Save Hickory Ground (Oce Vpofv)
Hickory Ground or "Oce Vpofv" is a parcel of sacred land
located at Wetumpka, Alabama, which includes a ceremonial ground,
burial sites and individual graves belonging to ancestors of the
Muscogee (Creek) Nation. After Hickory Ground was obtained
with federal funds under the pretense of historic preservation,
approximately 57 sets of human remains and funerary objects were
exhumed in violation of the Archeological Resources Protection Act
(ARPA), and in violation of the rights of lineal descendants under
the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act
(NAGPRA).
In 2010, the descendant members of the Muscogee (Creek)
Nation of Oklahoma requested their ancestors to be reinterred where
they were excavated. In April 2012, the Poarch Band of Creek
Indians (PBCI), which exhumed the remains, decided to rebury them
elsewhere, in order to construct a $246 million casino at Hickory
Ground. The descendants of Oce Vpofv are fighting to preserve
the ceremonial ground and burial grounds against further
development.