Relics from Chehaw massacre site to be displayed at Native American Festival

LEESBURG — Chehaw will host its 28th annual Native American Festival this weekend to celebrate the lives, history and heritage of the original inhabitants of this country. During the festival, Lee County Chief Code Enforcement Officer Jim Wright, also an amateur archaeologist, will showcase many of the historical artifacts he has found in and around the Chiaha (Chehaw) site, where an infamous massacre occurred 200 years ago.

Wright, who spends much of his leisure time trolling creek bottoms, freshly plowed fields and long-forgotten coves of human occupation around the county, stressed that all of his searching is done with the express permission of the land owner and according to the law.

“It is very important for people to realize that most of these places (I search) are on private property,” Wright said. “Many of these property owners have had a lot of problems with people coming on their property hunting, digging for arrowheads, leaving beer cans and even stealing. It is illegal to go on someone’s property without permission, and it can be a nightmare for property owners.

“Anytime I go hunting relics on a piece of land, I get permission from the landowner, or I don’t go. It is as simple as that. I always report back what I found, and the owner knows that if I see someone out there, I will say something about it.”

In Wright’s office, a veritable treasure trove of simple objects once lost in time but now refound — bottles and glassware from the 1800s, broken pottery pieces, arrowheads, musket balls, brass buttons and buckles, and countless other aged relics from a bygone era — adorn the shelves and walls.

“Patience and research,” Wright said. “That’s how you find relics. A lot of times you won’t find anything, but sometimes you do.”

Proudly displayed and organized for this weekend’s Native American Festival, Wright opened a glass-front artifact box sitting on his desk to reveal some of the latest items he recovered from the Chehaw massacre site. As he sorted through the items, some rusted beyond recognition, Wright explained a little about the site.

“There was a large, well-established village there,” he said. “I actually found a map from the early 1800s showing the layout of the village. There are only two places where it shows Native Americans being in any group in Lee County, and that was at Chehaw and Philema Town. I don’t have access to Philema.

“But when we began searching the Chehaw Massacre site, which is spread out over a fairly large area, we would find debris in long, straight rows, and then we wouldn’t find anything again for about 30 feet or so. Then we would begin finding more: broken pieces of plates, nails, buttons, musket balls, copper arrowheads, and I have almost pieced together an entire musket, minus the stock, of course. All of this stuff, we will have on display Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Native American Festival.”

Again, Wright stressed the importance of following the law.

“I don’t like to reveal the exact locations of these sites, because people get really excited thinking they are going to find some treasure and go out trespassing,” he said. “That will get you arrested. You cannot just go onto someone’s land and start digging for artifacts.”

According to Wright, beyond simple trespassing or theft, a host of other laws and policies exist that protect Indian sites and Native American objects in Georgia.

“There is a whole list of laws that we have to follow,” he said. “Even if you are a hardcore artifact hunter like me, you still have to follow the law.”

For more information about laws and policies pertaining to relic hunting or Native American artifacts in Georgia, visit georgiaindiancouncil.org.