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

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.

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.

The U.S. Board of Geographic Names voted Wednesday to officially change the name of the highest peak in Great Smoky Mountains National Park back to its Cherokee name. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians submitted a request earlier this year to change the name “Clingmans Dome” back to its Cherokee name “Kuwohi,

Great Smoky National Park team was proud to support this effort to officially restore the mountain and to recognize its importance to the Cherokee People."