BRYSON CITY, N.C. (AP) – North Carolina’s Cherokee Indians are protesting construction of an electrical station near the site the tribe considers its birthplace.

The Charlotte Observer reported Thursday that Duke Energy is clearing a site overlooking the ancestral home the Cherokee call Kituwah. Archaeologists say the site has been occupied for at least 9,000 years.

The Swain County site is in a field along the Tuckasegee River between the tribal reservation and Bryson City. The Cherokee own the land the tribe considers its “mother town,” and don’t like Duke building a transmission station a half-mile away and across the river that will rise up to 40 feet.

Duke Energy says the president of its Carolinas operating unit will meet with tribal officials next week.

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Information from: The Charlotte Observer,
http://www.charlotteobserver.com