In dramatic switch, ex-deputy charged in skirmish at historic NC Native American site

A former Onslow County Sheriff’s Office deputy is now charged with assault and more linked to a June confrontation near a Native American archaeological site located in a stalled housing development.

Carteret County officials also dropped charges against a Native American person who was originally the sole person charged in the incident, Carteret County Sheriff’s Office Major Derek Moore confirmed.

James Delao, the former deputy, lives in the Bridge View development in Cedar Point. Discovery of thousands of Native American artifacts and burial sites dating as far back as 1000 B.C. prompted the N.C. Department of Coastal Management to halt building on a 21-acre portion of the site bordering Bogue Sound.

On June 23, a group of Native Americans held a prayer vigil at nearby Croatan National Park to honor their history and ancestors, said Crystal Cavalier-Keck, a cofounder of Native American environmental justice organization 7 Directions of Service.

After dinner at a nearby seafood restaurant, they placed tobacco leaves at the gate of Cedar Point and decided to enter the community when the gates were open.

“We were honoring our ancestors because our history has been so erased and so whitewashed that we have lost who we are as a people, and this was just a little piece that we were able to gain back,” said Cavalier-Keck, a member of the Occoneechee Band of the Saponi Nation.

A fight broke out when several residents of the community approached the Native American group as they were trying to leave, Cavalier-Keck said.

In newly released video recorded by a woman with the Native American group, Delao is shown arguing and skirmishing with several people. At one point, Delao can be seen throwing a woman in a ribbon skirt to the ground.

Monday, Carteret County Sheriff’s Office investigators charged Delao with communicating threats, assault on a female and falsifying a police report.

Detectives are still reviewing evidence in the case and interviewing witnesses, Moore said in the press release. Further charges are possible.

Originally, the Carteret County Sheriff’s Office charged a Native American person whose name they did not share in connection with the skirmish. A June 25 press release describing the since-dropped charges said a resident of the community had been stabbed and the person responsible had fled the scene.

Bridge View controversy

The development received significant attention earlier this year after a bill in the N.C. General Assembly would have allowed developers to disturb archaeological sites while developing coastal areas.

N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources officials quickly linked the legislation to Bridge View, a site department officials called “exceptional and anomalous” and “one of the most significant archaeological sites identified in North Carolina since the 1990s” in briefing materials prepared for legislators.

The Division of Coastal Management consults with DNCR as part of the process for Coastal Area Management Act permits that permit building in environmentally sensitive coastal areas.

Lawmakers tried to revamp the bill to protect land buyers from purchasing property likely containing archaeological sites and encourage the state to buy land where it had identified sites. But that language was ultimately removed from legislation.

The confrontation at Bridge View happened the weekend before Sen. Norm Sanderson, who represents Carteret County, took the language out of House Bill 385.

Dozens of homes have already been built or are under construction at a further inland portion of the site that is not controlled by coastal development permits. Many people are already living there, in homes they purchased for about $500,000 down the street from the still-uncovered survey pits where archaeologists found 11 Native American burial sites.

The Tuscarora Nation of North Carolina, which is not recognized by the state or federal government, has officially claimed its ancestors lived at the site bordering Bogue Sound where the developers want to build.

“The Tuscarora Nation of NC, like any other Indigenous nation and community of people, holds a deep reverence for our ancestors and their burial sites. We deserve to access lands containing our ancestor’s burial sites, pray over their remains, and honor their relationship with the land,” chiefs of the Tuscarora Nation wrote in a statement.

New video of the confrontation

The gate to the development was open when the group approached them, with a sign advertising an open house, Cavalier-Keck recalled. The group went straight to the back of the development, where the burial sites have been found.

The Native American group laid tobacco leaves down, a traditional offering to the spirit, around one of the survey pits dug by an archaeology firm working for the developer. Those pits are located on the eastern edge of the development, bordering Bogue Sound.

The group also sang a traditional song meant to call to their ancestors and another one to send them home.

The group had said a traveling prayer to help the group, many of whom faced several-hour drives, make it home safely, Cavalier-Keck said. Shortly after that, Bridge View residents confronted them.

The newly released video shows Delao yelling at a pickup truck as it drives away, stating that the Native Americans are trespassing. Then, a man approaches Delao and points, seemingly gesturing that he should stay away from the truck. Delao pauses, points at the man and says, “I will knock him out.”

Then, the camera is seemingly hit and shakes around for a few moments. When it comes back into focus, Delao is shown throwing a woman to the ground. This is when Cavalier-Keck contends Delao may have cut his arm on the earring.

A young man then tries to pull Delao off the woman, and Delao tackles him.

As they are wrestling, another woman who seems to be associated with Delao is shown falling to the ground. She quickly stands up, and Delao is shown holding the young man on the ground for more than 30 seconds before letting him climb to his feet.

In the newly released video, a woman carrying the camera is shown approaching Delao after the confrontation and saying, “This is not necessary.”

Delao pointed a finger at her and said, “It is necessary. You guys trespassed. He just assaulted me. She just assaulted me.”

“Wait a minute, who trespassed first? We have burial stuff here, so who trespassed first?” said the woman behind the camera, who later indicates she is a member of the Tuscarora tribe.

“It doesn’t matter,” Delao said.

“It does matter,” the woman responded.



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