Spirit Lake and Crow Creek Tribal Historic Preservation Officers object to Afton Wastewater Treatment project
In email messages transmitted to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on September 1, 2016, by Tamara St. John, the widely respected Tribal Historian for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, Erich Longie, the THPO for the Spirit Lake Tribe and Bonnie McGee, the THPO for the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe voiced their opposition to the Afton wastewater treatment project, on the basis of its adverse effect on the Rattlesnake Effigy Mound in Afton, Minnesota.
Bonnie McGee wrote:
The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe is opposed [to the determination] of no effect made by the MPCA at the Rattesnake mound as it is a part of our cultural heritage of the Oceti Sakowin. Thank You, Bonnie McGhee, THPO Director, Crow Creek Sioux Tribe
Erich Longie wrote:
Our ancestors roamed Minnesota thousands of years before they were forced to migrate to Spirit Lake. We still view those lands as our homeland. We would like to see the graves of our ancestors there, undisturbed. In regards to Rattle Snake Mound, we have the same concerns as the other tribes have, which is, construction of any kind will have an adverse effect on what is obviously a cultural site. Please add my concerns about Rattle Snake Mound to the lists of concerns from other tribes. Pidamaya! Erich Longie, Ed.D. Spirit Lake THPO