Morgan Crisp, President and Owner of 7 Clans Brewing, never planned on a career in the beer industry. 

Crisp, who’s father and grandfather are Cherokee, shared that there was a time that the U.S. government wouldn’t allow indigenous people to consume alcohol. They couldn’t purchase or be given alcohol because the government said indigenous people couldn’t handle it. 

“After years and years of being told this, the people eventually began to believe that themselves,” Crisp said. “I remember going into a brewery for the first time thinking that everyone I saw would be drunk, but what I actually saw was community. There were families, friends, and even kids there just enjoying each other and conversations. It was people talking to each other and telling stories, and that blew me away.”

Working in the food and beverage industry, she said that she and her husband bought a franchise restaurant to start, and a few years later obtained another restaurant in Canton, which also had a bar. 

“I felt worried that other tribe members would be mad when they learned that we had our first bar,” Crisp said. “Seeing those responsible people at the brewery showed me that a person didn’t have to become an alcoholic if they had a beer, and it really began a personal healing journey for me.”

Crisp said while running their bar and restaurant, she and her husband became friends with the brewers at BearWaters Brewing, who mentioned to her that there was a lot of interest in women coming into the industry. They knew she had interesting cultural stories to tell, and she could use beer to tell some of those stories. They decided she would craft a one-off beer to see what happens, and with access to BearWaters’ equipment, Crisp made the first batch of 7 Clans Blonde Ale.

The stories that Crisp longed to tell are the stories of the Cherokee. Living on the Qualla Boundary with her Cherokee family in her early childhood, she said that she gained a real sense of community and knowledge as it was being passed down to her. 

“My grandfather was a farmer and herbalist,” Crisp said. “We spent a lot of time harvesting and foraging. I remember how we would shake trees in the summertime — literally climbing the hemlock trees and shaking the tops until the seeds fell down to the plastic lining on the ground around the tree so that we could collect the seeds to make money.”

Formerly working in publication with Cherokee Publications, Crisp had been writing and publishing stories from the Eastern Band of Cherokee. Consisting of many herbal stories and legends of how Cherokee people relate to each other and to the land, she said she always felt passionate about making sure that rich history is preserved. She said that what she is doing with beer now is inspired by these traditions and stories.

After that one-off beer crafted with BearWaters was reproduced again and again, they decided to make another — Hop-Rooted IPA. “At that point, we decided that I would actually do this,” Crisp said. “We entered a contract agreement with BearWaters, then got approached to be in distribution. We were told our beer would be taken all over the state. We eventually outgrew that space and looked to buy and manage our own.”

Crisp said that was a difficult choice because they weren’t sure where to go next. She couldn’t go home because she said at that time there was no alcohol allowed on the Qualla Boundary. A timely discussion with Clark Williams of Frog Level in Waynesville led to the purchase of that facility.

While considering what to name her own brewing company, Crisp said she was researching Native American beer names or words that Cherokee used. She said she was finding them all over the world but that none of the brands doing so were indigenous. She said one of the brands she found was in Australia with “some weird graphic” on the can, and after that, she felt the only way to stop these misappropriations is for native people to do it themselves.

“People are starting to go back on incorrect imagery,” Crisp said. “Now that Native people are making different things like beer, kombucha, or whatever business product, we are telling a more accurate story. We are fighting off these misappropriations in a way that’s never happened before. I felt like I have to do it now because they’ve had it all wrong.”

Crisp said that she chose the name 7 Clans as a powerful way to pay tribute to the tribe. Prior to removal, the tribe consisted of 13 clans or family systems, and now the number has been reduced to seven. The naming issue also brought up an interesting conversation regarding who owns the right to use the Cherokee name or language, which stirred up some points about sharing their culture.

“Some people didn’t want our oral stories put on paper and sold,” Crisp said, “but others felt like we needed to do this. If you put something in a box and never talk about it, there is a chance it might die. If you tell people that they can’t use certain words, that could slowly force our culture to die. If we share the stories in print and I can share them through beer, it can all be very healing for individual tribe members as well as for the culture.”

While some people may not understand what she is building and why, Crisp said that it has been a really meaningful experience for her and she hopes that others will eventually gain an understanding as well.

While telling stories of her heritage, Crisp is also creating positive change within the Waynesville community through the success of her brewery. Frog Level Brewing had been in business since 2011, and Crisp said there were some things that needed to change when she and her husband joined Frank and Julia Bonomo as the new owners in 2020. 

“The area was in trouble; there were lots of vacant buildings and it was a bit of a sore spot in town,” Crisp said. “We kept thinking of where we wanted to bring our own families. We added activities like music, fundraisers, and more. We brew all of 7 Clans beers there, we tweaked a few of Frog Level’s recipes, and we brought families back to the brewery.”

Crisp said she has invested all of her revenue back into the community by purchasing the surrounding vacant buildings, improving them, and renting them to entrepreneurs ready to start their own businesses. The two that are in there now are women-owned businesses in the retail space, which makes me really proud.”

Crisp also said her businesses provide a good living for her staff. “The bartenders are making a great living,” she said. “They are buying houses and starting families, which feels so good to witness. It makes all of the challenges so worth it.”

Though Crisp and her team are putting in a new 30-barrel brewing system at Frog Level that will be an upgrade from the previous 7-barrel brewing system, Crisp said she really enjoys the level at which the business is currently operating. 

“I love the Asheville space because it is really small,” Crisp said. “I love the indoor/outdoor space, and I love telling stories through beer. We do not have any TVs or live music for a reason; we want people to come in, sit around, talk, and share stories. We have story time with our staff and they share those stories with our customers. I am breaking the stereotype of what people may expect to find at a brewery, sharing the value of recognizing Natives in the industry, and sharing the stories that need to be told.”

Bringing this awareness to her own Native community is important to Crisp, along with the importance of bringing awareness of the small Native community to the rest of the world. “The Native community is so small that many people have never met a Native person, even here in Western North Carolina,” Crisp said. “I have to stay true to what I’m doing to represent my culture in an authentic way. I am still struggling with a lot of things — personal history, reverse racism, and generational trauma, and I really don’t want to commercialize this very personal journey. I never imagined this career in my life. However, if it can be healing for me, perhaps the stories and the journey can be healing for others as well.”