Preserving & Educating
The Coosawattee Foundation, created in 1986, works to increase public awareness of the importance and fragility of archaeological resources and their associated environmental contexts.
The Coosawattee Foundation (CFI), created in 1986, works to increase public awareness of the importance and fragility of archaeological resources and their associated environmental contexts. Based in Northwest Georgia, CFI focuses most of its activities on archaeology preservation, research and education in this part of the state.
In broad perspective, CFI seeks to develop greater understanding of cultural origins and environmental resources within Northwest Georgia and seeks to apply this knowledge to similar contexts elsewhere. The organization assembles and employs a broad set of methods and tools to accomplish its mission. These include archaeological investigations, environmental conservation, public policy formulation and application, field classes, instructional materials, alliances with other organizations and the use of both private and public resources.
Follow the links at the left to find more detailed information about the Coosawattee Foundation and its activities, including how to support us through our education and volunteer programs. The Education and Archaeology pages will lead visitors to a variety of online resources and links of interest. The organization also works to promote awareness and value of present-day Indigenous people with connections to the American Southeast.
History
CFI began its work with landowners in Northwest Georgia – preserving sites mostly within the major river valleys of the Coosawattee, Conasauga and Oostanaula Rivers. We urged them to protect these “cultural resources” by discouraging artifact hunters from digging on these unique properties.
Soon, CFI became heavily involved in broader public policy efforts at the statewide level as we worked with Indigenous people to write and pass legislation that protects human remains and fragile cultural resources of all kinds.
For more detailed information about our work, see….
Heritage
The river valleys and ridges of Northwest Georgia contain a remarkably rich inventory of cultural resources. The work of CFI is to create public awareness and appreciation of this cultural inventory of resources and the unique physical landscape that hosted these human stories of success and struggle over the past several thousand years.
For more information on these cultures and time periods, see….
Resources
To assist us in our work, we rely on partnerships and cooperative arrangements with a wide range of organizations – both in our geographic homeland of Northwest Georgia and beyond in the State of Georgia and the larger Southeastern United States. We have also reached out to Indigenous tribes in Oklahoma, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and many western states to establish relationships that can help us tell the stories of Indigenous people as well as other human histories that have connections or origins in Georgia.
Click here for connections to other organizations and their research and public policy resources.