The Oakville Indian Mounds Museum was designed on the basis of the Cherokee Capitol at the village of Chota. In addition, a council house at Cowe was described by William Bartram. These two descriptions were utilized in the construction of the Oakville Museum, a seven-sided modified design of a Cherokee council house. The seven sides are representative of the sacred Cherokee number seven. The Cherokee had seven clans or family units which were maternal or based on the mother’s bloodline. Seven was also the number of directions of the Cherokee and were as follows: North, East, South, and West, up, down, and within the person.