Tanasi (also spelled
Tanase,
Tenasi,
Tenassee,
Tunissee,
Tennessee, and other such variations) was an historic
Overhill Cherokee village site in present-day
Monroe County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The village was the namesake for the state of
Tennessee. Abandoned by the Cherokee in the 19th century, since 1979 the town site has been submerged by the
Tellico Lake impoundment of the
Little Tennessee River. Tanasi served as the de facto capital of the
Cherokee from as early as 1721 until 1730, when the capital shifted to
Great Tellico.