Native Issues: August 2009 Archives

After surviving centuries of colonial invasion, a community of American Indians in Alabama weren't about to back down when they discovered the latest trespasser on their territory: Sam's Club.

An ancient stone mound in what is today known as Oxford, Alabama, stands as a testament to the resilience of native societies despite generations of cultural genocide. The local native community contends that it is a crucial sacred site that could hold human remains. Facing South and the Anniston Star report that according to archeological evidence, the hill a historical vestige of the Woodland and Mississippian indigenous cultures, possibly dating back 1,500 years.

But the city's Commercial Development Authority decided the mound would be put to better use as dirt fill to lay the foundation of a brand new Sam's Club store.

According to the Star, Oxford Mayor Leon Smith and City Project Manager Fred Denney claimed the mound was just “used to send smoke signals.” The city stated earlier this summer that it planned to destroy about one third of the mound to build the Sam's Club and eventually occupy the rest of the formation with more “development.”

The government is busy stemming the flow of immigration from Mexico, but it's welcoming a different kind of flood from the north. The State Department just approved a project to pipe some of the world's dirtiest oil from Canada into America's fuel-hungry economy.

Under the permit, according to the State Department, the Alberta Clipper Pipeline system “will carry up to 450,000 barrels of crude oil a day from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Canada to refineries in the U.S.,” channeling the black gold across the northern Midwest.

The oil, to be dredged up from tar sands development, is some pretty heavy stuff. According to a statement released today by Earth Justice, the Minnesota-based Indigenous Environmental Network and other groups: