Duke Energy says it needs to restart work near Kituwah, the ancestral Cherokee birthplace in North Carolina.

Duke halted work after the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Cherokee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians raised concerns about an electrical substation less than a half-mile from Kituwah. Commissioners in Swain County subsequently imposed a 90-day moratorium that is due to expire in about a month.

Duke says alternative sites proposed by the Eastern Band and others in the county aren't viable. The tribe apparently thinks otherwise and is preparing to start an archaeological survey on one of the alternatives.

Kituwah is the birthplace of the Cherokee people. It was home to the tribe's ancestral village and the site of a year-round sacred flame.

Get the Story:
Duke Energy says work near Cherokees must start soon (The Charlotte Observer 5/12)
Duke Energy wants Indian site (The Raleigh News & Observer 5/12)

Related Stories:
Petition forces decision on project by Cherokee sacred site (4/6)
Petition takes aim at development by Cherokee birthplace (4/1)
County delays development near Cherokee sacred site (03/16)
Cherokee tribes discuss sacred site with company (2/19)
Editorial: Don't put electrical station near sacred site (2/16)
Eastern Cherokees oppose building near site (2/11)