Nestled between Cohutta, Georgia and Cleveland, Tennessee lies Red Clay State Park home to the famous natural landmark, the Blue Hole.
The Blue Hole arises from beneath a limestone ledge to form a deep blue pool that flows into nearby Mill Creek, a tributary of the Coosa and Conasauga (pronounced con-a-sog-ga) river systems.
The Blue Hole was used as a spring by the Cherokee tribe for their water supply during council meetings as this was the last Cherokee Council Grounds before the saddened "Trail of Tears" began.
The Cherokee believed that the blue hole was another world but was like ours in everything including animals, plants and people except the seasons were different. The streams that come from the mountains are the trails by which we reach the underworld, and the springs at their heads are the doorways by which we enter it. However, to do this one must fast and go to water and have one of the underground people to guide. We know the seasons in the underwater world are different from ours, because the water in the spring is always warmer in the winter months and colder in the summer months versus the outer air.
In the late 1880's an ethnographer James Mooney collected legends and myths such as this one from a Cherokee myth keeper named Swimmer. Mooney wrote "First and chief in the list of storytellers comes A yunini, 'Swimmer'...his mind was a storehouse of Indian tradition."
Swimmer was trained priest, doctor and "keeper of tradition". He spoke only Cherokee throughout his adulthood. He wore a turban, moccasins and carried his badge of authority, the rattle.
Swimmer gave Mooney around three-fourths of the material in "Myths of the Cherokee and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokees.
As you all can probably tell the Blue Hole has significant meaning to the Cherokee tribe and rightfully so.
Source of information: Red Clay State Park in Cleveland, Tennessee