Sequoyah v. Tennessee Valley Authority
1979 Tennessee court case / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sequoyah v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 480 F.Supp. 608 (1979), was a Tennessee court case that ruled on the applicability of the Free Exercise clause to the relationship and significance of land sacred to the Cherokee people, specifically the Little Tennessee River and its surrounding valley. The suit, brought by three Cherokee individuals and two Cherokee organizations/bands to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, sought an injunction to restrain the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) from flooding the sacred Cherokee land along the Little Tennessee River for the purpose of creating the Tellico Dam. The plaintiffs argued that the flooding of the Little Tennessee River valley, given their specific spiritual and historical relationship to the land, would infringe on their right to practice their religion.[1]