This morning we consulted with a photographer from News from Native California on contacts for photos of the Emeryville Shellmound and San Bruno Mountain Shellmoud, along with Ohlone/Costanoan decendents for a special 20-page pull-out section on Native Voices. News from Native California is a great publication and this should be an interesting article. The Emeryville Shellmound is covered by a shopping mall, however, the San Bruno Mountain Shellmound has been preserved as part of a park. San Bruno Mountain has guided hikes that are very worthwhile. Sacred Sites International was very active in preservation fights on these two sacred sites.

We found an Environmental Impact Report for the Power Plant next to Red Clay State Park. It clearly states: ” It is expected that circuit breakers at the substation could occasionally open to disconnect part of the transmission system during incidents such as excessive current or voltage fluctuations. The resulting noise could startle people nearby; however, because of the infrequent occurrences it would not result in a significant impact.” But what if one of those infrequent occurrences just happened to coincide with Cherokee sacred ceremonies?

We have spent the last 2 days writing Urgent Action Letters on behalf of two endangered sacred sites: Nine Mile Canyon, Utah and Thornborough, England.There is still time to write for the protection of Nine Mile Canyon; by-pass roads must be used for industrial traffic in order to save the petroglyphs and pictographs. Send comment letters to the Bureau of Land Management: UT_Pr_Comments@blm.gov and copy the National Trust for Historic Preservation: crc@nthp.org. More information on this site: ninemilecanyoncoalition.orgThe comment period has closed for Thornborough (a henge not unlike Stonehenge) which is threatened by quarrying. More news on this when we receive it. 

We received a hand-written letter alerting us to a conflict for Cherokee Indians at Red Clay State Park in Tennessee. A new substation is being placed next to their sacred council grounds at Red Clay State Park by the Tennessee Valley Authority. This will have “a lot of lights and emit loud cannonball blasts when it shifts gears.” The project appears to be up and running since 2007, however, we think some sort of communication with Cherokee and the TVA might help alleviate the problem during council meetings. What do readers think about this problem?

Barack Obama was in Montana on Saturday and, if elected, he promises to make a high-level appointment for an advisor on Indian issues. He has a detailed policy for “Stronger Tribal Communities” on his website.