The first name change happened in 1859, when Arnold Guyot, a geographer and professor, named the area after Clingman.

The effort to change the name was led by Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians, who first settled the mountain in the Smokies and consider it sacred.

Kuwohi, which translates to “mulberry place” in Cherokee, replaces Clingmans Dome, a name that honored Thomas Clingman, an expelled U.S. senator-turned-Confederate brigadier general who, as a lawyer, defended settlers’ claims on Cherokee land. Clingman is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Asheville.

This week, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names (BGN) approved restoring the name Kuwohi to Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Hill and her friend Mary Crowe, who are tribal members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI),

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names on Wednesday voted to change the name of the highest point in Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Clingmans Dome to Kuwohi, a Cherokee name for the mountain.

The renaming caps an effort begun in 2022 by two enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Lavita Hill and Mary Crowe. Principal Chief Michell Hicks submitted the formal name-change application last January, including more than 150 pages of background materials and letters of support from local governments and others.

After years of efforts to change the name of Clingmans Dome back to its Cherokee name, the highest peak in the Smokies is having its name restored to Kuwohi. On September 18, the U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted in favor of the request submitted by the Eastern Band of Cherokee

What was formerly known as Clingmans Dome, the highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains, has now been restored to its traditional Cherokee name Kuwohi. The U.S. Board on Geographic Names approved the change Sept. 18, the National Park Service announced.