Our purpose is to achieve the highest level of preservation, protection, management & interpretation of the cultural, historical and natural resources of more than 956 acres of Moccasin Bend through National Park status. The Friends will also strive for the establishment and maintenance of an interpretive center.

We believe Moccasin Bend is a Site of Epic Proportion

• Archaeological studies and surveys reveal an unbroken chain of habitation by diverse Native American cultures, beginning with the earliest inhabitants of North America and culminating with that of the Cherokee.
  
  
• Spanish trade items dating to the end of the 16th Century are among the documented treasures of Moccasin Bend.
  
  
• Moccasin Bend forms part of the 800-mile Trail of Tears.
  The Indian Removal Act of 1830 set the stage to exile five Southeastern Tribes from their ancestral lands.
  
  
• Union artillery and troops positioned throughout Stringer's Ridge during the Battles for Chattanooga altered the outcome of regional conflict in the Civil War.
  
  
  

The National Park Service provides the most permanent protection and highest standards for protection, interpretation and management, including mandated participation with the related Native American tribal nations, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA), the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 (ARPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (NHPA). We assisted the National Park Service in its Cooperative Management Plan Study in 1998-99. We supported Congressman Zach Wamp in 2003 in presenting to the US Congress legislation (HR216/HJR2) which determined the future status of Moccasin Bend as a National Archaeological District within the National Park System. We will work with the related Tribes to develop a public-private partnership for a Cultural Heritage Center adjacent to Moccasin Bend. The center will serve as a model for Native American participation at all levels and will trace the history of Moccasin Bend over 12,000 years. We will locate cultural materials which originate from Moccasin Bend, return them to Chattanooga and provide for their appropriate and professional study and interpretation. We will restore native vegetation and wildlife into disrupted areas, and provide quiet recreation for visitors.