Kituwa

Kituwa (also spelled Kituwah, Keetoowah, Kittowa, Kitara and other similar variations) or giduhwa (Cherokee: ᎩᏚᏩ) is a Woodland period Native American settlement near the upper Tuckasegee River, and is claimed by the Cherokee people as their original town. An earthwork platform mound, built about 1000 CE, marks a ceremonial site here. The historic Cherokee built a townhouse on top that was used for their communal gatherings and decisionmaking; they replaced it repeatedly over decades. They identify Kituwa as one of the "seven mother towns" in their traditional homeland of the American Southeast. This site is in modern Swain County, North Carolina, in the Great Smoky Mountains.

The Cherokee lost control of this site to the United States in the early 19th century. In the late 1830s, most of their people in the Southeast were forcibly removed by US forces to Indian Territory. Descendants of those who remained in North Carolina formed the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), which is federally recognized.