Moses Brings Plenty came from South Dakota to protest the destruction of the Oxford Native American ceremonial mound…

by Glynn Wilson

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – Native Americans traveled from as far away as South Dakota and South Carolina to attend the first Native American education and preservation day in the Public Square here in this quaint college town in the Appalachian foothills, after a call went out about the pending destruction of yet another traditional burial ground and ceremonial mound just down the road in Oxford.

Moses Brings Plenty, 40, a Lakota born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, travels the country working for Native American civil rights.

When asked what he thought of the mayor of Oxford selling the land for a strip mall and Wal-mart on a burial ground and a Sam’s Club from a ceremonial mound, Mr. Plenty showed no anger. He discussed his understanding that the burial ground is now a total loss to history, and that stopping the complete destruction of the ceremonial mound will be an uphill battle.

“Once a traditional site is taken away, it is gone forever,” he said, along with it’s connection to the past for future generations. “If that keeps happening you can say goodbye to the human race.”

Yet ultimately, he said, the controversy creates an opportunity to start a new dialogue about the future of human relations — if people will take the time to listen and not just fight.

“We can start to change and the people can take back the government of this country from the corporations,” Mr. Plenty said.

In the attempt to communicate with and send a message to the good Christian people of Alabama who go along with the destruction of Native sites and culture for the sake of short term profits, he compared the sites to the grave of Jesus.

“What if Jesus lived to be 100-years old instead of 33, and someone came along and put a strip mall over his grave site? That is what it is for us,” he said. “Would the people stand for that?”

Somehow, after hundreds of years of the abuse of his people by those of European decent and everything else that’s gone wrong with American-style democracy, he still has hope that a new government can be created in the United States “based on honesty, love and compassion.”

“If the people do that — they can and they will — we can begin to create a world where no human being will ever have to suffer racism again.”

Craig Talbot, 49, traveled from Loris, South Carolina for the Pow-Wow to make a statement about the battle for the Oxford Mound. He set up a traditional Waccamaw teepee for people to experience and performed traditional medicine all day.

Talbot goes by the traditional name “One Who Talks to Doves.” More information about his tribe can be found online at Waccamaw.org.

Moses Brings Plenty can be found online at MoBringsPlenty.Com.

© 2010 – 2018, Glynn Wilson. All rights reserved.