A 78-foot red spruce tree – affectionately nicknamed “Ruby” – has arrived on Capitol Hill to serve as this year’s Capitol Christmas Tree. Also known as the “People’s Tree,” Ruby will stand in honor on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol this holiday season, serving as a reminder of the public land that has been set aside for all to use and enjoy. Ruby is also an important symbol of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians’ connection to the mountains of Western North Carolina.
For 75 years, Ruby grew to maturity on a steep hillside deep in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Under the care of the Cherokee citizens, Ruby’s parents developed and flourished on these same sacred ancestral lands.
Over time, the great red spruce grew, destined to be one of the most famous trees in America. Ruby faced heavy competition and passed a rigorous selection criteria to ultimately be chosen as the 2022 Capitol Christmas Tree. In fact, a representative from the Architect of the Capitol, the agency responsible for stewarding the landmark buildings and grounds of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., visited the candidate trees in person to assist in the selection to make sure Ruby was the right fit.
Ruby has followed destiny and is now being properly installed —at center stage; at the base of the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol for all the country to see.
Towering at 78 feet, Ruby will stand where many other U.S. Capitol Christmas Trees have stood over the past 52 years. From Alaska to Virginia, and many states in between, the annual Christmas trees provided from National Forest System lands are special. Each tree has represented a different forest and has been selected from a variety of North America’s most well-known species. Ruby is no different.
This year, the massive spruce was provided as a gift from the Pisgah National Forest. This forest has special significance to the forest service, as the forest was once owned nearly in its entirety by the Vanderbilt family as part of lands surrounding the vast Biltmore Estate. It was at Biltmore that George Vanderbilt let a young aspiring forester named Gifford Pinchot practice some early experiments in forest management. Pinchot went on to found and serve as the first chief for the USDA’s Forest Service in 1905.
Now that the tree has completed its journey from western North Carolina and is in place, it will be decorated with the thousands of ornaments made by school children and communities from all over North Carolina. The ornaments bring added significance, as each ornament represents a person, a family, or a community that has contributed a small piece of beauty to this year’s celebration.
Then on Nov. 29, when the seemingly gazillion twinkling gem-like lights are ready to be officially illumined at this year’s lighting ceremony, a specially selected fourth grader named Catcuce Micco Tiger (Coche) will flip the switch.
The 9-year-old is a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. He was chosen for the honor because of his inspiring answers to a questionnaire sent out to children of the Tribe asking them what they thought about Ruby.
“Our family is excited and humbly honored that Coche was selected to be the 2022 Youth Christmas Tree Lighter,” said Katie Tiger, Catcuce’s mother. “This creates the opportunity for Coche to represent the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and to emphasize that the Tribe’s language and customs are thriving in modern times.”
With a glowing star for Ruby’s crown, the tree lighting ceremony marks a splendid moment for our nation’s capital, Cherokee citizens, and all of America.
So, if you’re in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 29, and you want to see something profoundly festive, head down to the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, or tune in live at the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree website.
Story by Robert Westover
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