The Cherokee believe the ancient settlement of Kituwa (also spelled Kituwah, Keetoowah, Kittowa, and other similar variations) or giduwa (Cherokee:ᎩᏚᏩ), on the Tuckasegee River is their original settlement and is one of the "seven mother towns" in the Southeast. It is in Swain County, North Carolina, in the Great Smoky Mountains, near present-day Bryson City.
Cherokee oral traditions tell that all Cherokee migrated to Kituwa after the migration from the Great Lakes region of the United States and southern Canada as early as 4,000 years ago. Cultural and archaeological evidence support the people's accounts of their migration, but there is no consensus about when they arrived in the Southeast.
The ancient Cherokee had a hereditary priesthood, called the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni, a structure which may have been adopted from another tribe. According to research by the early 20th century ethnographer James Mooney, the Cherokee held the Ah-ni-ku-ta-ni "in awe" and "greatly feared them." They were not the regular chiefs. These were known as the ugus (owls), known as "white" chiefs (sometimes identified as those who worked for peace or during times of peace), and the colona (ravens), or "red" chiefs (identified as those who led in times of war.)
Read more about Kituwa: History, 20th Century Reclamation, Traditions, Duke Energy Controversy