West Virginia History: A Journal of Regional Studies

Elizabeth Giddens's wide-ranging narrative covers the history of the people who have called the Oconaluftee Valley home, from the early Indigenous archaeological and oral history record to the establishment of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The main theme is resilience, not just of individuals over the mountainous environment but of groups caught in a precarious position for much of American history. The Indigenous people of the Oconaluftee Valley have persevered, from before European colonization through Euro-American expansion and Indigenous removal. The narrative evolves from the interactions of Indigenous families, enslaved and freed Black communities, and white settlements, through the disruptions of the American Civil War and industrialization, focused on in chapters 6 to 10. The valley and its river have sustained life up to the present. This award-winning book provides a local history, an Indigenous history, a history of race, and an environmental history, uniquely woven into one narrative.

Giddens covers much ground, zooming in on figures such as Charles Mingus Sr., father of the famous Jazz musician of the same name, and Edd Conner, an eccentric vagabond whose family roots remained in the valley while they traversed Appalachia, the nation, and the world. Giddens links a variety of sources that should serve as the starting point for further research on the valley. The necessities of survival, adaptation, and economic opportunity (the history of the logging industry in the valley is the focus of chapter 12) all organized human interactions with the land and among various communities over the valley's long and complex history. Chapters 4, 5, 7, 8, and 11 chart the formation of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) from their founding years as the Lufty Cherokees during the Indigenous removal era to the end of the first decade of the twentieth century. Like other communities in the valley, the early EBCI built governing institutions and wealth slowly while they defined their identity as a people, circumscribed by their contentious relationship with the larger region and country. Giddens's organization is intuitive, with chapters covering distinct eras and periods in the valley's history. Each concludes with a "ritual of rebirth" (111), or a concluding paragraph about local, historical ties between Indigenous and white communities.

At the beginning of each chapter, Giddens includes a vignette about the author's personal experience in the natural and human spaces of the valley. Giddens writes the final chapter to join the present description of the land in these vignettes to the histories of the peoples of the valley in the preceding chapters: since 1940, a local church has hosted an annual multiday [End Page 176] commemoration of the last regular service in the historic Smokemont (NC) Baptist Church, now on the grounds of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Park staff who contribute their time to directing traffic for the annual celebration of traditional mountain community life and religion get to join the last day's community meal. The federal government officially became a new resident of the valley with the dedication of the national park in 1940. New mountain residents often brought increasing connection to the wider country, while existing mountain residents faced new questions about adaptation and survival. This did not change with the federal takeover and makeover of the valley in the 1920s and 1930s, discussed in chapter 13. Overall, Giddens excels at telling a detailed story of the people whose interactions and labors across one mountain valley are reflected in the history and landscape of today's national park.