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Common Ground

FRANCIS P. MCMANAMON

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OMMON GROUND" refers to space, either physical The world is more complicated than it was in 1906. The or psychological, about which a variety of individ­ advocates of the Antiquity Act could not have foreseen the uals with diverse backgrounds hold similar feelings multitude of perspectives that now must be considered in Cor views. It is a place where people making preservation truly a common endeavor. who might otherwise not have much to agree Increasingly, consulting with Native Americans about can find reasons to work together and, In using these and other ethnic groups with special relation­ perhaps, even come to appreciate the perspec­ ships to archeological sites requires knowledge tives of others. words os this pub­ of ethnographic approaches sensitive to the Common ground encompasses places in concerns of traditional cultures. Often these which many of us have a stake. Ninety years lication's title, we approaches are the key to forging consensus on ago, the people of the United States, acting how to solve otherwise intractable problems— through their elected representatives, resolved aim to underscore in short, finding common ground. In using these words as this publication's title, to set aside archeological sites on public lands that while each as common ground. It was decided that indi­ we aim to underscore that while each segment viduals ought not to dig about haphazardly in segment in our in our audience has its own perspective, there is ancient sites, removing whatever caught their much in common. Our readers work in federal, fancy to keep or sell. To that end, the audience has its state, tribal, and local governments, colleges Antiquities Act, signed into law on June 8, and universities, and private firms; some work 1906, by President Theodore Roosevelt, regu­ own perspective, abroad. They are land managers, curators, TO ISSUE WITIKEBEZI, ONE. lated excavating sites and collecting artifacts. Native Americans, historians, archeologists, Such activity was to be limited to those with there is much in and others. Yet the issues they face cut across elcome to volume 1, number 1, of Common Ground: Archeology and Ethnography the expertise to carry out careful, well-record­ the barriers. Determining the most appropriate ed investigations. Furthermore, in order to common. way to preserve a site. Ascertaining the best in the Public Interest, formerly Federal Archeology. The name change arises from receive permission to do so, investigators had public interpretation for it—or deciding that no to commit to use what they found for public interpretation is best. Making these decisions the formal merger of archeology and ethnography here at the National Park frequently calls for more than one discipline's expertise. All benefit. Investigations were to be conducted "... with a Service. For this new publication, the merger means even broader coverage of the cross-disci­ view to increase the knowledge of such objects," which were perspectives can contribute to the dialogue. to be set aside "for permanent preservation in public muse­ plinary partnership projects that for years have been a staple within our pages. ums." Y SHARING OUR EXPERTISE and views, we make Through the Antiquities Act, Americans accepted the them clearer to others. Clarity does not ensure And starting with this issue, we'll be going beyond the confines of the printed page. Our cov­ agreement among a diverse group, but it can show notion that archeological resources are valuable mainly for the erage of the Delta's Native heritage extends to a World Wide Web site created to take the information they represent. A few sites may contain commer­ Bwhere our interests intersect. Common Ground, like cially valuable artifacts, but this is not the primary benefit its predecessor Federal Archeology, intends to foster this preservation message to the public. Visit the site at http://www.cr.nps.gov. Look for more derived from investigating them. process. We welcome our long-time colleagues in ethnography as for­ such links in the future, both for the general web audience and for the professional readers N THE YEARS SINCE the act was passed, public support mal partners in this endeavor. We renew our commitment to and statutory protection have expanded for all kinds of our other colleagues, our clients, and all our partners in the of this publication. historic properties, often translating to preservation on work of protecting, preserving, and interpreting our common We plan to serve our new audiences just as well as our loyal readers of old. Stay tuned for Iprivate lands. Success in preserving these sites requires ground. working closely with landowners as well as employing regula­ further developments in coming issues. —DAVID ANDREWS AND JOSEPH FLANAGAN, EDITORS tory tools. This is particularly the case for the Delta earth­ Francis P. McManamon is Chief, Archeology and Ethnography works, most of which are privately held, discussed in this issue Program, and Departmental Consulting Archeologist, National of Common Ground. Park Service, Department of the Interior.

