Thursday, June 4, 2009
Around Town Will May Town Center Disturb Bell's Bend's Dead Residents?
Posted by Betsy Phillips on Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 8:07 AM
But now?
Let's get to the heart of the matter. Bell's Bend has had people living in it pretty continuously for thousands of years. And those people did not vanish without a trace.
I would venture to guess that an area like Bell's Bend must be pretty unique in a major metropolitan area--a large, relatively undisturbed swath of land of deep historical significance.
And so I've turned to Michael Moore, the State Archaeologist and Director of the Tennessee Division of Archaeology to help shed some light on the ancient dead folks in the Bend and what their presence means for development.
And here's what I learned.
I asked Moore to give us some idea of what kinds of sites are in the Bend and he answered, "There are just over 60 recorded archaeological sites on Bell's Bend. This total does not include historic cemeteries or historic properties older than 50 years (50 years is the federal threshold for eligibility to the National Register of Historic Places). These recorded sites span the entire prehistoric sequence (roughly 10,000 BC to AD 1500) as well as the historic period."
He said, "There have been several prior archaeological investigations within Bells Bend, although the Bend has not been comprehensively surveyed." I don't want to put words in Moore's mouth, but I have to believe that when you're talking about twelve thousand years of habitation and the Bend not being comprehensively surveyed, you're talking about the potential for finding more than just the approximately sixty sites archaeologists are aware of.
I was curious about what happens when a developer finds a site of archaeological interest and Moore explained, "If a private project on private property does not require some type of federal action (permit, project funding, etc.), then there are no laws that require an examination of archaeological sites prior to earthmoving activities. The only exception to this statement is the discovery and removal of human burials. A court order is required before human burials can be removed. For private property projects,our office attempts to discuss the archaeological issues with the developer/landowner and work out some type of agreement. Sometimes the developers are willing to listen and allow for some type of archaeological work, and other times not."
Moore said, "The current developers have not contacted our office for information."
Listen, I could write a long screed about how the MTC people pretend to be all about conservation, but they haven't even bothered to check with the proper folks at the State for potential Native American sites.
But I actually think that that's not the important point. The important point is that there are Native American sites and remains all over the Bend and the chances of some of them being under where MTC is going to go, or where the bridge will go, or where the TSU agricultural stuff will go are enormous.
And yet has anyone heard any accounting of how they're planning to deal with this? Will they work around the sites in order to preserve them? Will they work with the state to resolve archaeological issues? Have they figured in potential delays while dealing with this stuff? And what happens when the protests start, which they will, when you start to pave over and build on people's ancestors?
And that's just when dealing with the privately-held properties.
I asked Moore about what obligations TSU has to any archaeological sites that might be on the land they're supposed to be getting from the May family along the river and he said, "Proposed plans on the TSU property would follow the same review process by our office as any other proposed action on state-owned lands."
In other words, TSU actually getting the land is just the first hurdle to using it how they want,
And then, let's consider that the federal government will also become involved. I'd like to quote Moore at length here:
"If projects have some type of federal action or involvement, then federal statutes come into play. The May Town development will definitely have some type of federal action associated with the proposed bridge. One or more federal agencies will be involved (Corps of Engineers for sure, possibly the Coast Guard) with the proposed bridge construction. Road construction activities might also have some type of federal assistance or tie-in. The federal review will be conducted under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act that requires the federal agency to conduct a review of a federal undertaking (permit, construction, funding, etc.) to assess the potential disturbance to cultural resources (prehistoric as well as historic). Our office has a Federal Programs archaeologist that would be involved with this review.I would just reiterate--when the Federal Government becomes involved, you have to follow federal statutes.
"Earthmoving activity along the Cumberland River bank will likely encounter intact archaeological resources. However, the federal 'Section 106' process is not meant to stop proposed projects, only to make sure that appropriate steps are taken to discover, evaluate, avoid if possible, but (if necessary) remove archaeological resources within a proposed project footprint prior to project initiation."
When we're talking about the cost of the May Town Center, as a dang 'Librul,' I sure would love for us to consider the cultural cost to compromising these historical sites. We've managed to come this far without compromising the stuff in the Bend too much and I would love the idea of us, when faced with this decision as a community, saying, "If we're going to live in Bell's Bend, it should be in a way that continues to preserve its unique character and history. So that we can be proud of what we hand the future." Because once you fuck up these sites, they're gone. Information and understanding you can't put a price on is destroyed and we can't get it back. And that's not even mentioning the ook factor involved in digging up and displacing people from their final resting places.
