STSSA Update Macon County, N.C. Iotla Site

STSSA Update Macon County, N.C. Iotla Site

Important Dates and Important Information Leading Up to the May 26th meeting of airport authority.
Feb. 5, 2009: The Airport Authority met at open session at 11:46 AM to seek and hire TRC environmental corporation to do the archaeological recovery of the Iotla Site.

March 31st AA meeting was called to order by Chairman Gregory at 4:05 PM. During the public comment section several people spoke. Selma Sparks stated that this is a situation of building on a grave site. Dolly Reed also spoke and stated that he fore fathers and Moses can not be here because they are lying in their graves. She asked that her people be allowed to rest in peace. {Dolly is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee.} Olga Pader spoke saying that this was an official protest of the expansion. She presented a Petition For Public Hearing signed by 166 citizens. Lamar Marshall spoke stating he will be instituting a 60 day notice to sue and get an injuctiuon to stop the expansion. A veteran of the Korean War spoke, stating first they take a finger, then the whole hand, until they take everything.

April 28th, 2009 meeting of AA. Per minutes on the Macon County website, under the public comment section, several people spoke. They could only ask questioins, but not receive answers. Dolly Reed stated that the data recovery has been compromised and asked if the remaining impaction, stripping and mapping will take into consideration that there should be no disturbance of human burials.

May 13th, 2009 Sharon the Founder of Save the Sacred Sites Alliance was asked to write questions to be submitted to the Airport Authority, which she did. And the letter was put on our website, and faxed to the person who was going to submit the letter. The night before the 26th meeting Sharon was informed that it was not going to be submitted by this person.
Having been around the block with this scenario before in her life, she had already submitted them and sent the same letter to everyone she could think of up the chain of command including the governor of North Carolina, Bev Perdue. The minutes are not on line yet for the May 26th meeting.

After talking with several people online from that area, it is now time for anyonbe and everyone to send comments and questions to the following:

Suzanne G. Myers/ site registrar, 109 East Jones Street, Raleigh, N.C. 27699, Phone: 919 807 6556, Fax: 919 715 2671 Reference: NC General Statute 70, 1-........
This will be concerning North Carolina's burial laws. Under one of the sections it states that any archaeologist in North Carolina must have permits. Sharon asked under the Freedom Of Information Act for a copy of the permit(s) pertaining to this site. It has come to her attention that in just 2 acres so far 50 human burials have been uncovered. They have three more acres to go. Then referencing back to the man discussing the finger, then hand, this site sites on 26 acres which they intend to use every inch.

Human burials are to be respected and left alone.

Finally, anyone who wishes to use the above information to help, it would be greatly appreciated, Sharon and of coarse the ancestors.