2 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 CONTENTS

COMMON GROUND: ARCHEOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST is Columns published by the National Park IN CONTEXT 2 Service Departmental Consulting Francis E McManamon Archeologist and Archeology and Ethnography Program. Departments SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR Bruce Babbitt DIGGINGS 6 News, Views, and Recently Noted DIRECTOR, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Roger Kennedy SlTEWATCH 8 ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, CULTURAL RESOURCES Protecting the Nation's Archeological Katherine H. Stevenson Heritage DEPARTMENTAL CONSULTING ARCHEOLOGIST CHIEF, ARCHEOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY NAGPRANEWS 47 Francis E McManamon Implementing the Native American x.vno.vAl, A.Vrillf<>l>OI,<><;!< Al. IU( IIIVKH, S.MITIISOMA.V DESTITUTION Graves Protection and DEPUTY CHIEF Gardener Mound, AR, in detail of 19th century sketch by Cyrus Thomas. Repatriation Act Veletta Canouts GUEST EDITORS Francis E McManamon Veletta Canouts MISSISSIPPI MANAGING EDITOR DESIGNER Monumental Endeavor BY GUY PRENTICE David Andrews Information is scattered, sometimes incomplete, and the plow threatens. In an attempt to preserve ASSOCIATE EDITOR the Delta's heritage for future generations, a first-of-its-kind study has been launched, PAGE 16 Joseph Flanagan CONTRIBUTING EDITORS HlQUeil tllieS BY ROGER G. KENNEDY S. Terry Childs In the lower Mississippi valley, writes Roger Kennedy, "antiquity slumbered while commerce fretted Dan Haas and scratched overhead." And so it has been for years. In an excerpt from his book Hidden Cities, Ruthann Knudson the director of the National Park Service says that today we have a new opportunity to appreciate C. Timothy McKeown the accomplishments of ancient Americans, PAGE 22 David Tarler Richard C. Waldbauer DldllVc V01CCS BY PENNY JESSEL PRINTING COORDINATOR Who are the descendants of the people that built the mounds on the rich, alluvial soil that lines Jerry Buckbinder the lower Mississippi? Native voices speak, PAGE 26 Statements of fact and views are the responsibility of the authors and do Mother Mound BY K^-CANTON not necessarily reflect an opinion or Nanih Waiya is the center of the Choctaw's creation tales, the "Mother Mound." PAGE 32 an endorsement by the editors or the National Park Service. Send comments, articles, address From Ancient Site to Tourist Attraction BY MARY KWAS AND ROBERT MA,^™ changes, and information on confer­ A third-grade teacher tells a jaded group of eight- and nine-year-olds that they are going on a field trip ences, training, and publications to to an archeological park. Can the event capture the attention of the video-enraptured? PAGE 34 Editor, NPS Archeology and Ethnography Program, EO. Box iilyril TldCe, illlJIU l lllie BY SAM BROOKES, EDWIN JACKSON, AND PAT GALLOWAY 37127, Washington, DC 20013- Rising out of the cotton fields, Little Spanish Fort measures over a thousand yards in diameter. It has 7127, (202) 343-4101, fax (202) the awe-inspiring quality of many of the Delta's mound sites—and more, the authors say. PAGE 39 523-1547, e-mail [email protected] or ISPCCQinQ AnCdQ 01 U1L rlOW BY JOE SAUNDERS AND THURMAN ALLEN [email protected]. While the loss of the earthworks proceeds apace, an archeologist and a geologist work on non­ destructive ways to learn without excavating them, PAGE 40 Logotype modeling, cover imaging: Randy Mays. Cover: Emerald Mound, MS; opposite: excavat­ Peril or Potential BYHES™D.WIS ing Emerald, NATCHBS TKACH PAHKWAT / M-S The people who built the ancient mounds belong to the ages now. What's left of their legacy rapid­ ly approaches extinction. Archeology raised its voice in the mid-'60s, but it has taken decades to be heard. Is it too late? PAGE 46

COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 5 Pljl| lis, Views, ifl Recently Hotel

