As part of our mission, the Etiwan Tribe of the Wassamasaw Indian Nation advocated for sacred site protection.

The Caton Creek Unit - Phyllis Varner Tract land has multiple cultural interpretations and creates competing orientations about the use and value of land. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was an outgrowth and legal version of AIRFA. Native American communities have lost direct control over many of the sacred places within their community history and teachings. Holy or special places are vulnerable to non-Indian forces, which do not know about the meaning and purpose of the places and often destroy the sites for economic purposes. West of Wassamasaw is one of these sacred places. Old Calamus Pond Cemetery is a Native American Burial Ground where Phyllis Varner is buried. Stop the desecration of our Sacred Sites (burial grounds).