ZION CROSSROADS — Monacan Indian Nation members and their supporters spoke out Tuesday against a planned water project in Fluvanna County.
Point of Fork, also known as Rassawek, the historic capital of the Monacan Indian Nation, is the planned site for the water intake and pump station for the project.
The water intake and pump station are part of a larger project through the James River Water Authority to bring water from the James River to a water treatment facility in Louisa County, and ultimately would serve the Zion Crossroads area in Fluvanna and Louisa.
At the water authority’s meeting Tuesday, Monacan Nation members, as well as supporters from other tribes and the community, spoke out against the project.
Monacan Chief Kenneth Branham said no one at the meeting would like to see their ancestors’ remains dug up and removed.
“I’ve done that once before and I do not want to go through it again,” he said. “I don’t think any of you gentleman would like to see your grandparents and great-grandparents dug up and removed, so I’m asking you to do the same thing that you would do if you were in my place, you would fight it. That’s why we’re here.”
The project has been in the works for years, and has received pushback from residents, and elected officials have expressed hesitations before.
The water authority is waiting on a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw water.
Marion Werkheiser, managing attorney of Cultural Heritage Partners, representing the Monacan Indian Nation, said the tribe has been engaged in conversations with the authority and other agencies since 2017.
“Now the tribe has decided to go public because we need public support to show these government agencies that it is not in the public’s interest to move forward with this project,” she said.
Read the entire article at Daily Progress.
Image: Earl Evans, of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe, voices his opposition to the James River Water Authority’s efforts to construct a water intake and pump station at Rassawek, the historic capital of the Monacan Indian Nation, during the authority’s meeting Tuesday. ANDREW SHURTLEFF/THE DAILY PROGRESS.