Digital Eye on Mesa Verde the first in its borders in 90 With help from the Getty years. Last October, nearly Grant Program, the 200 "excess" bison were University of Pennsylvania rounded up from the and the National Park Badlands' 63,000-acre Sage Service are developing one Creek Wilderness. The of the first computer-aided roundup has contributed to strategies to evaluate prehis­ the gradual rebirth of Native toric architectural surfaces. Americans' traditional rela­ The first subject: Mug tionship with the animal. House at Colorado's Mesa The bison were turned Verde National Park. over to tribes with the help The U-Penn/NPS team, of the Oglala Sioux and the thanks to a $42,350 match­ InterTribal Bison Cooperative, formed four ing grant, are developing a I \1\ FRS1TY OF I'K.\\SVI.VA\1A ABCHITEC1 I KAI. FO.YSFRVATIOA LABORATORY years ago. The purpose of conservation plan for Student documents mud plaster of measurement based on actu­ the cooperative, says Wetherill Mesa's stone ruin, kiva at Mesa Verde's Mug House. al responses from field tests Executive Director Mark known for its painted plaster on 162 collections at 17 NPS Sl'BMERGF.n t't'iaTKAl, KESOIRCES L'.VIT Hecker, is "to share the walls and floors—some of a site where preservationists curation facilities. Ridge reservation abuts the TOPS ON THE BOTTOM: The Park Service submerged cultural resources unit 19th century brought mining dream of buffalo restoration. the most intact in the have learned for four The database employs park's south unit. The received an award of merit from the Society for Historical Archaeology at to the area, with extensive To share the culture." Southwest. The decoratively decades—New Mexico's easy-to-use D/base IV soft­ remainder were given to its annual conference in Cincinnati on January 4. logging and milling from the painted plaster of a kiva Fort Union National Bison are the dominant ware. Users can be as specif­ seven other tribes from The unit—a team of trained archeologists and research divers formed 1920s onwards. there is exceptional. Monument, the largest large herbivore of the ic as they wish, assessing South Dakota, Wisconsin, in 1980 as a spinoff of the NPS-run National Reservoir Inundation Students face all the obsta­ In addition to formulating adobe ruin in the country. parts of collections or entire Badland's grassy areas. Kansas, New Mexico, and Study—has set a standard for excellence in non-destructive archeology cles to an accurate survey. a plan for the plaster, the groups of repositories. Because carnivores like the Nebraska. and the preservation of submerged sites. The SCRU's evaluation of the Defining too big an area can grizzly are no longer there to project is bringing together State of the Artifacts For more information, con­ For tribes such as wear out the staff. Fielding a keep the population down, USS Arizona led to a series of World War II documentation projects car­ land managers, conservators, Faced with the daunting tact Frederick L. Briuer, Nebraska's Santee Sioux, it large team can complicate the bison must be managed ried out with the U.S. Navy. The unit has also been featured in National archeologists, and architects task of caring for millions of Director, Center for Cultural has been nearly 100 years logistics. Students are also according to the land's capac­ Geographic and on ABC, CBS, and the Discovery Channel. to preserve ruins throughout artifacts, the Corps of Site Preservation since they've had buffalo. "It penalized for days missed ity to sustain them. Typically, Above, an archeologist approaches the paddlewheel of the 19th century the region. Engineers is getting some Technology, U.S. Army goes a lot deeper than just due to weather and sites roundups take place when steamer Cumberland, off Isle Royale National Park in Lake Superior. The work is phase two of a help from computer technol­ Corps of Engineers, an economic thing," says unseen in the rush to finish. Waterways Experiment the herd tops 500. project that started in the ogy. The COE's Vicksburg Fred DuBray of the and fatigue all conspire their skills without leaving For more information, Station, 3909 Halls Ferry summer of 1994. Phase one Waterways Experiment The tribes use the buffalo Cheyenne River Sioux. The against a survey's accuracy. their desks. The two stress contact Dirk H.R. Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180- had the U-Penn conserva­ Station has developed a way not only for subsistence, but bison are "a central element Now a pair of Australians that CICRIT (computerised Spennemann, Johnstone 6199, (601) 634-4204, fax tion lab and the Park Service to assess the Corps' curation for religious ceremonies as of who we are." may make the job a bit easi­ interactive cultural resources Centre of Parks, Recreation (601) 634-2835, e-mail researching past preservation picture online. well. Some use the animals er for the next generation of inventory training tool) is and Heritage, Charles Sturt [email protected]. and analyzing samples of wall A database was developed to increase the herds they Field Work from Afar archeologists. not meant to replace University, EO. Box 789, surfaces. A third phase will already have. The Taos in the wake of Corps Designing and executing an Charles Sturt University required field work. Still, the Albury NSW 2640, see the start of a pilot con­ Badlands Bison Spawn Pueblo will breed the new requirements that its dis­ archeological survey tests archeologist Dirk simulation program takes Australia, e-mail dspenne- servation program that will Tribal Rebirth buffalo into their herd to tricts report on how their even seasoned professionals. Spennemann and World students to some of [email protected]. include stabilization. enhance its genetic pool. collections are being curat - In 1963, to help restore its Weather and terrain aren't Wide Web programmer Australia's most rugged and CICRIT's internet address is NPS and the university ed. The system's creators grasslands ecosystem, South From this roundup, a hun­ the only challenges. Anthony E Steinke have archeologically rich terrain, http://life.csu.edu.au/~dspen will also join forces for adobe developed standardized data Dakota's Badlands National dred bison went to the Availability of staff, their developed an electronic Victoria's Mt. Wills. The tin nem/MTWILLS/CICRITHT and masonry preservation at categories and scales for Park brought in 31 bison, Oglala Sioux, whose Pine level of training, time, funds, course to help students hone and gold boom of the late M.

