Post by blackcrowheart on Jun 4, 2007 20:25:12 GMT -5
Burial ground search halts work on Hwy. 76
2/13/2007 1:43:31 PM
pontotoc progress
By BRENDA OWEN
Pontotoc Progress
Construction on the section of Highway 76 between Black Zion Road and Highway 45 South in Tupelo has been halted for several months — at least until June — while a search is conducted for a possible Native American burial ground.
Bill Jamieson, District 1 transportation engineer with the Mississippi Department of Transportation, said, “We had intended to let the contract in November (2006), from there (Highway 342 at Black Zion) on through Tupelo, but then this has held us up and we can’t let it until we get all these issues cleared up.”
Although initial environmental studies unearthed some Chickasaw Indian artifacts, it was not until MDOT crews began working in the area behind the Hancock property in Lee County that possible additional sites were found.
Keith Swain, the construction engineer overseeing the Highway 76 project, said, “What they found was a fire pit.”
Traditionally such fire pits denote an area where a tribe lived for an extended period of time so there is a heightened probability that someone died and was buried at the location.
“We are now doing a more thorough search to make sure that we are not in some kind of burial ground,” Swain said. “Now we have to go back and do further checking and get everything signed off by them (Chickasaw Nation) that they are satisfied with what we are supposed to do.”
Just how long construction will be delayed will depend upon what type of artifacts or remains, if any, are found. Swain explained that the laws of some tribes permit excavation and removal of the remains to be reinterred in another location, while other tribal laws prohibit disturbing the graves in any way. Should the highway be forced to buy right-of-ways around the site, delays could stretch even longer.
The MDOT officials said, however, they expect the issue to be settled and contract bids to be let by sometime in June.
“Hopefully by this summer, we’ll have everything back on track,” Jamieson said.
2/13/2007 1:43:31 PM
pontotoc progress
By BRENDA OWEN
Pontotoc Progress
Construction on the section of Highway 76 between Black Zion Road and Highway 45 South in Tupelo has been halted for several months — at least until June — while a search is conducted for a possible Native American burial ground.
Bill Jamieson, District 1 transportation engineer with the Mississippi Department of Transportation, said, “We had intended to let the contract in November (2006), from there (Highway 342 at Black Zion) on through Tupelo, but then this has held us up and we can’t let it until we get all these issues cleared up.”
Although initial environmental studies unearthed some Chickasaw Indian artifacts, it was not until MDOT crews began working in the area behind the Hancock property in Lee County that possible additional sites were found.
Keith Swain, the construction engineer overseeing the Highway 76 project, said, “What they found was a fire pit.”
Traditionally such fire pits denote an area where a tribe lived for an extended period of time so there is a heightened probability that someone died and was buried at the location.
“We are now doing a more thorough search to make sure that we are not in some kind of burial ground,” Swain said. “Now we have to go back and do further checking and get everything signed off by them (Chickasaw Nation) that they are satisfied with what we are supposed to do.”
Just how long construction will be delayed will depend upon what type of artifacts or remains, if any, are found. Swain explained that the laws of some tribes permit excavation and removal of the remains to be reinterred in another location, while other tribal laws prohibit disturbing the graves in any way. Should the highway be forced to buy right-of-ways around the site, delays could stretch even longer.
The MDOT officials said, however, they expect the issue to be settled and contract bids to be let by sometime in June.
“Hopefully by this summer, we’ll have everything back on track,” Jamieson said.