Nashville Parks Board renames city park to honor Middle Tennessee’s ancient Indigenous history

Members of the Indigenous Peoples Coalition advocate for the renaming of Cumberland Park to Wasioto Park in August 2024. | Melanie Bender / People's World

NASHVILLE—On Dec. 3, the Metro Parks Board of Nashville granted a request by the Indigenous Peoples Coalition (IPC) to change the name of Cumberland Park to Wasioto Park in honor of Indigenous history in the region.

The change did not come, however, without a protracted struggle led by the IPC and supported by its allies, including the WilCo Pow Wow, the Native American Indian Association, and supporters from a host of organizations from the historic preservation community, the religious sector, and progressive organizations and citizens. It was a multiracial effort, with African Americans, Latinos, and whites counted among the supporters of the name change campaign.

The victory was the result of a a veritable united front effort.

The background for the name change has its roots in the decolonization movement. Cumberland Park sits at the bend of the Cumberland River that winds through downtown Nashville. The river which gave the park its name was so illegimately named by a European explorer, Thomas Walker , who traversed the river in 1758. He dubbed the river in honor of the Duke of Cumberland of England, who never even set foot anywhere in North America or anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere.

The original name of the waterway, Wasioto, was given by the Shawnee, who lived along its banks in prodigious numbers in numerous villages in the late 17th century in the area of present-day Nashville. Even after the colonial naming by Walker, the river was still known for years afterward as “The River of the Shawnees.”

When the current park opened in 2012, it was named Cumberland. The park sits on what is officially called the East Bank of the Cumberland River. The East Bank is also the site of a vast ancient Indigenous city, along with all of downtown Nashville, which was discovered in 2016 during the construction of a new baseball stadium.

The campaign to rename the park began in August with a request from the IPC. This was followed by a series of press conferences, demonstrations, and other public actions. There was initially resistance on the part of the Parks Board, and many argue the final decision rendered on Dec. 3 could have been issued at the board’s November meeting.

The final decision was received with much elation throughout Nashville. Social media comments such as “incredible,” “fantastic,” and “amazing” were elicited from supporters of the IPC campaign. A prominent African American leader and activist wrote, “A monumental victory – in an era where victories are rare – that will inspire activists and communities of resistance in the forthcoming years.” There was a perception, particularly in communities of color, that the Parks Board was very difficult to deal with on various issues.

There are follow up plans by the IPC to hold a celebratory event prior to Christmas, tentatively on Dec. 21.

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CONTRIBUTOR

Albert Bender

Albert Bender is a Cherokee activist, historian, political columnist, and freelance reporter. He is currently writing a legal treatise on Native American sovereignty and working on a book on the war crimes committed by the U.S. against the Maya people in the Guatemalan civil war He is a consulting attorney on Indigenous sovereignty, land restoration, and Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) issues.