6 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 7 itage is immeasurable. That help of Jim Ellis, a U.S. recently declined a plea archeological sites in Sitatel is how Florida State Park Forest Service officer. Now, agreement and was sched­ Canyonlands National Park Ranger Frank Loughran Ellis lay in wait during the uled for a February trial. and the Manti-LaSal viewed it. Sole custodian of night as well. Lee's agency has taken the National Forest. Digging for Olustee Battlefield since The waiting paid off. In lead in Florida in arrests for artifacts to sell or trade, 1982, Loughran knew the January 1995, Ellis and archeological resource viola­ Shumway destroyed the bur­ Protein it Nation's Arckeolipl lip park inside out, had studied Officer Don Pettijohn of the tions. In the past six ial site of an Anasazi infant. every document on the bat­ state Game and Fresh Water months, they have made six In September, he pled guilty tle. There was special satis­ Fish Commission surprised a felony arrests. to charges in another case: faction in knowing that, for pair of men, one of whom 130 years, the battlefield had fired a shot at the officers. remained untouched, that Both quickly surrendered. the testimony of its archeo­ Randall Edwards, 27, was Looter Gets Jail Time for well as some ground stone conviction galvanized logical remains still had vol­ charged with aggravated Not Returning Artifacts artifacts. Native American groups, umes to speak about history. assault on a law enforce­ But Johnston became sus­ who were unhappy with On November 15, Frederick That was until Loughran ment officer. His companion, picious because the items what they considered a J. Lindauer of Manton, began finding the empty Donald Heiden, 25, was Lindauer had given him lenient punishment. Native California, was sentenced to Marlboro packs. Someone arrested as well. were common, and would be Americans were on hand a two-year term in federal was visiting the battlefield Investigation led to the of little interest to either last November when Senior prison for violating a court by night and systematically arrest of Edwards' brother- archeologists or collectors. U.S. District Judge Milton L. order to turn over to author­ dismantling the archeologi­ in-law, Ronald Allan Two years later, his suspi­ Schwartz sentenced ities Native American arti­ cal record of the battle. A Pearson, 23. cions would be confirmed. Lindauer to the two-year facts that he illegally cat-and-mouse game ensued The trio were part of a ring In December 1992, while term. removed from U.S. Forest between Loughran and the that sold stolen artifacts on being interviewed by the FBI Assistant U.S. Attorney Service land. Lindauer, 61, person he had named "the the black market. It is on an unrelated matter, Tom Hopkins prosecuted the pled guilty in 1989 to exca­ Marlboro Man." Night after believed that many of the Lindauer's estranged wife case. Charles J. Stevens, U.S. vating a 1,400 year-old Yana night, Loughran waited in artifacts from Olustee had volunteered that her hus­ Attorney for the eastern dis­ village site in Lassen the woods, enduring hungry been sold before authorities band had temporarily hidden trict of California, praised National Forest near the Ishi mosquitoes, hoping to catch caught up with the group. In the major part of his collec­ the cooperative efforts of the Wilderness. It was one of the the man in the act. One Pearson's bedroom, stored in tion at a friend's house. Forest Service, the Bureau of first felony convictions morning, there were 176 handmade cases, were scores Land Management, and the under the Archaeological What Lindauer had hidden holes, each six to eight inch­ of bullets, buttons, cannon Shasta County sheriff's Resources Protection Act from authorities turned out es deep. ball fragments, and belt (ARPA; 16U.S.C. 470ee). to be what one witness department. There were a couple of buckles. The resale value of He was sentenced to serve would later describe as "the close encounters. On one the recovered artifacts is put 60 days in jail and a one- most impressive collection of Luck Runs Out for occasion, Loughran sur­ at $3,100, but their all- year term of supervised Indian artifacts in northern Battlefield Thieves prised the thieves (Marlboro important context is proba­ MAXTI-LA SAL XATIOXAL FOREST release and, as part of a plea California," including spear As Civil War battles go, the Man was not alone), and bly lost forever. The friction Landmark Sentence in One of looter Shumway's many agreement, was ordered to points, beads, stone bowls, LASSKX XATIOXAI. KOKUST Above: Looter's signature in battle of Olustee was no they drove their vehicle primers (used to ignite can­ Shumway Case stops: Horse Rock Ruin, Manti-La return to the Forest Service drills, mortars, pestles, Lassen National Forest; below: Gettysburg or Shiloh. But through a massive wall of nons) that were excavated Convicted looter Earl Sal National Forest, Utah. any Native American arti­ charm stones, and arrow some of Lindauer's spoils. the fight between the 5,000- vegetation and broke could have yielded informa­ Shumway has received the facts in his possession. shaft straighteners. Police odd Union and Confederate through to the highway. On tion about the positions of largest sentence ever illegally excavating two officers searching Lindauer's Dates written on boxes and Lindauer was an ardent soldiers that met here in another, there was a brief artillery batteries during the imposed in an archeological alcoves in the BLM's Cedar home as part of a narcotics photos indicated that collector of artifacts, and 1864 was short and fierce. scuffle, but the looters battle. violation case. Described by Mesa Special Management investigation photographed Landauer had been looting When it was over, 2,000 authorities believe his hobby escaped again. The group raided Olustee United States Attorney Area in southeastern Utah the items. A local sheriff's archeological sites since the were dead and a Union may have taken him to Someone even began call­ numerous times, creeping Scott M. Matheson as some­ in 1991. Prehistoric human deputy who had spent 14 1980s. invasion of Florida was northern California, north­ ing Loughran on the tele­ through the pine forests in one who "has come to sym­ remains were desecrated in years as an archeologist saw A federal grand jury thwarted. western Nevada, and eastern phone, taunting him, even camouflage fatigues, using bolize the repeat looter of that incident as well. the photos, and another returned an indictment Oregon. When Lassen Today, Olustee is a forlorn threatening his life. night-vision goggles and prehistoric sites," Shumway In all, Shumway was con­ warrant was served on the charging him with felony National Forest archeologist landscape of palmetto and Loughran pleaded with him metal detectors. was sentenced to six and a victed of seven felonies: four James Johnston showed up Lindauer residence. In addi­ contempt of court for failing scrub trees, a minor chapter to stop the looting. "You're According to Lt. David half years in federal prison. counts of violating ARPA, at Lindauer's home in May tion to the artifacts, authori­ to comply fully with the in the Civil War epic. And destroying history," he told Lee of the Florida Game and In August, a Utah jury two counts of damaging U.S. 1990, he was given some ties seized maps and pho­ terms of his supervised yet, like Gettysburg or him, but it made no differ­ Fresh Water Fish found Shumway guilty of the property, and one count of 2,200 projectile points as tographs of excavation sites. release. Lindauer's 1989 Shiloh, its value to our her- ence. Loughran enlisted the Commission, Pearson 1991 looting of two remote being a felon in possession of

