Editing Nuwaubian Nation (section)

===The United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors and Tama Re===

In 1993, the Holy Tabernacle Ministries was renamed the United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors, a term later shortened to the United Nuwaubian Nation.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=7}} The group sold its Brooklyn property and relocated to an area near [[Eatonton, Georgia]], where it had bought 475 acres of land for $975,000.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=7, 71}} Around 100 followers moved there with York,{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=71}} erecting a compound built by voluntary labor between 1993 and 2000.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=72}} Rejecting their previous styles of clothing, they began dressing in cowboy hats and boots.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=7}} By 2002, about 400 people were living there.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=72}}

[[File:TamaRe.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Aerial view of the Tama-Re compound as it stood in 2002]]

York began referring to his followers as the Yamassee Native American Moors of the Creek Nation,{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=7}} maintaining that their Georgia land represented a "Sovereign Nation".{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=68}} He alleged that his followers were descended from the first humans to settle the Americas, having walked there from ancient Egypt at a period before [[continental drift]] had separated Africa from the Americas.{{sfn|Gabriel|2003|p=155}} They filed for recognition with the [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]], but were rejected.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=147}} He began claiming to descend from [[Pocahontas]] on his maternal side, and was now referred to by his followers as "Maku" or "Chief Black Eagle."{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=7}}

As part of this new origin story, York claimed that his followers, and not contemporary Egyptians, were the true descendants of ancient Egypt.{{sfn|Gabriel|2003|p=156}} Increasingly, he started foregrounding ancient Egyptian motifs, symbols, and paraphernalia into his movement,{{sfn|Gabriel|2003|p=155}} maintaining that the teachings he was promoting came from an ancient Egyptian deity, Neteru.{{sfn|Gabriel|2003|p=155}} 
York started calling himself the "Supreme Grand Hierophant of the Ancient Egyptian Order".{{sfn|Gabriel|2003|p=156}}
It was in Georgia that the Nuwaubians built a [[theme park]], [[Tama-Re]].{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=71}} This included a museum of black history, a sphinx, a gold pyramid, and a larger, 40-foot high pyramid;{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=71}} this was black with gold trim, a design some have compared to the [[Kaaba]] in Mecca.{{sfn|Knight|2020|p=4}} The group called this an "Egiptian village" and advertised it as "the Mecca in the West".{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=7}} Tama Re's function was as both a revenue-raising visitor attraction and also a [[pilgrimage]] site.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=72}} Pilgrims subsequently came from the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, and the UK, with their numbers rising from 2000 in 1999 to 5000 in 2001.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=73}} Although some pilgrims were committed Nuwaubians, they also included many black people interested in their racial heritage.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=xxxiv}}

In 1996, York published the Nuwaubian holy book, ''[[The Holy Tablets]]''.{{sfn|Knight|2020|p=219}}
During this period, the group maintained Holy Tabernacle stores "in more than a dozen cities in the U.S., the United Kingdom, and Trinidad," and continued to gain revenues from them.<ref name= meets /> York purchased a $557,000 mansion for his own use in [[Athens, Georgia]], about 60 miles away.<ref name= meets />

After the move to Georgia, there was a wave of defections from the group. Many of those defectors complained of unpaid labor, poor living conditions, and both financial and sexual exploitation within the group.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=84}} By 2001, a network of ex-members had formed, centring under the leadership of York's son Jacob, who had left alongside his mother and three siblings in 1990.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=84-85}} Jacob set up a [[halfway house]] for those leaving Tama Re in [[Atlanta, Georgia]], through which he helped them establish a life outside the Nuwaubian community.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=86}}

==== Local tensions ====

In Georgia, the Nuwaubians met substantial local opposition.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=68}} From 1997, many of the issues revolved around breaches of building regulations. In 1998, Victor Greig, the group's administrator in charge of construction, was fined $45,750 for violating building code regulations in the erection of a social club.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=75-76}} In 1999, York then appeared in court on a contempt motion filed by the county, but this was dismissed.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=77-78}}

Initially, the Nuwaubians were considered "eccentric" yet tolerable by their neighbors. Tensions increased locally, when the group distributed [[Pamphlet|leaflets]] attacking whites and claiming [[Ethnic conflict|racially-motivated persecution]] in a [[zoning]] conflict (they had set up an illegal [[nightclub]] in a [[warehouse]] on their property). These actions alienated many residents of the area, both black and white, among other ethnicities and races.<ref name= meets /> In 1998, the county sought an [[injunction]] against construction under any use that violated zoning policies. Subsequently, the Nuwaubian community increased its leafletting of Eatonton and surrounding areas, charging white officials with racial discrimination and striving to increase opposition to them. Threats mounted and an eviscerated dog carcass was left at the home of the [[District attorney|county attorney]].<ref name= meets>{{cite journal| url= https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/intelligence-report/2002/united-nuwaubian-nation-moors-meets-its-match-georgia |title= United Nuwaubian Nation of Moors Meets Its Match in Georgia |last=Moser |first=Bob |date= September 20, 2002 | publisher= [[Southern Poverty Law Center]]| journal= Intelligence Report| number= 107 | access-date= August 19, 2020| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050301090734/http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid%3D41%26printable%3D1 |archive-date=March 1, 2005}}</ref>

In 1999, the Nuwaubians launched their own local publication, ''The Putnam News'',{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=78}} and the following year fielded candidates, associated with the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]], for the Putnam County elections.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=81}}<ref>{{cite journal| last= Palmer| first= Susan| title= Cult Fighting in Middle Georgia| url= http://www2.trincoll.edu/csrpl/RINVol9No1/Cult%20Fighting%20in%20Middle%20Georgia.htm| journal= [[Religion in the News]] | date= Summer 2006| volume= 9| number= 1| access-date= August 19, 2020| via= trincoll.edu| publisher= [[Trinity College (Connecticut)|Trinity College]] | place= Hartford, Connecticut}}</ref> This contributed to local fears that the Nuwaubians were attempting a political takeover of the area, akin to that which the [[Rajneesh movement|Rajneesh]] followers had allegedly done in [[Oregon]].{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=82}} Local newspapers gave the Nuwaubians overwhelmingly negative coverage,{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=82}} while various journalists and attorneys who were deemed hostile to the group reported receiving death threats, property damage, or being stalked.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=82-83}} 

Amid these tensions, the Nuwaubians pursued links with the African-American community more broadly; in 1999, they invited prominent community leaders [[Al Sharpton]] and [[Tyrone Brooks]] to visit Tama Re and speak on their behalf,{{sfn|Palmer|2010|pp=78-79}}<ref name= meets /> with [[Jesse Jackson]] then doing the same in 2001.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=83}} The Nuwaubians also built links with the white-dominated [[Montana Freemen]], a [[Christian Patriot movement|Christian Patriot]] [[American militia movement|militia]]. One of the Freemen, Everett Leon Stout, visited Tama Re and encouraged the Nuwaubians to call on the county coroner to arrest the local sheriff and to file multi-million dollar lawsuits against various local officials.{{sfn|Palmer|2010|p=80}}