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“A” is for Attakulla Kulla (d. ca. 1780)

“A” is for Attakulla Kulla (d. ca. 1780). Cherokee leader, diplomat. Born on the Big Island of the French Broad River, Attakulla Kulla was also known as Little Carpenter. He was an influential leader of the Cherokees in the mid-1700s. As a diplomat he worked to advance the cause of the Overhill Cherokees of eastern Tennessee, especially in the area of trade problems. In the spring of1730, Attakulla Kulla was part of a delegation of Cherokees taken to London to cement a recent allegiance to King George II. In the 1750s difficulties over trade practices led to violence against traders and a trade embargo on the Cherokees. In 1753 Attakulla Kulla made peace with South Carolina and asked that the colony build forts to protect the trade of the Overhill Cherokees and to thwart French influence.

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Dr. Walter Edgar has two programs on South Carolina Public Radio: Walter Edgar's Journal, and South Carolina from A to Z. Dr. Edgar received his B.A. degree from Davidson College in 1965 and his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 1969. After two years in the army (including a tour of duty in Vietnam), he returned to USC as a post-doctoral fellow of the National Archives, assigned to the Papers of Henry Laurens.