The Blue Ridge National Heritage Area is a land of living traditions. The rich cultural mosaic of the North Carolina mountains and foothills has its origins in three separate continents—North America, Europe, and Africa. The mountains themselves have helped to protect and nurture this cultural mosaic by providing a degree of relative isolation from the rest of the state and nation.

Three major strands of this rich tapestry of cultural heritage are:

• Cherokee heritage
• Scots-Irish heritage
• African-American heritage