Ex-Catawbas Chief seeking new site for Catawba River Bridge
As plans to build another bridge over the Catawba River connecting Rock Hill to Fort Mill progress, some state and local leaders are not convinced that the proposed location of the bridge is the proper one.
Former Catawba Indian Nation Chief Donald Rogers says the bridge would cut right through Culture and Heritage Museum property.
Rogers says it would be sad to bulldoze graves and historical pieces and artifacts that date back to the 1750s.
[audio: 0511-Rogers-A.mp3]Rogers says he wants the property in question to be donated back to the Tribe.
[audio: 0511-Rogers-B.mp3]The Rock Hill Fort Mill Regional Transportation Study panel will vote next month on whether to commit $60 million to the bridge along its currently proposed route.
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I have to agree with Former Chief Rogers concerns. In the past our haste to expand/progress has total shadowed our area’s cultural treasures. I am not a native american, but I, and many others have a lot of respect for our Catawba residents and neighbors. It was their land first, where they buried their dead and built their history and culture. My family has a strong connection with the Catawba’s as we for many years owned a farm on that bordered the reservation. It is time we stop and give their concerns SERIOUS thought. I as a young man was told the stories of how, when in the past, bulldozers and heavy equipment cleared the land to build the current dam and other bridges and roads unearthed pottery, stone artifacts and even bones of their ancestors without any attempt to conserve/preserve them. I do not know about you, but it would make me a bit upset if they were to decide to build a new road through Grandview, or Laurelwood cemetery !