‘Tenasque’ to ‘Tennessee,’ Dockter tells East TN history to Rotary Club of Farragut
From the Yuchi people’s “Tenasque” to “Tennessee,” Dr. Warren Dockter, president/CEO of East Tennessee Historical Society, led Rotary Club of Farragut members on a virtual tour of East Tennessee and its Museum of East Tennessee History during the club’s meeting in Farragut Community Center Wednesday, Sept. 26.
Regarding the etimology of Tennessee, “no one is exactly sure what Tennessee means,” Docktor said. “The original meaning is lost.”
He said one spelling, “Tana-Tsee-dger” meant “brother-waters place.”
Another definition was “where waters meet” while another was “fork in the river.”
Before there was the Cherokee nation, Dockter said the Yuchi people lived in the area, formerly part of North Carolina, in the 1560s when Spanish explorers traveled the area.
The Yuchi people called the area “Tenasque.”
They would be run off by the Cherokee after a war between the two nations. The British and French later followed.
“Their settlements appeared on maps as early as 1725,” he said.
The name later morphed into Tanase and finally Tennessee.
“I think that makes Tennessee unique,” Dockter said.
“He brings to East Tennessee an extensive knowledge and passion for history,” club member Candace Viox said of the guest speaker.
Dockter said his interest in history came from his grandfather, who nourished that interest and “put the love of history in me.
“I grew up in my grandfather’s house in Blount County,” he added. “It was a house built in 1898 for (John) Babcock when there was a Babcock Mill many years ago.”
Dockter’s grandfather, former president of the historical and genealogical society in Blount County, took Docktor to historic sites around Knoxville, such as James White Fort, Fort Dickerson and Ramsey House.
He would later lead the ETHS and its museum. “One of the things we try to communicate at ETHS is that intergenerational relationship,” Dockter said.
“There’s something special about a relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren. That’s where a lot of stories and life’s experiences are shared,” he added. “That’s true of my life, and that’s something we try to incorporate.”
As such, ETHS is active in 35 counties in Tennessee with programs for all ages, from children’s interactive exhibits, play space and a kids’ gallery to brown bag lectures, publications and genealogical workshops,
The museum makes “history personal,” Dockter said.
“We have a lot going on,” he added. “History is not just someone talking. History is fun. It’s interactive; it’s stories.”
