Copyright © 1998 NLThomas
All Rights Reserved

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         Come join us Sunday, September 6, 1998 at
      "Little Cedar Mountain" to WALK THE WALK!!!

On January 21, 1998 I sent out a report earlier entitled "ALERT! EBC & CNO's 'agreement' on Little Cedar Mountain" [ text below] based on a first-hand account of a January 14, 1998 mtg. Local newspaper reports could not find anyone involved who would admit the plans of TVA land for Native approval of development. The following minutes (which some have claimed to not exist) of the earlier December 6, 1997 meeting of the Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs offers more background and confirmation to the earlier reports, claims & concerns.

[3rd paragraph, page 1, in its entirety]

Harley Grant reported that TVA is selling a parcel of land to a buyer in London, England; however, a burial ground has been unearthed on the property requiring TVA to step back and take under advisement the legal issues of this development. Grant stated that the Eastern and Western Band of Cherokees are aware, and have a meeting scheduled with TVA authorities. Grant stated Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs is not invited to the meeting; however Tennessee Commission of Indian Affairs will stand behind them and support the tribes' decision. He noted also that TVA will be offering additional parcels for sale and that we need to be watchful.

Notes:

* Harley Grant is no longer a member of the TN Commission of Indian Affairs.

* "TVA" is the Tennessee Valley Authority - the last large federal public utility created to control flooding along the Tennessee River and to electrify this region. TVA is also one of the largest land-owners in the southeast, especially choice river-front property.

* The "parcel of land" referred to here is some 660 acres of Little Cedar Mountain -above- the Nickajack Dam - "prime river front development property" as developers and local officials view it. (see http://virtual.chattanooga.net/cita/slcmdc/)

* The "buyer in London, England" is Hines Interests Limited Partnership ($7 billion in assets) based in Houston, Texas:

Owner/President Gerald Hines, living in London, England
U.S. Director Kevin Shannahan, Chicago, Illinois
V.P. (son of P) Jeff Hines, Houston, Texas
Transco Towers
2800 Post Oaks Blvd.
Houston TX 77056
Phones: 713-621-8000 or 713-850-8841 FAX: 713-850-0733
(More information about them available at the following: URL: http://virtual.chattanooga.net/cita/slcmdc/hines/index.html)

* No "burial ground" was unearthed at any time in 1996 or 1997. a small mound, however, was discovered by CITA members in june 1997. TN State Archaeologist Nick Fielder and TVA Archaeologist Bennett Graham later dug into the mound (without any Native American witnesses) and asserted that there was nothing there.

There -are- burial grounds at Little Cedar Mountain ... but _below_ the Nickajack Dam, and zoned for preservation and wildlife protection. this area -was- zoned for Industrial Use, but given the existence of Native American burials there (long known by TVA and locals), it's now protected and the gates to it locked.

This was months ago. TVA has been quiet. Hines has been quiet. rumors abound. Time for us conservatives* to make some noise, a LOT of it!!!

What YOU can DO to HELP:

Come join us Sunday, September 6, 1998 at "Little Cedar Mountain" to WALK THE WALK!!!

If you believe in saving historic Native American land, if you believe in saving public land for public use, if you are a *conservative, when it comes to land development and financial exploitation of natural and cultural sites, come walk the 7 miles from the Nickajack Dam at Little Cedar Mountain to the Marion County seat of Jasper, Tennessee for the Second Annual RALLY to SAVE LITTLE CEDAR MOUNTAIN!

Visit our web site at http://virtual.chattanooga.net/cita/slcmdc/, for more details and a flier that you can print out & distribute. bring your friends!

Special guests: a Hundred+ of our friends from "Concept Zero" http://www.apex.net/lblcrisis/
"The Concept Zero Task Force first organized in January 1996, shortly after TVA offered its "Five Concepts" for further commercialization of LBL, including hotels and theme parks. Concept Zero spearheaded the opposition to the concepts, which resulted in TVA formally dropping its "theme park" vision for LBL."

Beautiful land,
      beautiful weather,
         beautiful walk,
            beautiful people,
               beautiful history!

People know about Geronimo, Crazy Horse & Sitting Bull, Seattle ... but there's almost universal ignorance about DRAGGING CANOE & the CHICKAMAUGA CHEROKEE. http://virtual.chattanooga.net/cita/slcmdc/timeline.html.