8 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 9 a firearm. The Shumway cant examples of the tion of archeological sites focus of a stabilization pro­ Rice. A dedication ceremo­ Klamath Tribes Get Day in 1990, the Bakers and ther ordered to have no more case has received national destruction of our shared, surrounding Chaco Culture ject that brought together ny was held October 14- A Court Schoonmaker scaled the contact with the tribes and to attention. Reporters were non-renewable cultural her­ National Historical Park in the resources of the Arizona ramada and interpretive fence that surrounds the stay out of Klamath County. The 1990 looting of Wilson present at the sentencing, itage . . . [Shumway] is the May. The Chacoan Outlier Heritage Fund, the City of trail surround the site, pro­ Wilson cemetery and dug Peden received 20 days in jail Cemetery, a Klamath tribal and local affiliates of ABC, prime example of a commer­ Protection Act of 1995 adds Tempe, and Arizona State viding public access while into approximately 18 and a $700 fine. Cvitanovich burial ground in Chiloquin, CBS, and NBC all attended cial looter who systematical­ six sites and over 5,000 acres University. The building, minimizing the effect of foot graves. The Klamath tribes, is set for an April trial. Oregon, has ended in the a press conference after­ ly has assaulted some of the to the extensive complex of which dates to about 1250 traffic. their culture and heritage conviction of three men in wards. nation's most important cul­ related sites around Chaco A.D., was under assault from committee, and the Wilson Oregon Gets Tough in BLM Klamath County District Shumway, who by his own tural places." Culture NHP that are under erosion, pothunters, pedes­ Toll Continues in Custer Cemetery committee Looting Case Court. The trio planned to admission has dug at "thou­ In sentencing Shumway, interagency stewardship. trian traffic, horseback rid­ Relic Saga sell Native American human launched an aggressive effort Jack Lee Harrelson, who loot­ sands and thousands" of Judge Winder said the Known as the Chaco ers, and mountain bikes. Charles Snyder, of Bowie, remains and associated to gather information. The ed a 5,000-year-old site on sites, was convicted in 1986 humans whose graves had Archaeological Site The city of Tempe decided Maryland, was sentenced funerary objects—cremation news media were notified BLM land, has received the been disturbed were victims for an ARPA violation in Protection System, the sites to act to prevent further last August by a U.S. magis­ and burial beads—to finance and a $1,000 reward was maximum sentence under which he took 35 American as well. The standard sen­ are scattered across lands damage until an effective trate in Kentucky for his a methamphetamine labora­ offered for information. Oregon law for an archeologi­ Indian baskets along with tence for the offenses would under the jurisdiction of the method for preserving adobe part in attempting to sell tory. The case of State v. Weeks later, a woman cal resource violation. On ceramic pots, also from have been 51 to 63 months Park Service, the BLM, the is developed. Under the artifacts removed from Baker is a prime example of called the Lane County February 6, Josephine County Manti-LaSal National Forest. in prison, which Winder Forest Service, and the direction of Arizona State Custer Battlefield National a Native American group sheriff with information Circuit Court Judge Lloyd Already serving time for an increased to 78. Navajo Nation. The act also University's Alfred Dittert, Monument in Montana. playing an active role in the implicating Schoonmaker. O'Neal sentenced Harrelson unrelated burglary, Shumway A partner of Shumway's, formalized a cooperative Loma del Rio was excavated Snyder received one year's prosecution process and By mid-1991, he had turned to 90 days in jail and a received a two-year suspend­ Peter Verchick, was sen­ stewardship program with from 1984 to 1986. In the probation, a $5,000 fine, and working effectively with law state's evidence against the $15,000 fine. ed sentence and five years tenced February 1 to four the Navajo Nation and the recent stabilization effort, was ordered to return the enforcement agencies. Bakers. In return for cooper­ For what investigators probation. The artifacts he months home confinement National Park Service. Two- the plastic sheeting and ating with authorities, artifacts to the U.S. govern­ Gordon David Baker, Jr. believe was a period of about looted from Manti-LaSal and ordered to pay $3,700 thirds of Chaco's outlying backfill from that excavation Schoonmaker received two ment. The lead prosecutor was convicted by a jury on three years, Harrelson visit­ were estimated to have a restitution. Verchick pled archeological sites are on were left in place. A filter months in the Lane County was David Bunning, an eight counts of mutilation ed the site in the Black commercial value of between guilty to two misdemeanor Navajo land. fabric was then placed over jail and two years probation. Assistant U.S. Attorney in and injury to Native Rock Desert north of $500,000 and $1 million. ARPA counts last summer. the backfill, providing a The National Parks and Kentucky. American graves, one count Shawn Baker entered a Winnemucca, Nevada. He A transmitter on Verchick's Conservation Association moisture-resistant layer guilty plea in November Lead prosecutor Assistant Snyder, who obtained the of theft in the second removed