Post by Okwes on Jun 6, 2007 17:10:56 GMT -5
Cherokee group cuts acres for Goosepond cultural site
Tribe hopes to get Scottsboro council to OK new plan
DAVID BREWERTimes Staff Writer david.brewer@htimes.com
SCOTTSBORO - An American Indian tribe has cut the land size it seeks to build a proposed cultural center on Goosepond Island to make it more appealing to the Scottsboro City Council.
Leon Williamson, a member of the United Cherokee Ani-Yun-Wiya Nation, told the council Monday night the tribe would like to build a tribal complex on 55 acres on the southern tip of the island. But if the project becomes the big tourist draw it hopes, the tribe would eventually like to expand the site to the 300 acres it had initially requested, he said.
Williamson said he believes the complex, which would also include a museum, gift shop and veterans memorial, would attract thousands of visitors annually. "There's no reason why Scottsboro cannot attract that many visitors," said Garry Morgan, a council-appointed committee member studying the proposal. "Our vision is to try to produce a tourist Mecca."
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But council President Keith Smith said the project demands more research.
"I'm not in a hurry to do anything," he said. "There's a lot of unknowns. Our job is to look at all options, including yours, (in determining) what's best for all citizens."
Smith said he is also concerned that turning the land over to the tribe would lead to a gambling operation.
"I'm not interested in Scottsboro becoming a gambling Mecca," he said.
But Williamson said he and other tribal leaders, including his wife, tribal Chief Gina Williamson, vowed that gambling would never be pursued by the tribe. Williamson said the tribe mainly wants to build a complex to educate people about the American Indians who once lived on the island.
According to the tribe, the federal government allowed a Cherokee village on the island after it had forced hundreds of Cherokees from their North Alabama homes in the 1830s.
Tribe hopes to get Scottsboro council to OK new plan
DAVID BREWERTimes Staff Writer david.brewer@htimes.com
SCOTTSBORO - An American Indian tribe has cut the land size it seeks to build a proposed cultural center on Goosepond Island to make it more appealing to the Scottsboro City Council.
Leon Williamson, a member of the United Cherokee Ani-Yun-Wiya Nation, told the council Monday night the tribe would like to build a tribal complex on 55 acres on the southern tip of the island. But if the project becomes the big tourist draw it hopes, the tribe would eventually like to expand the site to the 300 acres it had initially requested, he said.
Williamson said he believes the complex, which would also include a museum, gift shop and veterans memorial, would attract thousands of visitors annually. "There's no reason why Scottsboro cannot attract that many visitors," said Garry Morgan, a council-appointed committee member studying the proposal. "Our vision is to try to produce a tourist Mecca."
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But council President Keith Smith said the project demands more research.
"I'm not in a hurry to do anything," he said. "There's a lot of unknowns. Our job is to look at all options, including yours, (in determining) what's best for all citizens."
Smith said he is also concerned that turning the land over to the tribe would lead to a gambling operation.
"I'm not interested in Scottsboro becoming a gambling Mecca," he said.
But Williamson said he and other tribal leaders, including his wife, tribal Chief Gina Williamson, vowed that gambling would never be pursued by the tribe. Williamson said the tribe mainly wants to build a complex to educate people about the American Indians who once lived on the island.
According to the tribe, the federal government allowed a Cherokee village on the island after it had forced hundreds of Cherokees from their North Alabama homes in the 1830s.