Cherokee tribes object to substation near Kituwah site
By Will Chavez, Staff Writer, Cherokee Phoenix
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – All three federally recognized Cherokee tribes have objected to a power company’s plans to build an electricity substation close to the sacred site of Kituwah near Cherokee, N.C.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians owns the 309-acre site, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Duke Energy plans to build a substation, or tie station, to move electricity from one point to another by increasing or decreasing voltage south of the site.
The EBCI Tribal Council approved a resolution on Feb. 4 opposing those plans. The Cherokee Nation Tribal Council’s Rules Committee passed a similar resolution on Feb. 9 supporting the “preservation and protection of the ancient Kituwah mound.”
The CN resolution states: “Kituwah is the mother town of the Cherokee people and the most sacred site for all Cherokees no matter where they live, and the Cherokee Nation’s solemn responsibility and moral duty is to care for and protect the Kituwah site from further desecration and degradation by human agency in order to preserve the integrity of the most important site for the origination and continuation of Cherokee culture, heritage, history and identity.”
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