the remains of two ankle will signal authorities and the Archaeological while allowing air to circu­ 1991, and was sentenced to U.S. Attorney Wayne artifacts from Richard E degree, and one count of young Native Americans, if he ventures more than Conservancy honored late through the soil. The six months imprisonment, Dance—citing the desecra­ Maniscalco in exchange for criminal mischief in the sec­ their burial baskets, and 150 feet from his home. Representative Bill site was then restored as five years probation, a tion of Native American Nazi memorabilia, tried to ond degree. His son, Shawn associated funerary objects. Violation results in immedi­ Richardson (D, New closely as possible to its pre- $3,500 fine, and $1,280 in culture and heritage and the sell them on consignment Baker, pled guilty to four The items were subsequently ate return to custody. Mexico) for his work in get­ excavation state. restitution to the tribes. fact that Shumway showed through a Kentucky auction counts of grave mutilation, discovered at Harrelson's ting the act voted into law. Gordon Baker was found no remorse for the many Verchick's sentence is con­ Members of the house. He was caught when and Terry Lee Schoonmaker, residence in Oregon when a Both Richardson and guilty by a jury and sen­ graves and archeological sidered strict, given that it is Hemenway expedition of he made a deal to sell them an accomplice, pled guilty to search warrant was served by Senator Pete Domenici (R, tenced in January 1992. In sites he has desecrated— a first offense and a misde­ 1887 were the first to for $15,000 to an NPS agent one count each of grave the Nevada BLM, the spe­ New Mexico) worked for addition to his two-year sen­ argued for the harshest sen­ meanor. According to Scott encounter Loma del Rio. posing as a buyer. mutilation and criminal mis­ cial investigations unit of tence possible. Also taken M. Matheson, Jr., U.S. years to get amendments Situated on the crest of a tence, he was ordered to pay The U.S. Cavalry button, chief in the first degree. the Oregon State Police Fish into consideration was Attorney for the district of passed that would augment hill, the structure was built the tribes a $3,500 fine. bullets, casings, belt buckle, Instrumental in bringing and Wildlife Division, and Shumway's prior criminal Utah, the authorities used the original outlier bill of adobe with a masonry In 1995, Schoonmaker arrowhead, and other items the case to a close was the the Bureau of Indian Affairs record, and a series of letters the Shumway-Verchick case passed in 1980. According core. The Hohokam grew again tried to sell burial and have a curious history, one cooperation among the under the direction of the that were read, in part, to to send a clear signal that to Dave Simon, Southwest agave on a series of terraces cremation beads. A Klamath that has seen three people Klamath tribes, Klamath cul­ Josephine County district Judge David K. Winder. The those who rob archeological Regional Director of the built into the hillside. The tribal member notified the wind up in trouble with the tural specialist Gordon attorney's office. Hopi tribe, the Utah State sites will be vigorously prose­ NPCA, the beefed-up legis­ site was surveyed several tribes, who teamed with law. In 1995, Maniscalco Bettles, the Wilson Cemetery Judge O'Neal also sen­ Division of Indian Affairs, cuted. Matheson encourages lation also gives agencies times during the 1960s and Oregon state police in a was sentenced to one year's committee, the Lane County tenced Harrelson to seven Utah state archeolgist Kevin the public to use the 24- clear direction to avert the '70s. sting operation. probation and a $500 fine sheriff's office, the University years probation, ordered him Jones, and DOI hour ARPA hotline (1-800- destruction of the sites that Schoonmaker was arrested, The project was complet­ for trafficking in Native of Oregon's Museum of to pay $900 to the Paiute Departmental Consulting 722-3998) to report archeo­ remain on private land. along with Ella Louise Peden ed with a grant from the American remains. Anthropology, the Oregon tribe for reburial, and $3,600 Archeologist Francis R logical resource crimes in and Lori Kay Cvitanovich. Arizona Heritage Fund, Maniscalco got the artifacts attorney general's office, the to the district attorney's McManamon all sent letters Utah or elsewhere. Heritage at Risk Brings which was matched by the from George Scott, a former Klamath County sheriff's Schoonmaker and Peden office for prosecution costs. urging Judge Winder to con­ Action in Arizona city of Tempe. Arizona NPS seasonal park ranger, office, the Native American both pled guilty. BLM's Winnemucca dis­ sider the magnitude of the President Backs Chaco Arizona's Loma del Rio site, State University's cultural who excavated them from program/Oregon legal ser­ Schoonmaker was sentenced trict has assessed a civil loss caused by Shumway. vice, and the Oregon state Protection a classic period seven-room resource management office the Custer battlefield (see to 30 days in jail and was penalty of $2.1 million for police. "Before you," McManamon President Clinton signed an Hohokam structure in conducted the project spring 1995 issue of Federal ordered to pay $1,200 to the site remediation, which wrote, "are nationally signifi­ act enhancing the protec­ Tempe, was recently the under the direction of Glen Archeology). On an October night in Klamath tribes. He was fur­ Harrelson plans to appeal.

