Watershed Resilience for the Great Coharie River and Her People
Project Summary
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
With respect and gratitude, we acknowledge the enduring legacy of the Coharie People, who, for generations, have stewarded land and water within the Great Coharie River watershed.
THE RIVER AND HER PEOPLE
For the Coharie People, who have served as the traditional stewards of the Great Coharie River for generations, the river is seen as a symbol of community, cultural identity, and resilience. It was a sanctuary for the Coharie ancestors, who escaped intertribal and colonial settler conflicts to put down roots along its sandy banks. It has provided physical nourishment through subsistence fishing and hunting, and spiritual nourishment as a site of baptisms. As Native American populations dwindled across the state and country, the river witnessed the Coharie’s persistence and survival as they persevered as one of only a handful of surviving tribes in North Carolina. Throughout decades of discrimination, the Great Coharie River provided solace, healing, and a sense of belonging—feelings that first-time visitors and the river’s oldest friends still experience today. For the Coharie People, their namesake river is more than just a waterbody; it’s a lifeline, a repository of culture, and a symbol of resilience—connecting and reconnecting past, present, and future generations.
SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTEXT
The Coharie Indian Tribe, a community with a rich history and enduring cultural heritage, currently resides in southeastern North Carolina, primarily in Tribal communities in Harnett and Sampson counties. The Coharie are descendants of Neusiok Indians, whose ancestral homeland was located along the Neuse River in present-day Craven and Carteret counties. Historical migrations, driven by intertribal conflicts and colonial hostilities between settler and Indian populations, led the Coharies to their present location between 1729 and 1746, establishing roots along the Great Coharie River. “Coharie” means “Driftwood” in the Tuscarora language. Legend has it that Coharie mothers would softly whisper “Shhh” to quiet their children when strangers approached, a tradition that echoes in the rustling pines to this day.
The Coharie Tribe has been working to address challenges related to flood vulnerability, river access, and impaired water quality for nearly a decade. Severe flooding during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018 exacerbated these issues. In Sampson County and the surrounding areas, the impacts of these storms far exceeded the 500-year floodplain – causing widespread damage to residences, businesses, and public infrastructure and altering the course of the Great Coharie River. Tribal-led efforts to restore the River’s water quality, the community’s safety, and the Tribe’s spiritual connection to the River also build collective identity, restore traditions, and promote physical and spiritual health.
The Coharie Community Floodprint aims to bolster these efforts by developing a framework plan to integrate existing initiatives into a new portfolio of flood-mitigation projects, informed by community input, rigorous analyses, and best practices in hazard mitigation. Ultimately, the material created herein serves as collateral for local leadership to attract, secure, and leverage external investments to implement the projects and recommendations in the report.
Sample Images
Project Start Year
2023
Client
Location
Coharie Tribal Lands, NC
Collaborators
Hydraulic Modeling: Barbara Doll, PhD, PE, and Jack Kurki-Fox, PhD, PE
Cost Estimating: Gresham Smith
Awards
2025 Award of Excellence in Analysis & Planning: Great Coharie River: Restoring Resilience to a River and Her People, North Carolina Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects
Funding Sources
North Carolina Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) CDBG-Mitigation Grant