Sam's Club vs. Indian mound

Goodbye Indian Mounds, Hello Sam’s Club

By Dan WhisenhuntA stone mound on a hill behind the Oxford Exchange created by American Indians 1,500 years ago will soon disappear.

And whether Oxford's taxpayers wanted it or not, they paid for its destruction.

Workers hired by the city's Commercial Development Authority (CDA) are using the dirt from the hill as fill for a new Sam's Club. The project has angered American Indians who, along with a Jacksonville State University archaeology professor, say the site could contain human remains.

Oxford Mayor Leon Smith and City Project Manager Fred Denney say it was used to send smoke signals.Comment:  Smith and Denney are being ridiculous to justify their demolition of an Indian mound. There's no way anyone could prove Indians used an ancient site to send smoke signals.

Not surprisingly, there's a tight financial relationship between Mayor Smith, the CDA, and business developers. That may be why everyone's so eager to dig up the mound.

Even if the mound is just dirt with no important artifacts, I'd say preserve it. Get the dirt from somewhere else. Mounds are an important reminder that Indians once owned the land.

For more on Indian mounds, see Mound Builders Live Again and Cahokia Mound vs. Garbage Mound.

Below:  "A backhoe removes dirt atop a stone mound created by Native Americans 1,500 years ago in what is now Oxford, Ala." (AP Photo/Stephen Gross, The Anniston Star)