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Poarch Creeks Restart Casino Construction In Wetumpka
November 1, 2012
The Poarch Band of Creek Indians restarted construction Wednesday on a hotel and casino in Wetumpka, Ala., after a brief hiatus for discussions with another tribe that claims the project is located on sacred ground.
Two weeks ago, the Poarch Band halted he $246 million expansion of a casino and 20-story hotel in Wetumpka, Ala., in order to continue discussions with the Muscogee Creek Indians.
“This development is a reasonable approach to land use; and no one cares more about the sanctity of our land and the well-being of our people and our neighbors than we do, Poarch Tribal Chairman Buford L. Rolin said. “Since 2006, we have reached out to the Muscogee Nation with the hope that they would be open to understanding the facts about the twenty-first century conditions of what was once Hickory Ground Town and would recognize that our development in Wetumpka does not alter that. Unfortunately we have reached an impasse.”
The Muscogee tribe from Oklahoma calls the site “Hickory Ground” and considers it sacred because it was used as a burial ground, a ceremonial site and was also the last home of the Muscogee Creek National prior to the tribe being removed in the 1830’s.
The Muscogee Tribe offered no public response Wednesday night.
Comments
15 Responses to “Poarch Creeks Restart Casino Construction In Wetumpka”
Alot of Poarch Creeks do not care about our cultural, but some do! So do not go bash all the Poarch Creeks!
“Our Tribal Council Didnt Know The Burial Grounds were there”????..WTH.. They knew the land was a historical site from the get go….thats how they obtained it from the state of Alabama. You just dont get resevation land miles away from your “original” reservation. POARCH CREEKS are a bunch of mixed(mostly white) blooded, who have NO IDEA what Muscogee Culture is even about…they didnt even want to be “INDIAN” until “INDIAN” became COOL. They decend from Lower Creeks who never even lived in the Wetumpka, AL area. Wetumpka, AL (Hickory Ground) was an Upper Mucogee (Creek) settlement that was FORCED to Oklahoma.
Muscogee Nation is not after any of Poarchs money…..trust me Muscogee Nation has ENOUGH money to Buy out Poarch 3x. Its NOT about money on this issue for Muscogee people, Its about respect of Traditions….but thats what Poarch DONT and CANT understand. They put the word ECONOMIC DEVELOPTMENT over TRADITION…..which is VERY UN-Indian.
I do believe it is not over…..I have a Gut feeling Poarch will be upset in the long-run and thier own skeletons will come up out of Thier Burial Ground(closet)..
Our tribal council didn’t know the burial grounds were there, when it was known they stopped all work until a decesion could be made about how to proceed. I think any burial ground would be important to all of us. At first I was against building the casino there, but part of the plan is to build a beautiful memorial and keep everthing that is found on the grounds. This way at least you would know its great history, and have a place to honor your ancestors, otherwise you didn’t know it was there.
I am thankful that our tribe has been able to prosper, I only wish that my father, gandparents and great grandparents could have benefited.
Nothing good will come of this. These modern Creeks are dealing with forces of nature and karma. They want both bones and are going to drop the one they have going after the second casino. There is a Talmudic fable about a greedy dog, that saw his reflection in the water and thought it was another dog with another bone and he lunged at his reflection losing his bone. I see that parable applying to the Creeks in this grab. No Shame.
All Burial grounds are sacred, not to be disturbed. How would the Poarch Creeks feel if someone showed up in Poarch w/ a track hoe and started digging up their cemetary to build a cathouse.
@ JimD
I know exactly how the reservations started, I’m talking about the reasons they are still federally funded today.
I hope the Muskogee Indians enjoy the million of dollars that we had to pay them for the land they gave us for “free” when we only had a bingo halls. Seems like when you work hard to make a better way for your Tribe there are always those who will want the money you’ve made so they DON’T have to work for it. The Muskogee Indians make indian tribes look like freeloaders when the Poarch Creek have had to fight for every dime since we built Windcreek. I guess the Poarch Creeks will be the “welfare system” for the Muskogees now!!!
I can’t help but wonder if the Muscogee Tribe just wanted a bigger cut of the pie? Maybe that’s why construction has restarted. “This is sacred land…oh…you’ll give us how much money….well what are you waiting for? Get back to work!”
WOW Muskogee lady tell it like it is.
The Poarch only care for their birthday checks. They are a disgrace to those who truly wish to try and preserve the culture. Would it have been the difficult to simply build the casino next to the burial grounds rather than on top? The Poarch are greedy. We do not here more about this on local news, because they hand filthy money out like candy to schools, news stations, and other public institutions. They should have their federalization taken away. If they had to earn money off the site, then couldnt they have made it a place for people to view history at least? How selfish. All that history will be lost forever.
Not sure where you get a “reservation” is where a culture is “preserved”? The reservation is where Native American Indians were forcably relocated in the late 19th and early 20th century by the Indian Removal Act of 1830. Moving the Muscogee tribe from Alabama to Oklahoma, can possibly be traced back to the “Trail of Tears”.
See wikipedia and other websites for more information on the “Trail of Tears”.
I thought the whole purpose of a reservation was preservation of culture. I am sickened by the fact that they will put a Casino on burial lands. I am disgusted that my tax dollars go to a reservation, whose council would allow itself to be viewed as living up to a stereotype. Before one argues that this will provide more jobs, well put it somewhere else! If they must build on this land, than why not make it a school or a hospital, something that doesn’t degrade the memory of those buried there! I’m so disgusted by this whole thing!
“just me”: I know most of the GREEDY, SELFISH tribal leaders in Poarch. The only thing that they have ever cared about is Money.
“429SCJ”: They would not care as long as there was Money lining their pockets. These Indians have no sense of honor and tradition.
Money is always more important then culture it seems!
I wonder how the Poarch Creek Band would feel if the situation were reversed?
Does anyone remember Indian Mound Motocross Park, that was once located on Beck’s Lake Road?