Archaeological work begins at old elementary site
Crews are on-site with bulldozers and shovels at the old Cherokee Elementary School site in the Yellowhill Community. Archaeological work, being done prior to development, has currently begun and should be finished in early fall.
“When they did the demolition work at the old elementary school site, the Tribe wanted to be able to use that corner property as prime real estate for some kind of venture in the future, and so they need to have that cleared archaeologically so that they can proceed with whatever kind of construction activity they deem might be best,” said Russell Townsend, EBCI tribal historic preservation officer. “When the school was originally built, the laws that are in place now to protect archaeology and, probably more importantly for us, the human remains, were not in place.”
He said as the school was built, “They plowed through portions of what are probably two large archaeological sites, and that includes the property where the BIA Agency is today.”
(Cherokee One Feather, 7/7/2016)