Officials Discount Georgia Indians

MTO: Federal Officials Discount
Georgia Indians

By Anna Clark
Published January 30, 1998
The Macon Telegraph Online

Photo by Nick Oza Macon Telegraph

[Real estate broker David Thornton, left, talks with Bibb County Commission Chairman Larry Justice and two American Indians at Thursday's meeting about the Fall Line Freeway. Johnny Chattin, second from right of the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokees, and Harvey Gibson, Principle Chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation East of the Mississippi, attended the meeting at Justice's request. Neither man's tribe is federally recognized.]

Dressed in buckskin and feathers, two men of American Indian descent who are friends of Bibb County Commissioner Larry Justice on Thursday voiced their support of the Eisenhower Parkway Extension for the Fall Line Freeway. Their regalia and flute playing attracted attention, but a federal highway official was quick to point out that the opinion of these two American Indians carried no more weight in the process of deciding where the freeway will go than that of other Georgia citizens. Their support is contrary to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation's position since 1992.
"We're only dealing with the federally recognized tribes," said Clyde Johnson of the Federal Highway Administration. Neither man is a member of a federally recognized American Indian tribe.
The highway administration must give final approval on a route for the Fall Line Freeway through Macon. But federally recognized American Indian tribes of Muscogee (Creek) descent have a voice in influencing the process because a route long favored by the Georgia Department of Transportation would traverse the Ocmulgee Old Fields.
The Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places determined in August that the Old Fields are eligible to be listed as a "traditional cultural property." The Muscogee (Creek) people trace the birthplace of their confederacy to the area, which stretches from the Ocmulgee National Monument to Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge.
Harvey Gibson, one of those in traditional dress Thursday, is principal chief of Muscogee (Creek) Nation East of the Mississippi - a tribe recognized by Georgia - and lives in both Florida and Georgia.
Gibson met Justice through Claude Cox, longtime principal chief of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation in Oklahoma. Justice had a cordial relationship with Cox, who died this past December.
Johnny Chattin, who came with Gibson, is part of the Georgia Tribe of Eastern Cherokees, which is not officially involved in the federal road study.
"It's Hollywood; it's a reflection of stereotypes of Native Americans that Hollywood has projected," said Muscogee (Creek) citizen Alan Cook about the two men's attire. "They're brought in by local politicians to tinge the Native American connection here."
Another Muscogee Indian at the meeting agreed.
"It doesn't make me mad; it's funny to us," said Joyce Bear, historic preservation officer of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation. "We don't have to dress up like that. We've known who we are since birth. Our people don't do that."
Chattin blasted the Oklahoma Creeks during a public comment session.
"You only come to holler and squeal at somebody else's project; you don't come to help your brothers," he said. "You deny us our rights as native American people because we're not (Bureau of Indian Affairs)-recognized."
The Muscogee (Creek) people from Oklahoma, for the most part, said they were encouraged by this week's meetings.
Georgia Department of Transportation consultants who are working to recommend a freeway route paid for about seven Muscogee (Creek) representatives to travel from Oklahoma.
Federal and state officials said Wednesday the DOT must carefully and fairly study routes that avoid crossing the Old Fields.
"I have been skeptical, but I'm feeling a little more at ease about the way the process is going," Bear said.

CREEKS AT A GLANCE
The following federally recognized Muscogee (Creek) tribes are officially part of the process of determining where the Fall Line Freeway should come through Macon. Two federally recognized Seminole tribes, which were part of the Muscogee Confederacy until the 18th century, also recently have been invited into the process:
Photo: The Ocmulgee Indian Mounds National Monument
marks the spot of an early Creek Indian settlement.

Muscogee (Creek) Nation: 43,000 enrolled members; capital is Okmulgee, Okla.
Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town: 400 enrolled members, headquartered in Henryetta, Okla.
Kialegee Tribal Town: 356 enrolled members, headquartered in Wetumka, Okla. Thlopthlocco Tribal Town: 600 enrolled members, headquartered in Okemah, Okla.
Poarch Band of Creek Indians: a group that separated from the Creek Confederacy in the early 19th century; 2,169 enrolled members, headquartered in Atmore, Ala.