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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Melissa Hellmann

These Native tribes share a history. A conflict steeped in colonialism is tearing them apart

Alabama Auburn University Creek George Thompson Oklahoma the Bureau of Indian Affairs United States
a group of people gather outside of a building holding signs like 'Return our ancestors' and 'Justice for Hickory Ground'
Mekko, or traditional chief, George Thompson of Hickory Ground in the Muscogee Nation outside the 11th US circuit court of appeals on 25 September. Photograph: Shelby Botone

The mood was a mixture of celebratory and somber as citizens of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation gathered at the banks of the Coosa River in Alabama in late September. Some people cried as others knelt to touch the water that held great significance to their ancestral tribal towns. It was many Muscogee citizens’ first time visiting the sacred site Hickory Ground, which has taken center stage in a decades-long dispute between their tribal nation and another. At the heart of the fight are Muscogee human remains and artifacts, and a multimillion-dollar casino built atop the sacred site.

On 25 September, the 11th US circuit court of appeals in Atlanta heard oral arguments in the case between the Muscogee (Creek) Nation of Oklahoma and the Poarch Creek Indians of Alabama. By many accounts, the case illustrates the continued effects of colonization.

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