After going to the panel discussion about Native American stereotypes on Wednesday, I was eager to attend this program held at the Friends Society Meeting House (also called Quakers) last Friday. The speaker was the chief of the Monacan tribe. Also speaking was a lawyer hired by the tribe to bring suit against the local government which was attempting to excavate the land on which their ancient capital city was built. It contains a burial site, and the water authority is trying to put a water treatment plant on the site. They purchased land by deceiving the owners and then used an archeologist who lied about her credentials. The process is stalled now but they have various heritage and preservation groups joined in the suit. Unfortunately some big money is aligned with the government agency. It is the plot of many Little Guy against the Establishment movies. Let’s hope this time the Little Guy wins.
