And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 14:59:18 -0700 (PDT)
From: Marsha E Shaiman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Ocmulgee Old Fields
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: MULTIPART/MIXED; BOUNDARY="1944398231-758783491-925768758=:19475"
Freeway Will Desecrate Ocmulgee Old Fields
Just outside of Macon, Georgia, Ocmulgee Old Fields and "The Reserve
Tract," ancient mounds, considered sacred by Muscogee people, are
threatened by proposed freeway construction. This is a place of origin as
well as ceremonial fields and burial grounds. In the oral tradition of the
Muscogee, these lands are "the place where we first sat down." The lands
were made sacred by this history, and by the many mounds, ceremonial
squares, and burial grounds contained here.
These lands are also the place of origin of the Muscogee Confederacy of
Tribes which eventually became the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The Reserve
Tract, which overlaps Ocmulgee Old Fields, was an area the mekkos, or
chiefs of the tribes of the confederacy, swore to reserve from all treaties.
Okmulgee Old Fields is a National Monument and the entire Old Fields,
including the National Monument, has been placed on the National Register
of Historic Places, the only Traditional Cultural Property east of the
Mississippi. Although the Keeper of the National Register followed the
resolutions of the Muscogee Nation and the Muscogee Tribal Towns concerning
the Northern and Southern boundaries and rejected the Georgia Department of
Transportation recommended boundaries, the east and west boundaries have
not been fully determined. There is disagreement between the roadbuilders
and other parties and in March 1999 public hearings were held concerning
final determination of the boundaries.
In the Creek War of 1813-1814, the Creeks of Georgia and Alabama were
defeated by Andrew Jackson and most of their lands turned over to the
settlers. Many Creeks then served Jackson as scouts and soldiers, and Creek
Principal Chief McIntosh, who led some of Jackson's forces, surrendered
Creek lands to the whites, in violation of the pledge to reserve their
lands. He was executed by his people.
President Andrew Jackson signed the Removal Act in 1830, which required
all Indians remaining in the Southeast, including the Creeks, to be removed
to the Arkansas Territory. By 1842 most of the Muscogee Chiefs had left
their homeland behind and moved to the Arkansas Territory, where they
settled in an area which later became the state of Oklahoma.
In the 1930s all of the remaining Old Fields were to be incorporated into
a National Monument. Originally, plans called for two thousand acres to be
acquired for Macon's Park, but only seven hundred acres were purchased.
Unfortunately, no federal monies were available and the monies raised
locally, mostly from civic groups, were sufficient only for a large
northern section and one southern section known as the Lamar Mound site,
one of the few remaining spiral staircase mounds in the world.
The Ocmulgee Old Fields, despite their standing, are endangered by the
Eisenhower Parkway Extension, a five-mile segment of the nearly completed
Fall Line Freeway, which runs between Columbus and Augusta, Georgia. The
proposed Eisenhower Parkway Extension route would bisect Ocmulgee Old
Fields. In addition to impacting Muscogee sacred lands, the freeway route
would impact bottomland hardwood wetlands, watersheds, and vistas. These
impacts could be avoided by using one of the other possible routes. Because
the highway would damage a Traditional Cultural Property and there is
federal funding involved in the proposed road, the Georgia DOT must
demonstrate that there are no "feasible and prudent" alternatives. However,
as a result of the TCP status, some local officials threatened to file for
a legislative exemption which would allow them to legally bypass the
required 4f investigation.
To help stop construction of a freeway through Ocmulgee Old Fields, do any
or all of the following:
Contact the company hired to construct the road: HDR Engineering, Mark
Cheskey, 5780 Peachtree Dunwoody Rd. #295, Atlanta GA 30342. Phone: (404)
843-8464, fax: (404) 843-8673. Tell them you oppose routing of the road
through Ocmulgee Old Fields and the Reserve Tract. You can also get on
their web site at: http://www.hdratlanta.com/description.htm and register
your objections to the route, or email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] and express
your disapproval.
Macon, Georgia has a large tourist industry and they are attempting to
expand this lucrative income source. Write their tourist office and tell
them you are not inclined to visit a city, or state that does not respect
American Indian culture and religion, and that would unnecessarily
desecrate a Muscogee sacred site: Macon Convention and Visitors Bureau, 200
Cherry Street, Macon GA 31201. Letters from people outside the U.S.A. would
probably be highly effective, but if you live here in the U.S., please
write also.
Contact the Georgia Department of Transportation and tell them to reroute
the highway around this area sacred to the Muscogee people. A lot of
negative comments to these people can help change the freeway route around
Ocmulgee Old Fields. Since there is talk of rerouting through another "less
sensitive" area of the Old Fields, make it clear you oppose any route
through this sacred area:
Georgia Dept. of Transportation, Lesa Walker & David Studstill, Office of
Environment/Location, 3993 Aviation Circle, Atlanta GA 30336. Phone: (404)
699-4411, fax: (404) 699-4440. email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] or
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
David Gracen, Transportation Engineer, Federal Highway Administration,
Suite 1700T100, Atlanta GA 30303. Phone: (404) 562-3652, fax: (404)
562-3703. email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For more information contact Jack Sammons, 1021 Georgia Ave, Mercer
University Law School, Macon GA 31207. Phone: (912) 752-2323, email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Reprinted from the Spring 1999 edition of On Indian Land, PO Box 2104,
Seattle WA 98111. Phone: (206) 525-5086.
Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
doctrine of international copyright law.
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit)
Unenh onhwa' Awayaton
http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