But I accept that most of you might feel differently.
So, I'm going to ask you to consider whether the financial cost of dealing with these sites has been adequately considered and whether any timeline for MTC can be realistic when they've made no effort to even start the process of figuring out what sites are there.
Comments (17)
Showing 1-17 of 17
Can they build on graves? I know there was a big issue here years ago where you couldn't but as everyone changes laws willy-nilly now, is that still in effect?
Must go get my google-fu on this.
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You are making assumptions all through this article without researching the topic. African-American, Native American, private family plot and archaeological sites are recognized, mentioned, and planned for in the SP May Town Developers have presented. Your article is good reading, but is just a bit late in what you are presenting as new fact.
Yes, further finds may be made. They will be delt with. It is something that has been acknowledged.
I only ask that you get ALL of the facts, on both sides, before you present one side to get the intended reaction you have planned for. Be genuine in your writing.
Newscoma, no, you cannot knowingly build on graves. When you find human remains, you have to stop, call the police and, if it's determined that they are historic, you have to call in the state.
Grapa, you are conveniently overlooking the part in my post in which I talk about the Bend not being fully surveyed and in which I mention that the developers have not yet talked to the proper folks at the State.
That might not be a new fact, but it remains an ongoing fact.
In the long term any sites they encounter would probably end up being the 'green space' planned for MTC. I'm pretty sure you can build right up to the edges of any archeological site but so long as you don't go into the delineated area you're okay. So you'd probably end up with a green island of dead folk in the middle of a paved over parking lot. With a bench or two in the middle. Or maybe use it as an area to deal with stormwater issues.
Anything found on the riverbank (and the Coast Guard would definitely be involved in anything over the Cumberland River) would probably just be spanned by the bridge. So long as roadfill isn't put on top of the archeological area it would probably be allowed.
Eh, grapa, now that I've thought about this, I feel like a) I still believe the point I made in that there comment, but b.) no, you know what? You're right, too. I could have and should have worked in some May Town Center stuff.
So, yeah, you're right, but I still think my point stands.
What about the mysterious human leg bones that turned up at Clee's Ferry this week? Seems like pretty good odds they're prehistoric Native American that have washed out of the bank, & further proving the point about how much of the area hasn't been investigated yet.
Great post, the rich cultural resources of Bells Bend have not had enough coverage in the public debate.
For more info see this link to a report that New South Associates and the Land Trust for Tennessee prepared for the residents leading the opposition to May Town. Chapter 3 is about the area's archaeological resources (esp. p.17-24), other chapters cover the Bend's history and natural resources.
http://www.nashville.gov/mpc/pdfs/subarea3/BeamanParkToBellsBend.pdf
Archaeological sites will definitely come into play if MTC is approved, especially in terms of the bridge and new roads.
Let's be real here. TDOT paves over archaeological sites all the time. Seems like the last one I recall was at that monstrosity of an intersection at HIllsboro Pike and Old Hickory Blvd. It's like a freaking highway interchange, and the discovery of a Native American burial site only slowed them down for a month or so.
Kudos to Aunt B for at least acknowledging a mistake and kudos to Grampa for discovering the mistake. Wow. Common ground (sorta). I feel all tingly.
I believe May Town is going to happen and the fact that Aunt B and others are grasping at straws shows the desperation from the opponents. First they tried to use state legislation to rezone the land in the "Stop May Town" bill (failed 77% to 23% in an official balloting of Bend property owners), now manufacturing an issue on graves. Expect more of the same in the coming weeks. Don't believe the hype - especially not from this blog!
Jason, I think it's "grapa" like the grape, not "grampa" like the Munster.
I'm not going to lie to you. I think MTC is stupid. People don't live always live where they work, which means you have to have more than one way in and out, which means that they're either lying about being able to keep OHB two-lane and rural or they're hoping that once people start to live and work there, the necessity of another bridge will become self-evident and the people of Charlotte Park will just have to eat it.
But stupid things happen all the time, and if they get it built and it works, well, then you can come back here and mock me all you want.
My real and true fear is that it will be built and it will still be so inconveniently located and hard to get to that businesses will not relocate there and thus people will not move there and thus the restaurants and shops they need will not spring up. And we will have squandered all this cool stuff for a ghost town.
