I promise it wasn't just to make things difficult...
Besides helping people with a great vacation, I have a favorite part of my job. Hands down that's letting people try to sound out the names of our different yurts when they call to ask questions. They give it their best shot, trying a few different enunciations while I smile back at them through the phone. Then we both giggle and I pronounce it the right way for them so we know we're all on the same page. I promise I didn't choose these names to be difficult, and the sounding out process endears me to my customers, so no judgement to those that struggle with the names. I chose the names to honor the history of the place where Sky Ridge is located. And that history largely belongs to the Cherokee Indian.
The Winner of the sounding out game is.....Our Tsali
Of all of our yurts, people struggle the most with our Tsali. There's no struggle enjoying the Tsali - it's pretty perfect and there's lots of things to love about it. But one of the things I love the most about it is its name. Pronounced like "sa-lee", it's named after the Cherokee Indian prophet who is largely responsible for the Cherokee Indian tribe remaining in the Smoky Mountains today.
Legend tells that Tsali and his family were captured during the Cherokee roundup for Indian Removal in 1830. His infant son was killed in the process, and Tsali fought back in a surprise attack and fled to the mountains to hide in caves rather than be taken captive again.
Though Made An Example Of, Tsali Sacrificed Himself So His Tribe Would Remain....
Hearing of his successful evasion, hundreds of other Indians joined him in his hideout. Without the manpower or skill to do anything about it, General Scott negotiated a deal with William Holland Thomas - a white lawyer adopted into the Tribe in his youth that would later become its Chief - in an attempt to bring Tsali and his family to military justice. If Tsali would surrender, the hundreds of others hiding with him would remain free.
Tsali's martyrdom didn't mark an end, but a beginning. The three hundred Cherokee fugitives who remained free because of Tsali's sacrifice became the forebears of the nearly five thousand Cherokees still here in these mountains today, and who give the area much of its rich culture that you're probably here to experience.
So if you're lucky enough to stay in our "sa-lee", just remember how much power is in a name.
