A federal appeals court in Atlanta will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a long-running legal dispute between a pair of Native American tribes over an historically significant site in Alabama called Hickory Ground.
The case stems from a lawsuit the Muscogee (Creek) Nation filed in 2012 against the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Auburn University, the U.S. Interior Department and others.
The suit alleges the Poarch violated federal laws and desecrated the 34-acre site near Wetumpka by removing from it more than 57 bodies of Muscogee ancestors and thousands of sacred artifacts to make way for a casino and hotel.
A bitter fight between two tribes over sacred land where one built a casino
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the site served as the last Muscogee capital before its people were forced west by federal authorities during the deadly Trail of Tears in the 19th century…