One of the most important persons in traditional Cherokee society was “A Beloved Woman,” a designation of honor for an aged, respected female who played a vital role in the tribe’s solemn ceremonies and in making decisions. Maggie Wachacha was the second Cherokee woman to have such a distinction. The first was Nancy Ward in 1775.
For over 50 of her nearly 100 years, Maggie was the clerk at the Council of Eastern Cherokee, meeting monthly. She recorded the minutes of each meeting in Sequoyian syllabary. For most of those years as clerk, Maggie walked from her Snowbird Township home at Robbinsville, North Carolina to the Qualla Boundary at Cherokee, North Carolina. She hiked over mountainous terrain, a distance of some 60 miles, camping alone along the way. The journey took two daybreak-to-dark days.
Truly a remarkable woman, she was an herbalist, healer, mid wife and mother. Maggie was one of five women to receive the Distinguished Women of North Carolina Award from Governor Jim Hunt in 1987.
Size: 23 X 31