Destroying a 1500-Year-Old Indian Mound to Build a Sam's Club

Sam's Club, a division of retail giant Wal-Mart, wants to build a new store in Oxford, Alabama and has purchased a site for a new store. The location of the store isn't much of a problem but the company wants to use a nearby 1500-year-old Indian mound as "fill" for the construction site.

The mound is the largest known structure of its kind in the state. Workers hired by the city carried dirt away from the site this week. The move has angered American Indians and others.

You can read more and see lots of pictures or the destruction in a series of two articles on the "Deep Fried Kudzu" blog at http://www.deepfriedkudzu.com/2009/07/oakville-indian-mounds-oakville-al-and.html and at http://www.deepfriedkudzu.com/2009/07/oxford-alabama-destroying-1500-year-old.html.

Comments

[Jason Presley]

There's too much pocket filling by politicians in Alabama for anything good to come of this. Alabama's legislature and local governments are bound and determined to make sure Alabama remains at the bottom of every possible list of states, whether it be in ethics, education or finance.

[Greg Matthews]

Don't cultural sites like this any kind of protection?

[John the Genealogist]

Typical of modern corporate policy - profit before everything, including the sensitivity of the indigenous population whose culture has been ridden over roughshod since the first Europeans colonized the Americas centuries ago.

[Roxann]

I was greatly disturbed by this article. I sent emails to various people listed at Deep Fried Kudzu to voice my displeasure in these actions of Walmart. Thanks for posting this story.

[Anthony Smith]

This is a a real shame. The true shame is the fact that alot of people will read this and not really do nothing about it. This is progress. I am from SC and have passed this site in my travels. I did not realize that it was a mound. This site was so huge I thought it was just part of the landscape. I do believe in the carmic wheel of fate for those who decided to desicrate the site.
StrongBull "ReedyRiver Intertribal"

[Stella]

I, too, was very upset to read this article and have sent emails to everyone listed. Disrespect and greed are on their way out with our help. Speak up, people!

[MikeF]

This is very bad *if* it is in fact a burial mound with human remains. As we all know from cemetery desecrations much nearer in time to us, politicians plus contractors plus business interests are all too often willing to pull a fast one.

But after reading the blog entries it is also clear why the blogosphere has a checkered reputation as a source of news. The kudzu blogger starts out with pics and story of another verified/acknowledged mound with historical marker and all, and then with that bait switches to the supposed mound in Oakville.

And although there does seem to be conflicts among historians/archeologists on this issue, an important point is (purposefully?) overlooked. Which is that although a mound like this should indeed be suspected of being a burial mound, and thus should not be tampered with prior to verification, it still remains that there is as yet no proof it is a burial mound. While one may criticize the methodology of the UA study (not burrowing to the middle), there still is no actual proof (and granted such proof may be destroyed by the contractor).

So the bottom line is that this story is not supported by a mainstream media article (I tried google news for "alabama burial mound" and got zip), but is supported by a lot of hysteria and outrage that should be reserved for cases where there is actual proof instead of a suspicion that proof might exist.

[Ginger]

There are *tons* of mainstream media articles about the mound in Oxford - really. Google these three words: oxford indian mound

You will find a variety of sources, including a couple written/carried by the AP (mainstream enough?).

To become even more informed, visit the Anniston Star (newspaper) website. Anniston's paper covers Oxford. Here's the search link:
http://annistonstar.com/pages/results_content?page_label=home&widget=search_content&string=mound&open=&

Whether or not this mound has any burials, this mound still has significant historical and cultural value.

Thanks very much to Eastman's for keeping this issue out front.

[Steve Franklin]

I guess no one noticed in Eastman's article that 'workers hired by the city' were removing dirt from the site. It did not say that workers hired by Sam's Club were removing dirt. So---go blame the city!

[JD]

Well, we all know how objective and accurate the AP is. That's why it's part of the "mainstream media." Not a good source for much of anything these days except bias -- IMHO.

[Vicki Kimberlin]

People need to stop shopping in there stores.

Sam's club could have built some where else. Demolition of Indian mound or a cemetery should never be allowed in any State. If people would stop shopping in these stores they would stop building on these sites. Wait until it is your mother or father or child . Please write to there Governor and your Governor from your state and let them know we want this stoped in all states .
Leave are cemetery's alone...

[Butch Weir]

We are just reaping the profits of years of neglect of our history and our culture, whether it be American-Indian, African-American, Anglo-American, Colonial, Revolutionary, Old South, New South, or the endless list of peoples who have made the rich tapistry that is America - all in the name of profit. When was the last time you told your children of who they are and where their forebears came from. ... I thought so.

[Tennessee Tuxedo]

And when you write to the government officials, please use the correct words and proper punctuation - otherwise you won't be taken seriously.

[Donna]

Some bazillionaire on Long Island recently bulldozed a 3,000-year-old "protected" sand dune so his new guest house would have a better view of the Atlantic Ocean. He has said he doesn't understand the uproar over a "pile of dirt." Bet he's invested in Sam's Club.

[Virginia Duchess]

We're having a battle in the Fredericksburg, VA area with Wal-Mart wanting to put a megastore on the edge of the Wilderness Battlefield. Civil War Preservation Trust, actors Richard Dreyfuss and Robert DuVal have brought attention to the encroachment, and one family even agreed to sell a parcel of land to Wal-Mart for the same price as the current location and compensate the conglomerate for extra expenses, but so far the project appears to be a "done deal." The donated site is less than 1/2 mi. from the proposed location, but Wal-Mart said it had looked at the location earlier, but it wasn't the "optimal place." The Orange County Administrator was fired because he suggested choosing an alternative site, the PR machine stated it was for "other undisclosed reasons." So greed and treachery may win over in the end.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/072009/07102009/478811

What a difference between two counties on historic preservation. Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg took the lead in preserving this pristine location that is surrounded by mini-malls, housing and commercial development. The ancestors of the brave men who fought here will be able to see the exact location preserved almost as it looked in 1862.

http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/112008/11142008/425071
http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2009/072009/07072009/478093

[Akilah]

Everyone please share this far and wide. The destruction of cultural and historical momuments for such short-sighted commercial ventures is criminal and must be stopped. Voice your displeasure and unbelief with Walmart and Alabama officials.

[Daddieo]

This whole discussion is a little dumb, isn't it? Whether it was Sam's Club or anyone else, the corporate mucky mucks don't say "take some dirt from over there to use as fill". They are so uninvolved in that sort of thing that you couldn't even imagine it.

The guys choosing to dig up an indian mound would be the contractors and sub contractors. If the city didn't protect these mounds, then this is on them as well. Sam's would actually be the least to blame.