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are currently in discussion of possible repatriations.48
During an interview with Jim David, the NPS Superintendent of the Ocmulgee National

Monument, expressed his appreciation for the input that the Muscogee Nation has had with the
Monument during his long career at Ocmulgee. He also communicated “that he and the National Park
Service staff at the Ocmulgee National Monument feel that this land is sacred,” echoing the sentiments
of the Muscogee Creek peoples.49 The removal of the Creek Nation from this area of Georgia did a lot
to distance these people from their connection with this ancient site. In addition, much damage has
been done to this sacred complex since the United States took control of traditional Creek lands, from
the huge swaths cut from the Lesser Temple and Funeral Mounds by railways to the disruptive
excavations of the 1930s. While the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act may not
be a blanket piece of legislation that will fix all of the problems associated with the decades', if not
centuries', worth of damage that archaeology and anthropology have done to Native America, at the
Ocmulgee National Monument its has provided a more balanced path forward. When comparing past
archaeological work and the contemporary level of Native American involvement, through modern
surveys, publications, and personal interviews, NAGPRA gives the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the
eleven other affiliated tribes, assurances that further exploitation of their ancestral remains and cultural
objects will be halted, and offers them a chance to participate in the future usage, exploration, and
direction of their sacred lands.

Though the Muscogee peoples have been long removed from the area of Ocmulgee National
Monument, the area has not been removed from their consciousness. Any discussion of this ancient site
cannot be complete without exploring the Creek Nation's remarkable connection to their cultural
heritage. The small scope of this project has greatly hindered my ability to devote the time needed to do
justice to these people, the hardships that American imperialism has brought to them, and their amazing

http://anthropology.si.edu/repatriation/faq/index.htm#general04.
48 David, Interview.
49 David, Interview.