City leaders in
Oxford, Ala.
have approved the destruction of a 1,500-year-old Native American
ceremonial mound and are using the dirt as fill for a new Sam's Club, a
retail warehouse store operated by Wal-Mart.{C}A
University of Alabama archaeology report
commissioned by the city found that the site was historically
significant as the largest of several ancient stone and earthen mounds
throughout the Choccolocco Valley. But
Oxford Mayor Leon Smith
-- whose campaign has financial connections to firms involved in the
$2.6 million no-bid project -- insists the mound is not man-made and was
used only to "send smoke signals."
"The City of Oxford and its archaeological advisers have completed a
review and evaluation of a stone mound that was identified near Boiling
Springs, Calhoun County, Alabama, and have concluded that the mound is
the result of natural phenomena and does not meet the eligibility
criteria for the Natural [sic] Register of Historic Places," according
to a
news release Smith issued last week.
In fact, the report does not conclude the mound is a result of
"natural phenomena" but says very clearly it is of "cultural origin."
And while the University's
Office of Archaeological Research does not believe the site qualifies for the National Register of Historic Places, the
Alabama Historical Commission
disagrees, noting that the structure meets at least three criteria for
inclusion: its "association with a broad pattern of history,"
architecture "embodying distinctive characteristics," and for the
information it might yield to scholars.
The site is also significant to Native Americans. The Woodland and
Mississippian cultures that inhabited the Southeast and Midwest before
Europeans arrived
constructed and used these mounds for various rituals,
which may have included funerals. There are concerns that human remains
may be present at the site, though none have been found yet.
United South and Eastern Tribes, a nonprofit coalition of 25 federally recognized tribes from Maine to Texas,
passed a resolution in 2007 calling for the preservation of such structures, which it calls "prayer in stone." Native Americans have
held protests against the mound's demolition, and last week someone
altered a sign for the Leon Smith Parkway that runs past the development to read "Indian Mound Pkwy."
A local resident named Johnny Rollins
told the Anniston Star how his Native American grandmother taught him that when she died he could "go to that mountain" to talk to her:
"It seems like it's taking part of you away," he said of the demolition. "I always felt I had ties to that there."
Since the media began reporting on the site's demolition, city officials have
revised their story and are now claiming that dirt from the mound is not being used as fill, despite earlier statements to the contrary. But
eyewitnesses say they have seen workers hauling dirt from the mound to the Sam's Club development.
"I mean really, I went there, saw the giant trucks deliver the earth
straight from the mound to the construction site, and I still can't
believe what they are doing,"
writes
the seventh-generation Alabamian behind the blog Deep Fried Kudzu. She
shared the photo above showing roads for construction vehicles now cut
to the top of the mound and has
other photos and her story of visiting the site at the website.
'More prettier' than an Indian mound
Deepening the development's controversy is how the contracting has
been handled. The force behind the project is Oxford's Commercial
Development Authority, a public board that uses taxpayer money to lure
businesses to the area. The CDA owns the land where the mound is
located.
Alabama law exempts CDAs from bid requirements, which means contracts can go to whomever the board chooses. A recent
Anniston Star investigative series about the CDA revealed among other things that the group has
awarded nearly $9 million in contracts since 1994 but has taken bids for none of them.
The newspaper also detailed the
financial ties between the CDA, firms it does business with, and Mayor Smith's political campaign.
For example, the $2.6 million contract for preparing the Sam's Club
site went to Oxford-based Taylor Corp., with the money for that coming
in part from the sale of city property to Georgia-based developers
Abernathy and Timberlake. Taylor Corp. owner Tommy Taylor, who has
received thousands of dollars in city contracts for non-CDA work,
donated $1,000 to Smith in 2004 and $1,000 in 2008, while Abernathy and
Timberlake donated $1,000 to Smith's re-election campaign in 2004, the
paper reports.
The Anniston Star also found that the CDA paid engineering firm
Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood of Montgomery, Ala. $45,000 in engineering
contracts for the Sam's Club project, with part of that money paying for
the archaeological study. The firm contributed $500 to Smith in 2004.
An Alabama Ethics Commission official said the relationships could
violate state law "depending on facts," but the mayor said he's done
nothing wrong.
Meanwhile, the controversy over the damaged mound's fate rages on.
After getting an earful from alarmed preservationists, Alabama Gov. Bob
Riley (R) forwarded their concerns to the state Historical Commission --
but
said his office has no intention of getting involved. According to the
National Institute on Money in State Politics, Tommy Taylor contributed $1,000 to Riley's 2006 gubernatorial campaign, while Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood contributed $1,500.
For now, it appears Oxford officials are pressing ahead with the project. As
Mayor Smith said in its defense, "What it's going to be is more prettier than it is today."
Sara
Rosso loves Nutella. In fact, she loved it so much that seven years
ago, the hazelnut chocolate spread superfan founded World
Nutella Day, a celebration of all things Nutella.
"This
is the biggest ship graveyard in the world - where huge tankers and
cruise liners are scrapped on the shorefront by teams of laborers using
little more than hand tools. The job is considered one of the most
dangerous in the world with workers earning a pittance of just £2.25 a
day. But amazingly there is no shortage of willing recruits."
From the American Museum of Natural History's excellent photo archive. Seen above, a millipede installing a model of a man in "The Forest Floor" diorama, 1958.
Plato and Aristotle saw it as a tool to topple the mighty. It often
accompanies gruesome acts of cruelty. Most of us will use it more
routinely - to win friendship and love. So what lies behind the apparent
spontaneity of laughter?
Famed
Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet made a beautiful and complex
watch for Marie Antoinette. The works were mostly gold, and its value is
hard to estimate not only because of its history, but because of its
workmanship. But Marie Antoinette never wore the watch that eventually
became known as the Queen. 
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