To the Editor:

The deed to the Nikwasi Mound states that, “the mound shall be preserved for the citizens of Macon County and for posterity, and the same shall be kept as it now stands and shall not be excavated, explored, altered, or impaired in any way or used for any commercial purpose, and shall be kept as a monument to the early history of Macon County ....”

Furthermore, “any deed, lease or other contract which in any way may interfere with the objects and purposes of this instrument as above set forth shall be null and void, and should the Town of Franklin at any time fail to carry out the provisions of this instrument, then any citizen of Macon County shall have the right to apply to the Court for injunctive relief and to prosecute said action in their own behalf and in behalf of all other citizens of Macon County.”

Bottom line is that the Nikwasi Mound has been preserved and well maintained for over a half century by the Town of Franklin until a year or so ago when a Town of Franklin power struggle heated up among the mayor, vice mayor, and aldermen, and the mound became a handy bone of contention, a visible way to politically squabble for power and control, and the citizens of Macon County have a vested interest in the mound, a cultural and financial stake in the mound as per the legal deed that describes the preservation and maintenance of mound for “the citizens of Macon County.”

This current brouhaha is not just a political power struggle that the Macon County Commissioners can discount, wash their hands of, and kick the ball to the Franklin Town Board to deal with as a play toy for governance issues. The mound, in the legal care of the Town of Franklin since the 1940s, belongs to all of us, the citizens of Macon County. Simple as that.

Betty Cloer Wallace

Franklin