Bertand Russell
The occasion of my own recent visit to Judaculla Rock was a weekend in Maggie Valley and Cherokee with my wife. We went to see the updated version of “Unto These Hills” and took the guided tour of Oconaluftee Indian Village. We also spent some time at the Keener Cabin and Ulrich Keener’s grave site taking some photos for a previous post on this member of my clan with close connections to the Cherokee. A couple additional photos and another short video from our trip are included below. Viel Spaß!
Note: If you’re looking for a good place to view the solar eclipse in August, try Jackson County. But be careful out there and note that the Solar Eclipse Train from Bryson City to Dillsboro is already sold out!
Related: For information about Ulrich Keener’s connection to the Cherokee, check out this post…
If you enjoyed this post, please click the heart to recommend it. You might also like my eBook about my paternal German ancestors, which includes more information about Keener family connections to the Cherokee people.
