Post by Okwes on Apr 14, 2008 12:39:14 GMT -5
Law provides few protections for Indian mounds
Tuesday - April 24, 2007
When it comes right down to it, the good will of private landowners is
oftenwhat stands between saving Indian mounds and losing these pieces of ancient
history.
“There are no legal obligations regarding mounds on private property, as long
as the owners don’t disturb any burials that might be there,†said Linda
Hall, a state archaeologist based in Asheville.
In the case of Cowee Mound, preservation efforts by the Hall family ensured
its survival. The family owned the mound for 175 years until the death of
Katherine Hall Porter in 2002. The mound then passed to her husband, James
Porter. He and his heirs worked with the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and
the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians to make sure that it would be
protected.
Though there are other examples in Western North Carolina of private owners
protecting mound sites, many have been lost. Hall said she’s aware of 15 mound
sites west of Asheville. Of those, at least two have been excavated or
graded to obliteration.
“Probably most mounds are on private property,†Hall said. “(Cowee Mound) is
just so commendable, how the different organizations worked together. It is
a great resource for the future.â€
The law
North Carolina’s Unmarked Human Burial and Human Skeletal Remains Protection
Act requires that anybody “knowing or having reasonable grounds to believeâ€
human skeletal remains are being disturbed notify the county’s medical
examiner. If the remains are discovered because of construction or plowing, those
activities must cease immediately. Work can’t resume without the state’s
go-ahead.
If the remains are archaeologically significant — not a modern skeleton, in
other words — the state archaeologist’s office is in charge. State
archaeologists have 48 hours to make arrangements with the landowner to either protect
or remove the remains. At the end of the 48-hour period, the law states the
chief archaeologist “shall have no authority over the remains†and can’t
stop the resumption of work on the property.
In this area, the Eastern Band gets notified if state archaeologists
determine skeletal remains are Native American. The tribe and state reach an
agreement on skeletal analysis and disposition.
That’s about all that governs private landowners. Otherwise, state law leaves
it to an individual’s conscience, urging people “to refrain from the
excavation or destruction thereof and to forbid such conduct by others.â€
Lost history
No one knows how many Indian mounds exist, or how many have been lost, noted
Russell Townsend, tribal historic preservation officer for the Eastern Band.
Cyrus Thomas of the Bureau of American Ethnology attempted in the 1890s to
catalogue mounds, but Townsend said many were never discovered and listed.
“I don’t know that an accurate count of mounds has ever been found,†he
said.
Townsend said the tribe is currently protecting four mounds, plus working to
help save more, including Spikebuck Town Mound and Village Site in
Hayesville. Like Nikwasi Mound in Franklin, Spikebuck is publicly owned. And the
Eastern Band owns and protects Kituwah Mound near Bryson City.
Both Kituwah Mound and Peachtree Mound in Cherokee County were significantly
reduced in size from years of plowing.
What were they?
Mounds aren’t fully understood, but what is agreed is their service as focal
points for towns and communities.
“They had religious as well as civil significance,†Townsend said. “You can
see these purposes varying from region to region, culture to culture, and
they evolved over time.â€
Mounds weren’t necessarily used for burials, though they could be. And to
further confuse things, platform mounds — with straight sides and a structure on
top — were sometimes built on top of the more humped burial mounds, Townsend
said.
The tribal preservation officer pinpointed the primary mound-building period
as taking place during the Mississippian culture from about 900 A.D. to 1650
A.D. They stopped being built shortly after contact with Europeans occurred.
Cowee Mound was the center of a large Mississippian community that evolved
into a large Cherokee town, he said. Cowee served as the business capital of
the Cherokee world.
Tuesday - April 24, 2007
When it comes right down to it, the good will of private landowners is
oftenwhat stands between saving Indian mounds and losing these pieces of ancient
history.
“There are no legal obligations regarding mounds on private property, as long
as the owners don’t disturb any burials that might be there,†said Linda
Hall, a state archaeologist based in Asheville.
In the case of Cowee Mound, preservation efforts by the Hall family ensured
its survival. The family owned the mound for 175 years until the death of
Katherine Hall Porter in 2002. The mound then passed to her husband, James
Porter. He and his heirs worked with the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee and
the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians to make sure that it would be
protected.
Though there are other examples in Western North Carolina of private owners
protecting mound sites, many have been lost. Hall said she’s aware of 15 mound
sites west of Asheville. Of those, at least two have been excavated or
graded to obliteration.
“Probably most mounds are on private property,†Hall said. “(Cowee Mound) is
just so commendable, how the different organizations worked together. It is
a great resource for the future.â€
The law
North Carolina’s Unmarked Human Burial and Human Skeletal Remains Protection
Act requires that anybody “knowing or having reasonable grounds to believeâ€
human skeletal remains are being disturbed notify the county’s medical
examiner. If the remains are discovered because of construction or plowing, those
activities must cease immediately. Work can’t resume without the state’s
go-ahead.
If the remains are archaeologically significant — not a modern skeleton, in
other words — the state archaeologist’s office is in charge. State
archaeologists have 48 hours to make arrangements with the landowner to either protect
or remove the remains. At the end of the 48-hour period, the law states the
chief archaeologist “shall have no authority over the remains†and can’t
stop the resumption of work on the property.
In this area, the Eastern Band gets notified if state archaeologists
determine skeletal remains are Native American. The tribe and state reach an
agreement on skeletal analysis and disposition.
That’s about all that governs private landowners. Otherwise, state law leaves
it to an individual’s conscience, urging people “to refrain from the
excavation or destruction thereof and to forbid such conduct by others.â€
Lost history
No one knows how many Indian mounds exist, or how many have been lost, noted
Russell Townsend, tribal historic preservation officer for the Eastern Band.
Cyrus Thomas of the Bureau of American Ethnology attempted in the 1890s to
catalogue mounds, but Townsend said many were never discovered and listed.
“I don’t know that an accurate count of mounds has ever been found,†he
said.
Townsend said the tribe is currently protecting four mounds, plus working to
help save more, including Spikebuck Town Mound and Village Site in
Hayesville. Like Nikwasi Mound in Franklin, Spikebuck is publicly owned. And the
Eastern Band owns and protects Kituwah Mound near Bryson City.
Both Kituwah Mound and Peachtree Mound in Cherokee County were significantly
reduced in size from years of plowing.
What were they?
Mounds aren’t fully understood, but what is agreed is their service as focal
points for towns and communities.
“They had religious as well as civil significance,†Townsend said. “You can
see these purposes varying from region to region, culture to culture, and
they evolved over time.â€
Mounds weren’t necessarily used for burials, though they could be. And to
further confuse things, platform mounds — with straight sides and a structure on
top — were sometimes built on top of the more humped burial mounds, Townsend
said.
The tribal preservation officer pinpointed the primary mound-building period
as taking place during the Mississippian culture from about 900 A.D. to 1650
A.D. They stopped being built shortly after contact with Europeans occurred.
Cowee Mound was the center of a large Mississippian community that evolved
into a large Cherokee town, he said. Cowee served as the business capital of
the Cherokee world.