Muscogee Creek Nation Members Protest at Interior's Listening Session on Sacred Sites

Native News Network Staff in Native Challenges. Discussion »

TULSA, OKLAHOMA – A dozen protesters from the Muscogee Creek Nation showed up on the steps of the United States Federal Building in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Tuesday morning prior to the Department of the Interior's sixth Sacred Sites in Indian country listening session was to begin in the third floor's courtroom.

The Muscogee Creek Seek to Stop Further Desecration by Halting the Construction on their Historic Lands in Alabama

The protesters used the occasion of the listening sacred sites to drive home the point that they maintain the Poarch Band of Creek Indians are currently desecrating property in Alabama to expand their casino near Wetumpka, Alabama that will include a 20 story hotel with 285 guest rooms, a swimming pool and casino floor that will accommodate 2,500 slot machines.

The Muscogee Creek Nation was removed from Alabama during the 1830s to Oklahoma and maintains the land, known as Hickory Ground, was the location of ancestral burial sites and ceremonial grounds.

“Today, this sacred ceremonial ground and burial site have been disturbed and is a parking lot and hotel casino for the Poarch Band of Creeks in Alabama. In the process of building this casino expansion, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians dug up seven chiefs and 56 remains. This truly makes me sad,”

George Thompson, Oce Vpofa Mekko or Hickory Ground Traditional Chief, wrote in the Native News Network earlier this month in a Guest Commentary.

He was on hand on Tuesday, as were others from Muscogee Creek Nation, to testify before representatives from the Department of the Interior.

Chief Thompson asked the Interior officials to support stopping the Poarch Band of Creeks to stop further desecration by halting the construction in Alabama.

posted September 21, 2012 11:30 am edt