Cherokee Preservation Foundation Grant Enables Preservation of Important Cherokee Artifact in Jackson County

CHEROKEE, NC, October 31, 2008 – Cherokee Preservation Foundation announced today it has made a $17,000 grant to the Jackson County Recreation and Parks Department to implement a conservation plan for Judaculla Rock, a culturally significant prehistoric petroglyph in Jackson County’s Caney Fork Community.

Judaculla Rock, the best known petroglyph site in North Carolina, is a soapstone boulder covered with circles, lines, crosses and other shapes. While the glyphs remain a mystery, the rock is believed to be dated between about 2,000 and 200 B.C.  According to Cherokee legend, the giant Judaculla (from the Cherokee “tsulkalu,” which means “slant eyes”) leapt from his mountain home and when he landed in the creek below, he created the markings on the rock.

Jackson County, working with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, adjoining property owners, and archeological consultants and engineers, will use the grant to create and implement a conservation plan for Judaculla Rock that will preserve the boulder and provide information about it to visitors and area residents who come to see it.

About Cherokee Preservation Foundation

Cherokee Preservation Foundation (www.cpfdn.org) was established on November 14, 2000, as part of the Second Amendment to the Tribal-State Compact between the EBCI and the State of North Carolina. It is an independent nonprofit foundation funded by the EBCI from gaming revenues generated by the Tribe. CPFdn is not part of or associated with any for-profit gaming entity. Since CPFdn’s inception in 2000, it has made 487 grants totaling nearly $40 million to EBCI and regional projects and programs that address cultural preservation, economic development and job creation, and environmental renewal and protection. Every dollar of CPFdn support has been matched by $1.41 in secured grants or other funding or in-kind resources, making CPFdn’s total contribution to the region more than $95 million.

For more information, contact Cherokee Preservation Foundation at 828/497-5550.