10 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND/ SPRING 1996 11 Legacy of the Lower Mississippi Moundbuilders Preserving the Past for the Future ften indiscernible in the underbrush, they appear unex­ pectedly along the lower Mississippi, jutting out of cotton fields, rising from swamps and tributary banks. The Delta's enigmatic earthworks—vestiges of civilizations that thrived when Rome was a village—are nearly all Othat's left of an ancient story that is all the more fascinating for the Tor tribes such as the Choctaw, Chicka­ pieces that are missing. The mound sites loomed large when saw, and Poarch Creek, the earthworks Congress enacted the "Delta initiatives," a package of legislative actions intended to preserve the region's rich heritage. evoke a sense of heritage and spirituality. Ever since Europeans first saw them, the mounds have held an allure The mounds are both their origin and for relic-hunters, scholars, and the merely curious. Over the centuries, they have been the subject of speculation and controversy, studied by the place where their ancestors rest— amateur and professional archeologists alike. Now, spurred by the ini­ the journey's end and its beginning. tiatives, the National Park Service is conducting a first-of-its-kind study of the earthworks and their associated villages. POARCH BAND OF CREEK INDIANS "Ancient Indian Architecture of the Lower Mississippi Delta" intends to evaluate and synthesize existing information about the sites, to encour­ age their preservation, promote research, and identify candidates for an antiquities trail designed to encourage tourism. The study also aims to foster a program of public education and interpretation. This issue of Common Ground—along with a sister site on the World Wide Web— arose from this intent (visit the site at http://www.cr.nps.gov). Last June, representatives from government agencies, universities, tribes, and the private sector convened in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to determine the shape of the study. This issue takes a look behind the scenes at that meeting—exploring a host of issues—as the preserva­ tion of the Delta's past moves quickly into the future.

