WETUMPKA, Ala. – An Elmore County District Court judge found a Muscogee (Creek) citizen guilty Thursday on misdemeanor charges stemming from a February protest.
Judge Glenn Goggans found Wayland Gray guilty of trespassing and criminal conduct. Originally sentenced to 120 days in the Elmore County jail, Gray’s sentence was suspended to two years’ probation and $350 in fines.
Gray’s attorneys are planning on appealing the decision and ask for a jury trial.
Gray and three other men were arrested Feb. 15 near the Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ Wind Creek Casino in Wetumpka, Ala., for trespassing after they tried to conduct a prayer service for their ancestors once buried there. Expansion efforts at the casino overlap with Hickory Ground, a pre-removal burial ground and sacred site for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, headquartered in Okmulgee, Okla. The $246 million casino construction project has unearthed 57 sets of human remains, prompting a federal lawsuit from the Oklahoma tribe and protests from its citizens.
Trespassing charges against the other three protesters were dropped earlier this year, as was a felony complaint against Gray for allegedly making a terrorist threat against the facility and its management.
Earlier this year, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians’ Tribal Council voted to permanently ban Gray and the other three men from all Poarch Band property, including its three casinos and offices in Atmore.
A representative for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians declined to comment.
Native Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo to Document Trial of Sacred Land Advocate
WETUMPKA, Ala. – Filmmaker Sterlin Harj joined the delegation of more than 50 members of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation who traveled this week from Oklahoma to Wetumpka to attend the criminal trial of sacred land advocate Wayland Gray.
“It’s important to document this issue because gaming on sacred land is an issue that will likely affect Native Nations in the future,” said Harjo.
Last September, Harjo released his short film about the conflict between the Muscogee Creek Nation and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians titled “Back to Nature – The Battle for Hickory Ground.”
On February 15, 2013, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians arrested Gray and three other men for attempting to access the Hickory Ground ceremonial ground, where the human remains of approximately 57 Muscogee ancestors were excavated to build a casino.
The men who sought to pray for their ancestors at Hickory Ground were charged with criminal trespassing, and Gray was charged with making a terrorist threat—a felony punishable up to ten years in prison under Alabama law--for comments he allegedly made to the arresting officers.
The Alabama District Court in Wetumpka sent the case to a Grand Jury on March 20, 2013, to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Gray for the felony terrorist threat charge. After evaluating the evidence, the Grand Jury determined there was no probable cause to prosecute Gray for making a terrorist threat, and remanded the case to the District Court on May 1, 2013.
The trespassing charges against three of the men were dismissed. Gray refused to accept a deal to plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct. His bench trial on the criminal trespass and disorderly conduct charges before Elmore County District Judge Glenn Goggans is scheduled to begin Thursday, August 22 at 9:00am.
Wayland Gray stated, “We are only here to honor our ancestors and protect sacred land. Regardless of the outcome we know the Creator is on our side.”
For more information visit www.SaveHickoryGround.org or facebook.com/SaveHickoryGround.
Link to video of arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0S3a–chc1M
Sterlin Harjo’s Back to Nature – The Battle for Hickory Ground