Earlier Report

Date: January 21, 1998
Subject: ALERT! EBC & CNO's 'Agreement' on Little Cedar Mountain

"Little Cedar Mountain ALERT!!"

Members of the Sacred Little Cedar Mountain Defense Coalition were recently informed that at the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' regular Council meeting on wednesday, January 14, 1998, EB Cultural Resources Executive Director Lynne Harlan informed the EBC Council that EBC Chief Dugan and Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma Chief Byrd have agreed in principle to a land deal brokered by Tennessee State Indian Affairs Commissioner Harley Grant and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) whereby TVA would give 900+ acres of land below the Nickajack Dam ("Tract 1") containing pre-Cherokee burials to the Eastern Band and Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in fee simple deed -= in exchange for =- the EBC and CNO 'signing-off' on the Little Cedar Mountain land - 660 acres ("Tract 3") - that TVA plans to let Hines Interests, Limited Partnership, of Houston and Atlanta develop into 500 housing units, 120-room resort and conference center, 300-boat marina, 18-hole golf course, amphitheater, etc.

The land below the dam (900+ acres, "Tract 1", burials) has been recently rezoned by TVA for cultural and natural preservation, esp. since the burials, high water, and lack of any supporting infrastructure there will make any development cost-prohibitive. This land is not now and never has been in danger of development.

The prime piece of land here - the 660 acres of "Tract 3" - is what is being given away without proper archaeological investigation or political review. One Archaic site and an unknown and heretofore uninventoried mound (missed by previous incompetent TVA-contracted archaeologists) reside on that property. Only 1 acre of the 660 acres of this land directly opposite the river from the old Chickamauga Cherokee town of Nickajack has been surface-level shovel-tested. No in-depth "Phase 2" archaeological survey has ever been done on the site. Both TVA Archaeologist Bennett Graham and Tennessee State Archaeologist Nick Fielder deny any significance to the mound or to the 660-acre site.

Our concerns:

a) 660 acres of Cherokee- and Creek-(and earlier) inhabited prime land is being given away without investigation as to its cultural resources or its property value in exchange for approval of TVA-Hines' development plans and 900+ acres of neighboring land with known burials on it.

b) This decision is being made =-without-= _any_ semblance of adequate archaeological investigation to determine the Native cultural significance of the site.

c) TN State Indian Commissioner Harley Grant (Sioux & Cherokee-EBC) is brokering back-room land deals between Nations and TVA - a federal utility - without concern for the TN State Indian Affairs Commission or Tennessee's Native populace. Tennessee Indian Commissioner Grant, being Eastern Band Cherokee, has a pecuniary interest in his tribe profiting exclusively from the sale of this land.

d) Again, Natives are getting the short-end of the stick: the lower 900+ acres is already protected and is less valuable than the upper 660 acres that TVA & Harley Grant want quickly approved for development. It has now been established that TVA & Harley Grant are in the land-selling business, and that it recognizes that the Eastern Band and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma have some legitimate claim to the land ... why not go for -both- parcels of land?

e) Neither the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee nor any of the other Cherokee tribal groups nor the Creek nor any of the other Creek-speaking tribal groups nor any Tennessee Native groups, including the Tennessee Indian Affairs Commission, have been involved in these 'development approval for land' negotiations. Given that the burials in the lower "Tract 1" area are of earlier-than-Cherokee origin.

If you are concerned about this latest development in what was hoped to be a -preservation- effort, not a sell out, please contact the following officials and let them know that you know of the deal and express your sentiments.

Thank you.

*conservative: I'd like to see more conservationists & preservationists run political campaigns as -conservatives- to bring back the -real- traditional pre-capitalist values that have -always- been opposed to commercial exploitation & destruction of our environs.

Merriam-Webster OnLine http://www.m-w.com

Main Entry: 1 con·ser·va·tive
Function: adjective
Date: 14th century
1 : PRESERVATIVE
2 a : of or relating to a philosophy of conservatism...
3 a : tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions : TRADITIONAL b : marked by moderation or caution (a conservative estimate)
c : marked by or relating to traditional norms of taste, elegance, style, or manners (a conservative suit).

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