I mean, let's be honest. The Bend is beautiful. If people drive out there by way of Ashland City Highway and down OHB, you can almost begin to believe in the dream of a happy, sustainable development where rural folks and urban folks skip hand in hand along meandering bike paths.
But when you get off Briley Parkway onto Centennial Boulevard and head towards Cockrill Bend Boulevard (which is how the people who cross that bridge everyday will come), it starts to make Bell's Bend look like a shitty place to live.
Drive through an industrial area, past a maximum security prison, to live in the flight path of an airport?
I have as much faith in our real estate agents as the next person, but are they really going to be able to sell folks on that?
I'm not trying to be flip. I just have a hard time believing that we're not creating either a ghost town or a ghetto.
Grapa, my apologies for botching your name.
But no apologies to you Aunt B. You have just admitted that your biased agenda has led you to fabricate an issue. This type of shit is why the Nashville Scene is no longer respected or noteworthy. The Scene used to have good writers like Matt Pulle and others who really cared about being journalists. They may have had an agenda, but they were reporters first and were mostly fair.
My earlier comments about the desperation of the opposition stands. You just proved it.
You're right, Jason. I have fabricated the issue. It's me down in my secret lab taking cow bones and extracting the DNA from every cell, replacing it with DNA of my own, grinding the bones down to the size of human bones, using my magical powers to age them 6,000 years, and then planting them in the Bend to ruin all development.
You caught me, but I'm not worried because this afternoon, I'm going to get into my time machine, go back to Thursday, find you, invite you to lunch and distract you from ever writing these comments. And then no one will know of my evil plan!!!!
Bwah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.
Thanks for the comments, I really mean that as a compliment. Some of this has been what I would like to participate in. It is called talking and sharing of ideas. Why does everything written has to be negative and attacking and needing to be defensive?
It was supposed to be 'Grampa', but I missed typed. Both are fine, though.
I have a bit of a question about those bones. Does anyone else not think it a 'bit' queer that they would appear at this time? It seems almost too much of a coincidence, like in a movie. I also did not hear who found them, how they found them, and the location was cinvenient, also. The Cumberland is fast flowing past the Bend, I happen to live near the spot where the bones were found. I am not disputing this event, but, they actually could have come from any point up river. If you are going to reason they came from that exact location it would hard to defend in a court of law.
Question or poll, if you can honestly participate by using one sentence of 20 words or less.
What happens to this 1500 acres if MTC does not get built?(David, contingency, Aunt B, W, newscoma) 20 words or less or no comment. Can you do it?
Thanks for the comments, I really mean that as a compliment. Some of this has been what I would like to participate in. It is called talking and sharing of ideas. Why does everything written has to be negative and attacking and needing to be defensive?
It was supposed to be 'Grampa', but I missed typed. Both are fine, though.
I have a bit of a question about those bones. Does anyone else not think it a 'bit' queer that they would appear at this time? It seems almost too much of a coincidence, like in a movie. I also did not hear who found them, how they found them, and the location was cinvenient, also. The Cumberland is fast flowing past the Bend, I happen to live near the spot where the bones were found. I am not disputing this event, but, they actually could have come from any point up river. If you are going to reason they came from that exact location it would hard to defend in a court of law.
Question or poll, if you can honestly participate by using one sentence of 20 words or less.
What happens to this 1500 acres if MTC does not get built?(David, contingency, Aunt B, W, newscoma) 20 words or less or no comment. Can you do it?
As an active member of Nashville's "native american community"... (read Indian People), we fought to defend this land's abuse by the state in 1990, and IF there are graves here, a fact that's yet to be confirmed or determined, we will fight this action again with the same vigor we used before.
To the developers: be on notice, we will not allow the desecration of our ancestors graves anymore. We may lose, we've lost before, but we will fight.
As of today, 06-18-09, we are putting the wheels in motion to begin our fight.
I was raised on the land call Bell's bend in the fifties.
My family was sharecroppers on the land. The Shelton Family, Amos and Christine.
My grandparents raised their 10 children and 6 grandkids in a four room house.
As far as I can remember no other family lived on the land after we moved.
A few other family names from back then, I remember are the Buchanan,( owned the land we lived on), Barns, Walkers, Vaughns, Lil Winder, Jr. , the Nickens and the Hoopers.
