Episode 74: Carrying a Language Home with Gil Jackson
Episode Description
Episode Description
What does it mean to be so connected to a place that even your name carries it?
Gil Jackson, known by the Cherokee name Dohi, meaning outside or outdoors, was born in
Robbinsville, North Carolina in 1951 and today lives on 30 acres just 200 yards from the spot
where he came into the world. He is a fluent Cherokee speaker, one of roughly 130 left, an elder
of the Snowbird community, and an educator who has taught at Stanford, UNC Asheville, and
Duke. In 2014, he thru-hiked all 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail, walking in part to honor
his ancestors on the Trail of Tears.
In this conversation, Gil takes Josh inside a tight-knit upbringing built on Gadugi, the Cherokee
construct of community, where neighbors came together to cut wood, harvest crops, and care for
anyone in need. He explains why family kept him rooted in Western North Carolina even when
opportunity called him elsewhere, how a community school preserved the language while the
wider world pushed assimilation, and why Cherokee is considered one of the ten hardest
languages in the world.
They also talk about why Gil keeps walking. From a 48-mile day in the Great Smoky Mountains
to the ladder-strewn West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, his adventures are less about
conquering anything and more about seeing the creator’s creation. Most of all, this is a story
about a race against time: preserving a language, the knowledge of medicinal plants, and the
sacred sites that risk being lost before the next generation can carry them forward.
Episode Highlights
• 00:00 A name that means outdoors, and a home built 200 yards from where he was
born
• 02:00 The Cherokee tradition of burying the umbilical cord to connect a child to the
land
• 05:00 Why family kept him rooted in Western North Carolina despite chances to leave
• 06:00 Growing up in 1950s Snowbird: one gravel road, one light bulb per room, no TV
• 08:00 Gadugi explained: the community coming together to help in times of need
• 13:00 An aunt’s middle-class home, new clothes, and the family that raised him
• 21:00 Selling moss for 25 cents a pound to buy a guitar he still owns
• 22:00 A community school that taught English while protecting the Cherokee language
• 24:00 Only about 130 fluent speakers left, and losing two and a half each month
• 27:00 What makes Cherokee one of the ten hardest languages in the world
• 29:00 Degrees in education, administration, and planning, and leading a language
immersion school
• 33:00 How Cherokee end-of-life traditions have changed over a lifetime
• 35:00 Finding the therapeutic in streams, trees, and birdsong
• 39:00 Why he thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2014 to honor the Trail of Tears
• 43:00 The brutal West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, with 100 ladders and 10 hours
for six miles
• 45:00 A tense night cooking near foraging bears in Virginia
• 46:00 A trail family of five speaking four languages, all wanting to learn Cherokee
• 53:00 Losing the knowledge of edible and medicinal plants, and the sacred sites that
hold the stories
• 57:00 Rapid-fire: Gvgeyu (I love you), favorite sunrises, beloved teachers, and the White
Mountains
land
• 05:00 Why family kept him rooted in Western North Carolina despite chances to leave
• 06:00 Growing up in 1950s Snowbird: one gravel road, one light bulb per room, no TV
• 08:00 Gadugi explained: the community coming together to help in times of need
• 13:00 An aunt’s middle-class home, new clothes, and the family that raised him
• 21:00 Selling moss for 25 cents a pound to buy a guitar he still owns
• 22:00 A community school that taught English while protecting the Cherokee language
• 24:00 Only about 130 fluent speakers left, and losing two and a half each month
• 27:00 What makes Cherokee one of the ten hardest languages in the world
• 29:00 Degrees in education, administration, and planning, and leading a language
immersion school
• 33:00 How Cherokee end-of-life traditions have changed over a lifetime
• 35:00 Finding the therapeutic in streams, trees, and birdsong
• 39:00 Why he thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2014 to honor the Trail of Tears
• 43:00 The brutal West Coast Trail on Vancouver Island, with 100 ladders and 10 hours
for six miles
• 45:00 A tense night cooking near foraging bears in Virginia
• 46:00 A trail family of five speaking four languages, all wanting to learn Cherokee
• 53:00 Losing the knowledge of edible and medicinal plants, and the sacred sites that
hold the stories
• 57:00 Rapid-fire: Gvgeyu (I love you), favorite sunrises, beloved teachers, and the White
Mountains
About Gil Jackson
Gil Jackson (Dohi) is a fluent Cherokee speaker, elder of the Snowbird community in
Robbinsville, North Carolina, and a lifelong educator who has taught at Stanford, UNC
Asheville, and Duke and served as principal of a Cherokee language immersion school. He
remains committed to preserving the Cherokee language, traditional plant knowledge, and the
region’s sacred sites, and is an avid long-distance hiker who thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in
2014.
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