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SENAA'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS SINCE OUR INCEPTION

by Al Swilling, Founder

 

 

SENAA was created in September, 1995, in response to the need in East Tennessee for protection of the many Native American burial and historical sites in the area.  In 1994, the Native American Reserve Force (NARF) was formed by a group of Chattanooga, Tennessee, area Native Americans of various tribal origins for the expressed purpose of protecting Moccasin Bend Burial Grounds from looters.  After the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department adopted them under their auspices, NARF began protecting other sites and performing other functions related to Native American cultural education. 

In July and August, 1995, NARF was called to a site at Collegedale, Tennessee, to protect a site that had been discovered during excavation of property being developed into an apartment complex.  What looked like a two or three day guard duty turned into a 35-day occupation as federal courts ordered the owner to have archeologists salvage what was left of disturbed graves and disinter the remaining burials, which were to be reinterred on the property upon completion of the apartment complex.  NARF members, some of which are SENAA members, and all of whom had jobs to work, stood around-the-clock vigils until the disinterrment was completed. 

It was in the wake of the Collegedale incident that SENAA was founded for the purpose of protecting area Native American burial and historic sites.  Our goal was to encourage city and county building planners to require archeological evaluations made of sites that may contain burials or sites of historical importance in order to prevent a repetition of the Collegedale disaster.  Since SENAA's birth, we are proud to report that we have made great strides toward the accomplishment of our goals.  Following is a brief summary of specific incidents that illustrate our accomplishments, among which was SENAA's appointment by the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma as their East Tennessee representative. 

SENAA has been actively involved in negotiations to permanently preserve Moccasin Bend Burial Ground.  The National Park Service is now conducting meetings with Chattanooga citizens, SENAA, and other Native American representatives to determine the best way to preserve and protect Moccasin Bend. 

In 1996, SENAA succeeded in saving an ancient Native American site from the Mississippian period, wherein are an estimated 200 burials.  The developer, Jim Sharp, of Cleveland, Tennessee, preserved the site and later, with the permission of the Cherokee Nation and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, turned the site over to the archeological conservancy in Atlanta, Georgia, for permanent preservation.  SENAA handled all negotiations.  It was because of our handling of those negotiations that SENAA was designated by the Oklahoma Cherokee Nation as their East Tennessee representatives.  As a Cherokee Nation spokesperson, I was honored to present Jim Sharp with the Nation's thanks at a dinner in Sharp's honor. 

Recently, SENAA persuaded another landowner, Westwood Baptist Church, to have an archeological evaluation done on property where they planned to build their new church.  Fortunately, on the spot where the church will stand there is no evidence of burials or other significant Native American activity. 

Since the founders and many of our members are Cherokee, SENAA has been busy in local schools, as well, educating non-indigenous children in Tsa-La-Gi culture and heritage.  Bradley County, Tennessee, where SENAA is based, was the last Cherokee land holding in the Southeast (excluding the Qualla Boundary), the beginning of the Trail of Tears (Rattlesnake Springs), and the site of the last Cherokee Tribal Council meeting before the removal (Red Clay State Historical Site).  Because of this area's rich Cherokee history, we feel it imperative that Bradley County citizens be given accurate information about the culture, heritage, and history of the people that they displaced. 

We still have much to do.  There is still a long way to go before indigenous people enjoy the same freedom and liberty that other races take for granted.  With the help of U-Ne-La-Nv-Hi, we will achieve that goal, but for now, SENAA will continue to be a voice outside tribal boundaries for the rights of Native American people of all tribes. 

SENAA is a nonprofit organization and depends on the donations of its members and others who are sympathetic to our goals. 

Thank you for visiting our website.  May U-Ne-La-Nv-Hi bless you in all that you do.  We hope that you will visit again often.  Our newsletter is updated monthly, or whenever an important item or issue comes to our attention; and we will be expanding our site with new things of interest, new HOT LINKS to take you to other paths you might find interesting, and interviews and biographies with and about contemporary Native American heroes--those who are making a difference for their tribes and other indigenous people.

 

 

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