A bitter battle between two tribes over sacred land, on which one built a casino

WETUMPKA, Alabama. | At the height of the Muscogee's power, thousands of people populated the tribe's vast territory along the lush banks of the Coosa River in what is now Alabama.

Oce Vpofv or Hickory Ground was a town, ceremonial site, burial ground, and the last tribal capital before the Muskogee people were forcibly relocated from the southeast to Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears.

Today, the Wind Creek Casino and Hotel rises in its place, 20 stories above the winding river. The project is at the center of a long-simmering dispute between two tribal nations. The Muscogee Nation are descendants of people who called the land home, and Alabama's Poarch Band of Creek Indians is a separate tribal nation that shares ancestry with the Muscogee and built the casino after taking ownership of the property.

The Muscogee Nation claims that the Poarch Creeks of Alabama have no historical ties to Hickory Ground and illegally dug up the remains of Muscogee ancestors to build the $246 million casino. The Poarch Band claims it too has ancient ties to Hickory Ground and has worked to preserve much of the historic site. The excavation of the graves and development of the historic site have fueled a dispute that has destroyed the relationship between the two tribal nations. Their historical connection has only added to the deep sense of betrayal the Muscogee of Oklahoma feel over the development of their former tribal capital.

“They dug up my ancestors, put them in boxes and built a casino right over my family's burial site,” said George Thompson, a mekko, or traditional chief, of the Muscogee tribe.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta will hear oral arguments Wednesday in the Muskogee Nation's appeal of the dismissal of a lawsuit challenging construction of the casino. The suit also names federal officials and the university that have conducted archaeological work on the site.

The 80,000-square-foot casino and the long-running legal battle surrounding it underscore how much colonization changed the lives of the Muskogee people and demonstrate the limitations of the modern U.S. legal system in dealing with tribal grievances.

A painful story

Once one of the largest tribal nations in the Southeast, the Muscogee territory includes parts of what are now the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. After the Indian Removal Act was passed in 1830, the United States forced the Muscogee to abandon their capital. The Muscogee collected ashes from their most sacred ceremonial fire at Hickory Ground and took them along the Trail of Tears to Indian Territory, present-day Oklahoma. There they placed them in the fire of a new ceremonial ground, one of several that still burn today. The graves of their ancestors were left behind to return to nature as intended.

Some Muscogee families from about 130 miles south of Wetumpka were allowed to stay, some because they had fought on the side of the United States in the Creek War of 1813-1814. Their descendants later founded the Poarch Band of Creek Indians.

The Poarch Band acquired a portion of the Hickory Grounds in 1980 with the help of a historic preservation grant. The transfer of ownership included a 20-year preservation agreement to protect the integrity of the site.

“The pride of the Creek people of Oklahoma in their heritage and their connection to their original homeland can only be strengthened. There is still a tribal town in Oklahoma called Hickory Ground. They will be pleased to know that their homeland in Alabama will be preserved,” the Poarch Band wrote in a 1980 letter to an Alabama state agency requesting grants for preservation. The Poarch Band gained state recognition in 1984 with the support of their Oklahoma cousins.

Then a struggle began to develop the land.

A bitter fight

When the conservation agreement expired in 2000, the Poarch Band hired archaeologists from Auburn University to conduct excavations and surveys of the property. The towering resort – one of several casinos in the Poarch Band's real estate portfolio inside and outside Alabama – was later built on the site and opened in 2013.

Thompson, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said he and others visited the site and burst into tears at the sight of bulldozers and piles of dirt where our ancestors once rested in peace.”

The Muscogee Nation believes 57 remains were removed during the excavation. The tribe says it never received a complete inventory of what was removed from the Poarch Band or Auburn University and claims some remains are still being improperly stored.

The Poarch Creeks say they have worked to protect it from commercial development.

“Members of the Poarch Creek are connected to this historic Creek town through their ancestors, as are members of the Muscogee Creek Nation of Oklahoma,” wrote a spokeswoman for the Poarch Band.

The Poarch Band says the archaeological study associated with Auburn and other work conducted refutes the Muscogee Creek's allegation that the Poarch broke their promises to protect Hickory Ground. The Poarch Band says 17 acres have been set aside for conservation, including the sacred ceremonial site that both tribal nations can “visit, pray and pay homage to their ancestors.”

Poarch Tribe officials said they decided to rebury the excavated remains in 2012 after the two tribal nations failed to reach an agreement.

Fifty bundles containing remains and grave goods were wrapped in cloths and placed near the ceremonial site, they said. The Muscogee Nation and Thompson said they were not consulted about the reburial.

Lawyers for Auburn University wrote in court filings that the university is neutral in the dispute between the two tribes and will comply with any decision the court makes.

An unforeseen circumstance

The federal office of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act says the law does not address the excavation of ancestral remains on land controlled by one tribe but historically associated with another. Several tribal nations across the country have been forcibly removed from their homelands, and in some cases another tribal nation later took control of them. In comments to the federal office, other tribal nations have expressed concern that a similar situation could happen to them.

“When they wrote NAGPRA, no one would have thought another tribe would do something like this,” said RaeLynn Butler, the tribe's historic preservation officer.

The fight could soon lead to a skirmish in Congress. The Poarch Band is currently supporting a bill by Alabama Congressman Jerry Carl that would give the tribe a way out of a 2009 U.S. Supreme Court decision that only tribes recognized by the federal government before 1934 could hold land in trust for tribal purposes, such as casinos. The Muscogee Nation and other tribal nations oppose the bill, claiming it would harm their legal position and that of other tribes seeking the same remedy. Carl disputes that.

The Hickory Ground dispute has caused widespread resentment among tribal citizens in Oklahoma, where “poarch” is often a slur. Questioning the cultural or political validity of the Poarch Band is a common refrain on ceremonial grounds in the Muscogee Nation. The tribal council also passed a resolution withdrawing its support for federal recognition of the Poarch Band.

“They knew what they wanted back then,” said Jeff Fife, a Tvstvnvke, or warrior, for Hickory Ground and chief of staff to the paramount chief of the Muscogee Nation.

“They didn't want our language. They didn't want our culture or tradition. They wanted money.”

Related