Submitted by Wayne Hooper

The Blue Ridge Archeological Guild   (B.R.A.G.) will meet on Wednesday, June 17th,  at 6:00 PM in the community room of United Community Bank on Hwy 52 in Dahlonega, Georgia.

The guest speaker will be Wayne Hooper, the Secretary of B.R.A.G. and a member of the “Gilmer County Historical Society and Museum” in Ellijay, Ga.

The topic for the talk and slide show will be the “Coosa Kingdom’s first contact with Hernando De Soto in 1540.” The slide show will include artifacts from the Coosa villages and Spanish artifacts recovered from those villages.  The “Coosa” were a major power in North Georgia  in the 14th, 15th and 16th Century  based on their population, military might and control of trade routes.  The Coosa were miners of Copper in North Georgia and Tennessee when De Soto came in search of gold.

Wayne Hooper, a retired insurance executive,  got interested in the “Coosa Kingdom” while trying to assemble a Native American exhibit for the Gilmer Co. Museum in Ellijay.  The Coosa were the descendents of the Etowah Culture (1000 A.D.-1350 A.D).which declined after 1350 A.D. when the capital moved to Coosa,  on the Coosawattee river.  The modern day descendents are the Upper Creek  Native Americans.

This meeting is free to the public.  Membership is  only $10  a year for an individual.

This will be B.R.A.G.’s  last meeting for the summer months of July and August.  B.R.A.G.  will resume the regular meetings in September.

Posted online on Monday, June 15th, 2015