Appalachian Sacrifice
Role: Assistant Editor
Directors: Mill Valley Film Group
Maria Gunnoe was born and raised at the mouth of a narrow hollow in Boone County, West Virginia, now one of the most active mountaintop removal regions in the United States. Her family’s roots in the region date back to the early 1800s, when her ancestors escaped the forced removal of their Cherokee peoples from Georgia by walking along streams to the headwaters, settling safely in the fertile hollows of Central Appalachia. She comes from a long line of coal miners, including her Cherokee grandfather, who in the 1950s purchased the land where her home stands today. Now, lifelong resident Maria Gunnoe fights against environmentally-devastating mountaintop removal mining and valley fill operations.