Aria Code Introducing Our Common Nature with Yo-Yo Ma
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Nov 12, 2025 In this engaging installment, Eric Mingus, a musician and son of jazz legend Charles Mingus, shares his family's ties to the Mingus Mill and the Enloe Slave Cemetery, grappling with a legacy of both artistry and enslavement. Levita Hill, a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, discusses the cultural reclamation of the Cherokee name for Clingman's Dome and the importance of restoring Indigenous place names. Together, they explore how music and history intertwine to heal and reconnect communities with their land.
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Music At Kowohi Rekindles Place
- Yo-Yo Ma played unannounced music at a Smoky Mountains overlook while locals gathered and listened.
- That spontaneous performance helped people connect Cherokee place-names and stories to the landscape.
Language Lost Through Protection
- Levita Hill recounts growing up hearing Cherokee only when elders visited and never learning fluent Tsalagi.
- Her grandmother hid the language after attending boarding school to protect the family.
Place Names Unlock Cultural Memory
- Restoring Indigenous place names reconnects communities to long histories embedded in the land.
- A single recovered name like Kowohi unlocks cultural meaning and pathways to deeper understanding.