“Tribal Grounds” – The Backstory of a Cherokee Coffee

I received this coffee in Asheville, North Carolina from Natalie Smith, of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee. They are descendants of Cherokees who were allowed to remain in remote areas of North Carolina, even as most Cherokees were removed from the region in 1838. They remain part of the fabric of Jacksonland. She told me this:

“I blend and roast specialty coffees from farmers in coffee growing regions who are Indigenous people like myself.  They are all organic and several of them are also fair-trade.   My very small business is located on my family land on the Qualla Boundary (the name given to Cherokee lands in western North Carolina), and my distribution reaches as far as Portland, Oregon.   Tribal Grounds Coffee is intended is to create a personal and economic relationship between indigenous communities around the globe.”