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Activists say they want state to hire an American
Indian at Angel Mounds. Associated Press July 02,2002
Evansville,Ind.
American Indians are continuing their
boycott of the state Department of Natural Resources
to protest the absence of an American Indian staff
member at Angel Mounds Historic Site.
Mary Alexander, executive director of the American
Indian Center of Indiana, said supporters will hold a
town hall meeting in Lafayette on Saturday to discuss
the boycott.
She also said she is just one of many American Indians
in Indiana unhappy with the department's hiring
practices and its handling of Indian affairs.
Some of the things we're upset about are dealing with
Native American mound sites and how the DNR
communicates what's going on at those mound sites to
the Native American community," she said.
Alexander and several other American Indian groups in
the state have been protesting since September the
staffing at Angel Mounds, which is operated by the
Department of Natural Resources. That is when the
department transferred Bill Spellazza from Angel
Mounds to a one-year post at Historic New Harmony,
which left Angel Mounds without an American Indian on
its staff.
The American Indian community considered the move to
be a continuation of actions at Angel Mounds that it
finds offensive, Alexander said.
They spent $2.3 million to build an addition onto
their educational building, yet the property itself is
eroding away," she said. "So I think they're
neglecting their responsibility by not maintaining the
site property."
Mike Linderman, site manager for the past 3 years,
said more is being done to preserve the site now than
in years past-including while Spellazza was employed
there.
Linderman said the site has been thinned of trees so
that grass will grow, a move some groups have
criticized.
Brook Martin, president of Friends of Angel mounds,
said the trees were removed to help preserve the
mounds, which did not have trees on them when
originally constructed.
Martin also said he and other members of the Indian
group circle of the People support Linderman's ideas
and do not understand the protests being lodged
against the department.
The only real progress on bring this site out of the
endangered list is the work (Linderman) has done in
the past few years." Martin said. "Anybody complaining
should think twice if it happened to be on their watch."
__
There is currently a boycott of Angel Mounds, especially its "Native American Days" events.
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