The Eastern Band of Cherokee will break ground next week on North Carolina's first tribal national veterans cemetery

L2Who’s affected

Who's affected: "It's designed to have 250 in-ground burial sites and 190 columbarium spaces for members of federally recognized tribes and eligible family members" (WUNC). The tribe "had bought the site in the Wolftown community and began burying its veterans there — 13 so far" (WUNC).

L3Why it’s quiet

Why it stayed quiet: Analysis: It is a construction milestone in a small mountain community, reported by regional public radio on national Election Day.

L4Deeper impact

Deeper impact: "We become the 15th National Tribal Veterans Cemetery in the United States, which is a great honor," said Gerard Ball, "program director for the tribe's Department of Military and Veterans Affairs" (WUNC). "So everything in it is done in the Cherokee way, the graves face to the east, so the sun rises on our veterans," Ball said (WUNC). "The building that will house ceremonies will have seven sides because that number is sacred to the tribe," and "Signage will be in both English and Cherokee, he said" (WUNC). Tribal members buried elsewhere will be listed on a memorial wall; Ball said "we can put their names on the wall, which in a sense, gives the family some closure, brings them home" (WUNC).

L5Full context

Full context: The tribe is "working with the government to allow the burial of Cherokee who died at the notorious church and government-run boarding schools" that operated "from the mid-19th century into the 20th century" (WUNC). "Ball said if family members request it, those buried at the school sites can be disinterred and moved to the new cemetery" (WUNC).

You’ve reached the bottom. Read the original reporting below.