According to the two Georgia historical markers, the area surrounding Brasstown Bald was settled by the Cherokee people. English-speaking settlers derived the word Brasstown from a translation error of the Cherokee word for its village place. Settlers confused the word Itse'yĭ (meaning New Green Place or Place of Fresh Green), which the Cherokee used for their village, with Ûňtsaiyĭ (brass), and referred to the settlement as Brasstown. The Cherokee gave the locative name, Itse'yĭ, to several distinct areas in their territory, including an area nearby in what is considered present-day North Carolina.