The historic website of Hickory Floor in Alabama, as soon as a ceremonial and burial website for the Muscogee Nation, has grow to be the focus of a heated authorized battle between two Native American tribes. On the heart of this dispute is the 20-story Wind Creek On line casino and Lodge, a $246 million growth constructed by Alabama’s Poarch Band of Creek Indians. This land, which holds immense cultural significance for the Muscogee Nation, has been a supply of stress ever because the Poarch Band started development on the on line casino, resulting in the desecration of ancestral burial websites.
For the Muscogee individuals, Hickory Floor, often known as Oce Vpofv, represents their remaining capital earlier than they had been forcibly faraway from the Southeast to Oklahoma on the Path of Tears. The land served as a burial floor, a city, and a ceremonial website. In the present day, it’s overshadowed by the towering on line casino constructed by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, sparking a long-standing battle between the 2 tribes.
The Muscogee Nation, based mostly in Oklahoma, contends that the Poarch Band doesn’t have authentic ties to Hickory Floor and accuses them of illegally excavating the graves of Muscogee ancestors to make manner for the on line casino. “They dug up my ancestors, put them in packing containers, and constructed a on line casino instantly on high of my household’s burial floor,” said George Thompson, a Mekko, or conventional chief within the Muscogee Nation, cited by Related Press.
The Poarch Band, then again, claims they, too, have ancestral connections to the positioning and have made efforts to protect a lot of its historic significance.”We couldn’t management what had already been finished with the land, however we did protect the sacred grounds and 17 acres round it,” mentioned Stephanie A. Bryan, tribal chair and CEO of the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. Bryan additionally famous that her tribe has tried to succeed in a compromise with the Muscogee Nation, although with out success.
A Combat for Sovereignty and Justice
The authorized battle escalated in 2012 when the Muscogee Nation filed a lawsuit in opposition to the Poarch Band, Auburn College, and federal officers, alleging that federal legal guidelines had been violated within the development of the on line casino. The lawsuit challenges the desecration of the 34-acre website, which is listed on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations. Along with searching for the return of excavated stays and artifacts to their unique areas, the Muscogee have referred to as for the positioning to be restored to its situation earlier than the on line casino’s development.
Nonetheless, a federal district courtroom in Alabama dismissed the case in 2021, citing the Poarch Band’s sovereign immunity, a authorized precept that protects tribes from lawsuits. The Muscogee Nation has since appealed the choice, and the case is now set to be heard by the eleventh U.S. Circuit Courtroom of Appeals in Atlanta.
Mary Kathryn Nagle, an lawyer representing the Muscogee, emphasised the significance of upholding federal legal guidelines designed to guard sacred websites. “The federal legal guidelines now we have on the books needs to be upheld and they need to be enforced to guard the sacred websites of tribes which were faraway from their unique homelands,” Nagle mentioned, in line with The Atlanta Journal-Structure.
A Legacy of Betrayal
The dispute between the 2 tribes extends past authorized arguments, touching deeply on problems with cultural id and historic legacy. For the Muscogee, the Poarch Band’s actions characterize a profound betrayal. “They knew then what they wished,” mentioned Jeff Fife, a Tvstvnvke, or warrior, for Hickory Floor and chief of workers for the Principal Chief of the Muscogee Nation. “They didn’t need our language. They didn’t need our tradition or custom. They wished cash.”
In the meantime, the Poarch Band has defended their actions, asserting that they’ve complied with federal legal guidelines and that the excavation was carried out legally. Bryan stays hopeful that the 2 tribes can finally reconcile. “I’m very hopeful that sooner or later in time… the Poarch Creek Indians and the Muscogee Creek can come collectively as a Creek household and work collectively for the betterment of the longer term generations,” she mentioned.
