Noccalula

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Noccalula statue at Gadsden's Noccalula Falls Park

Noccalula is said to be the name of a Cherokee maiden who, according to legend, jumped to her death at what is now called Noccalula Falls. As popularly retold, Noccalula's grieving father renamed the falls for her, and some claim that she still haunts the area below.

Variations of the story are common to hundreds of locales in the United States, and were especially popular in the decades following the Indian Removal, as indigenous peoples became the stuff of stories and romantic associations for wilderness features carried great narrative power. As Mark Twain wrote in Life on the Mississippi, "There are fifty Lover's Leaps along the Mississippi from whose summit disappointed Indian girls have jumped"1..

Stories

Origin of name

The use of "Noccalula" or "Nahcullola" as a name for Black Creek Falls appears as early as the 1860s in print, and was used as the popular name before it began appearing on maps and official documents. It is likely that the name is Cherokee (Tsalagi) in origin. A large waterfall in Georgia is called "Amicalola", from the Tsalagi ᎠᎹᎤᎦᎴᎸᏱ (a-ma u-qwa-le-lv-yi), signifying a place where water (ᎠᎹ or a-ma) tumbles or thunders.2.

Romance

An early version of the maiden's story appeared in 1867 in the pages of the Cherokee Advertiser and/or the Gadsden Times. That writer identified the maiden as "Efoladela", pawned off by her father to Creek chief "Ortus Micco" as part of a territorial bargain. In grief for the loss of her future with her lover, "Laniska", Efoladela leaps into the gorge and is buried there. The writer identifies Laniska as Pathkiller, who became principal chief of the Cherokee in 1811.3.

In 1888, author John Witherspoon DuBose described the natural beauty of "Nochalula Falls" and ascribes to them "all the wild beauty that they had in days of yore, when the Indian legend tells us, that the beautiful star, Alivilda, of the Cherokee tribe, leaped over them to avoid going with the Creek chief to his distant wigwam."4.

From there, subsequent retellings added romantic details. Anne Mathilde Bilbro's version, published in the early 1900s, is the one most referenced. It was published as a pamphlet in 1937 and has reappeared in brochures for Noccalula Falls Park since its 1946 establishment. Bilbro apparently used legends told by old families in the area as sources. Whether it came from those sources or from her own mind, Bilbro may have been the the first to identify the girl's name as Noccalula in print. In her version, she characterizes the Cherokee tribe as gentle and erudite, contrasting them with the fierce Creeks whose chief had offered a rich price for the girl. With the prospect of achieving peace and claiming a rich reward, Noccalula's father hardened his heart, promised her hand to his enemy, and banished the brave she loved. In grief, the girl glumly allowed herself to be arrayed in her wedding finery before being pulled away by the sound of the waterfall, and soon succumbing to death as an escape from her troubles. In this version the tragedy re-awakened the father's love and he named the waterfall in her memory.5.

Retellings

Later authors, such as Tracy Lay and Mary Lister have also penned versions of the story based on Bilbro's. It was Lister's version that first included references to Noccalula's ghost inhabiting the gorge.6. Sue Allen Davidson and Bruce Stephens included a dramatic retelling of Noccalula's story in the script for their outdoor pageant, "God's Highway: The Coosa River Story", which has been performed by the Coosa River Drama Association at the park's amphitheater each summer from 1985 to 1989.

A musical composition, "The Legend of Princess Noccalula" was commissioned from Anniston native John Craton in 2005 by the Dutch ensemble Het Consort. Birmingham filmmaker Steve Pridmore is working on a feature film starring Emma-Lillita Hunter as the vengeful ghost of Noccalula.

Historicizing

Using the 1867 story of Efoladela as their starting point, researchers Danny Crownover, Jerry Jones, Rex Thornton and Charley Freeman dug through records in several states in the early 1990s. They identified her with a daughter of "Little Turkey", principal Cherokee chief from 1788 to 18046..

In 1789, Little Turkey's daughter was captured and ransomed by John Sevier near the Flint River in Georgia. Following the treaty, Little Turkey's clan settled in Turkey Town in present-day Etowah County. The researchers claim that the chief offered his daughter as a prize in a ball game played during the Green Corn Festival sometime before 1795. Ortus Micco (called "Opie"), a Creek chief who lived near what is now Rainbow City, claimed the victory. Rather than marry Opie, the girl slipped away to the falls where she had spent time with her true love, and there took her life. These events were supposedly corroborated by local Indians and borne out by carvings at the site7..

Another historicized version also references carvings at the base of the gorge which, when "translated" reveal the the truth of the story. This version claims that the jump took place in 18278.. The Cherokee were forcibly removed from Alabama between 1936 and 1839.

Notes

  1. Twain-1883
  2. Currahee-2008, Back-1994
  3. Cherokee Advertiser-1867
  4. DuBose-1888
  5. Bilbro-n.d.
  6. Back-1994
  7. ibid.
  8. Goodson-2002

References

  • M. A. H. (December 25, 1851) "Historical Traditions of Tennessee". The American Whig Review Vol. 15. New York: Wiley & Putnam, pp. 235
  • Cherokee Advertiser (1867), paraphrased by Russo, Juniper in "The Truth About the Noccalula Falls Legend" - accessed March 10, 2011
  • Twain, Mark (1883) Life on the Mississippi. Boston, Massachusetts: James R. Osgood & Co.
  • Dubose, John Witherspoon (1888) "Gadsden" in Northern Alabama: Historical and Biographical" Birmingham: Smith & DeLand, p. 354
  • Bilbro, Annie Mathilde (n. d.) "The Legend of Princess Noccalula". rpt. by Noccalula Falls Park - accessed March 10, 2011
  • Bolton, Clyde (April 20, 1958) "Spring Recalls Noccalula's History" Gadsden Times
  • Jones, Jeffrey (1989) Noccalula: Legend, Fact and Function. Collinsville: Jeffrey & Jones Gang, Inc.
  • Back, Sharon Freeman (January 15, 1994) "Historians find truth in legend of princess" Gadsden Times
  • Crownover, Danny K. and Jerry B. Jones (February 1, 1994) "Research on Noccalula Falls" Gadsden Times
  • Goodson, Mike (2002) Gadsden: City of Champions. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing ISBN 0738523755
  • McDougald, Michael H. (November 29, 2005) "Tale of Noccalula comes full circle" Rome News-Tribune
  • Rozema, Vicki (2007) Footsteps of the Cherokees: A Guide to the Eastern Homelands of the Cherokee Nation. 2nd ed. Winston-Salem, North Carolina: John F. Blair ISBN 9780895873460
  • Currahee, John (September 22, 2008) "Connestee Falls, North Carolina" Chenocetah's Weblog - accessed March 10, 2011

External links

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