Tanasi

Tanasi is a historic Cherokee town in the southeastern United States whose name is widely cited as the origin of the state name Tennessee. Located in what is now eastern Tennessee, the town was part of a network of Cherokee settlements in the Tennessee Valley and its foothills during the 17th and 18th centuries. The exact locations of Tanasi and related communities vary in historical sources, but the name is consistently linked to the region along the Little Tennessee River and surrounding areas where the Cherokee lived and organized communities prior to and during early European contact.

Etymology and name: Tanasi is a Cherokee place name. The precise meaning of the word is not definitively established, and scholarly interpretations differ. What is clear is that the name was later anglicized and transformed into Tennessee, the name adopted for the U.S. state in the late 18th century as European settlers expanded into the region.

History: Long before European traders arrived, the Tennessee Valley was inhabited by Native American cultures. By the 18th century, Cherokee towns including Tanasi served as political and cultural centers in the region. With increasing European settlement, pressures and displacement affected Cherokee communities, culminating in removals in the 19th century that altered the occupancy and use of traditional sites.

Archaeology and legacy: The area around Tanasi contains archaeological evidence of long-term Native American occupation, reflecting changes from Mississippian-era settlements to later Cherokee use. The name Tanasi remains a key link to the origin of Tennessee’s name, illustrating the historical and linguistic connections between the region’s Indigenous heritage and its modern identity.