This photo shows the Kituwah
historic site in North Carolina during autumn. Duke Energy plans to build an
electricity tie station on the center mountain rising from the valley floor. (Photo
by Will Chavez)


By Will Chavez
Staff Writer 

TAHLEQUAH, Okla. – The historic and sacred Kituwah site near Cherokee, N.C., may be facing a new threat as work begins on an electricity substation adjacent to the site.

The work forced the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians Tribal Council on Feb. 4 to formally oppose the electric company Duke Energy and its substation plan near what is considered the Cherokee mother town. 

“The impact of construction of the substation or tie station was never open to scrutiny by any of the interested parties including the tribe, Swain County government or Swain County residents, and secondly, the impact of the substation would adversely impact the Cherokee sacred site traditionally known as Kituwah also referred to as Ferguson Field,” an EBCI resolution states.

The EBCI attorney general has been asked to seek remedies to the situation, assess the tribe’s rights and work with county officials to halt construction until the state’s Public Utilities Commission can hear concerns. 

Some land south of the remaining Kituwah mound has already been cleared for the tie station. 

“Kituwah is the most important sacred site to the Cherokee People, and it is amazing that it remains intact into the 21st century,” said EBCI Principal Chief Michell Hicks. “We purchased the site for the sole purpose of ensuring protection for future generations of Cherokees, and it is our responsibility as a Nation to continue that work. 

He added that the tribe has a positive relationship with Duke Energy and he feels confident a solution can be reached after consulting with the electric company.

According to a Duke Energy statement, a tie station is a facility that moves electricity from one point to another by increasing or decreasing voltage. The proposed station would decrease voltage on the transmission lines from 161 kilovolts coming into the tie station to 66 kilovolts going out. 

“Duke Energy has had a long-standing and strong relationship with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina that is built on mutual respect, and ultimately, we want to work with the tribe to ensure we can continue to meet their growing energy needs in a way that is respectful of their culture,” said Duke Energy spokeswoman Paige Layne. “This was the first time Duke Energy and the tribe had an occasion to discuss visual impact affecting tribal land, and everyone involved has learned from the experience.”

The EBCI owns 309 acres where Kituwah is located along the Tuckasegee River. The tribe purchased the land in 1997 from a family that lived on and farmed on it for more than 100 years. 

After years of farming, the once impressive mound is now 170 feet in diameter and approximately six feet in height. According to experts, when the mound was bigger the foundation of a building housed the sacred flame of the Cherokee, which was kept burning at all times by an appointed leader who lived there. 

The mound is about nine miles from Cherokee, N.C., and the EBCI reservation. Archeologists speculate that the Kituwah site has been inhabited for nearly 10,000 years.

Before work began on the station, an environmental assessment and impact statement should have been done and sent to the North Carolina Historic Preservation Office, said Lora Oxendine Taylor, a concerned citizen who previously worked for the EBCI’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office. She said that information should have been shared with all concerned parties, including the tribe, before Duke Energy began work.

But Layne said because electrical lines leaving the 300-foot-by-300-foot tie station carry only 161 kilovolts, Duke was not required to obtain certificates from the state utilities commission before building. 

“It really wasn’t required to have any certificates or any public meetings. We did not do an archeological study because it’s not required,” she said. 

She added that Duke Energy has asked the contractor at the site to stop working if any artifacts are found. Layne said work has been done at that site before. A road has been “cut in” to the site already, so she said it really didn’t “merit” an archeological study.

“We want to continue to provide energy to the Cherokee and the surrounding area to meet their growing needs,” she said. “They (EBCI) have indicated that the area is growing with the casino and hotel. They do have energy needs in that area that requires additional capacity.” 

Layne said Duke Energy is working with a tribal ethnobotonist to ensure the proper plants and trees are replanted around the station. She said Duke Energy is taking steps “to mitigate the visual impact” of the station by using darker, less reflective steel and by installing a retaining wall made of dark stone.

“Once the natural vegetation returns where the work’s happening, we’ll let that vegetation grow and the site will basically be hidden,” Layne said. 

Nevertheless, EBCI citizen Natalie Smith said the station would negatively impact the property listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The tribe wasn’t officially notified about the station, Smith said, until Dec. 20, 2009. Through research, she said she discovered Duke Energy purchased the land for the station in 2008.

Smith claims the proposed station would be only 200 yards from Kituwah, and it would desecrate the mountain above the ancient site.

“I am not an outrageous unreasonable person. We need electricity. We are not against progress, but we are against desecration and unbridled business,” Smith said.

The demand for electricity in the region is increasing with more homes and businesses coming to the area, but she said she resents any notion from Duke Energy claiming the station is for the tribe and its growing casino. 

Based on her research, Smith said any new stations are meant to benefit a three-county area, including Swain County, and an area “in and around the Qualla Boundary” where the town of Cherokee is located. 

“It’s not just the casino. So don’t put this guilt trip and don’t threaten us like that because we are not going to even think about sacrificing our mother town,” she said. “All Cherokee people came from this town. This is the center of our universe.”

She said her biggest hope is to get the EBCI, the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians to oppose the station’s construction.

Reach Staff Writer Will Chavez at (918) 207-3961 or will-chavez@cherokee.org