COMMON GROUND/ SPRING 1996 13 ANCIENT ARCHITECTS OF THEMISSISSIPPI

>>PRESERVING A LEGACY<< >> PICTURE OF A CRISIS<<

The charts below, drawn from Arkansas, typify THE the lower Delta. Statistics are "best guesses." CHALLENGES

Who Owns tbe Mounds? Mound Destruction For generations, these ancient sites have been plowed, pilfered, eroded, and built over. According to one estimate, nearly 90 percent have been destroyed since the Europeans arrived. Site Invisibility Concealed in overgrowth, worn down to unassuming shapes along remote fields and tributaries, they are the Delta's hidden trea­ sure. Few know they are there, let alone what MOST EARTHWORKS ARE IN PRIVATE HANDS, WHICH MAKES THEIR PRESERVATION A CHALLENGE. IN they mean. ARKANSAS, THERE ARE NO TRIBAL OWNERS. Poor Documentation Information is uneven at best. Maps are often Likelihood of Mound Damage, wrong, sometimes with hills labeled as earth­ THE PLAN By Culprit works and earthworks not labeled at all. THE PLAYERS Lack of Awareness Landowners Fully Document the Sites To many landowners, a mound is nothing more than high ground. Some have been known to The mounds lack the visual impact of the Adding to the age-old questions about the mounds are the modern ones: Where and how many? destroy them simply to keep pothunters away. With most of the earthworks on private land, Southwest's cliff houses or the Shenandoah's The task facing "Ancient Indian Architecture"—the Park Service study of the mounds—is to owner cooperation is crucial. battlefields. To a public unaware of what draw a picture from fragments. they are—much less why they are impor­ Identify the Threats tant—they appear to be a collection of non­ Avocationals Avocationals have long been active in the area—and they've got leverage. According to one The only way to save these sites is to single out the threats and plan accordingly. descript hillocks. Arkansas archeologist, "We wouldn't have [parks at]Toltec or Parkin mounds if it weren't for the avocationals." Pool Resources Shrinking Budgets EARTHWORKS ARE SELDOM DESTROYED BY ONE No group can do it alone. The power to halt the destruction, to preserve this vital chapter in the Less money means less of everything. AGENT ACTING ALONE. IN ARKANSAS, AS THE Universities continent's history, lies in sharing the tools. In short, cooperation. GRAPHIC SHOWS, MOST HAVE BEEN DAMAGED Squeezed dollars translate to incomplete Delta archeology has been a staple at the region's universities for decades. Their research and BY AGRICULTURE AND LOOTING AS WELL AS documentation, insufficient analysis, shoe­ CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE HAS BEEN SEVERE AT 20 expertise are essential to the future of the mounds. Enhance Education, Preservation string curation, and outdated exhibits. PERCENT OF THE STATE'S 1,084 SITES, WITH ONLY The public won't act if it doesn't care. When people know what they stand to lose, preservation 2 REMAINING RELATIVELY INTACT. Tribes will follow. For many Native Americans, the sites are sacred, figuring prominently in their origin stories. EXCAVATION, DESPITE THE INFORMATION IT YIELDS, ULTIMATELY DESTROYS SITES. ARCHE0L0GISTS Though tribes want the earthworks preserved, many believe that calling attention to them invites Foster Tourism, Economic Development INCREASINGLY EMPLOY NON-DESTRUCTIVE TOOLS Research and interpretation could come together in an antiquities trail—a network of engaging, their destruction. LIKE GROUND-PENETRATING RADAR. well-interpreted sites across the Delta. The potential result: heightened public awareness, Artist's rendition of an earthwork in the lower Mississippi Government Officials healthier local economies. DATA COURTESY ARKANSAS ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY. valley as it might have looked in the 1600s. Federal, state, and local agencies must be at the forefront in preserving the Delta. If they all work Illustration; Marlene McLaughlin. Design: Interactive Bureau. together, the potential is enormous. But so is the challenge. mental Endeavor the daunting task of assessing the ancient earthworks of the lower Bmississippi delta

MOST OF THE MYSTERIES THAT PERPLEXED EARLY ANTIQUARI­

ANS HAVE BEEN SOLVED. TODAY THE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE

MOUNDS ARE DIFFERENT. WE KNOW THEY'RE OUT THERE, BUT

WHERE? AND HOW MANY? A FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND STUDY-

INVOLVING FOUR STATES, A LONG LIST OF AGENCIES, AND PRE­

EXISTING RESEARCH THAT'S ALL OVER THE MAP—ATTEMPTS TO

PULL TOGETHER THE FRAGMENTS OF THE DELTA'S PREHISTORY.

Aerial view of Emerald Mound, November 8,1958. .>C,N BLACK/NPS NATCHB TRACE PARKWAY n the afternoon of June 26th, 1995, the Southeast Archeological Center of the National Park Service formally initiated "Ancient Indian Architecture of the Lower Mississippi Delta: A Study of Earthworks" with a two-day workshop attended by representatives of government agencies, tribes, academia, and the private sector. The study, part of the National Park Service effort to investigate Native American earthworks in the lower Delta, arose out of the California Desert Lands Protection Act of 1994, now gen­ erally referred to as simply "the Delta initiatives." The purpose of the study is to identify earthwork sites and evaluate their significance. The objective is Determining a Site's Significance to foster their preservation and research potential, while encour­ The evaluative criteria were divided into six major categories, aging their inclusion in a heritage corridor called for by the act. each with numerous secondary elements. At the broadest level, The study also aims to aid in future research projects, provide the evaluation was to consider each site's: 1) eligibility to join the land managers with information to confer with Native National Register of Historic Places or become a National Americans on protecting ceremonial sites, and initiate educa­ Historic Landmark, 2) research potential, 3) importance to cur- tional programs. Increased tourism and economic develop­ tent-day Native Americans, 4) interpretive value, 5) condition ment—along with heightened public appreciation of the region's and threats to its preservation, and 6) "other benefits" from archeology—are also envisioned as potential benefits. preservation.

The center had been instructed to submit a final report this .\I*S / XAIIIIK/. TRACK PARKWAY June. Consequently, we are using existing data primarily; no field National Register and National Historic Landmark Eligibility research is planned other than site visits. Eligibility is to an extent moot since the four states consider all Excavation at Emerald Mound, October 1948. Evaluating Site Inventories and Databases The study is focusing on the period from ca. 4500 B.C. through ancient mounds to be candidates for the National Register. In preparing for the workshop, a prototype database was designed Mississippi band of Choctaw, the Chitimacha tribe of Louisiana, ca. A.D. 1700 in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and western Therefore, a site's ability to address other aspects of the cultural in anticipation of the evaluation criteria, as a starting point in dis­ and the Tunica-Biloxi tribes of Louisiana have responded so far. Tennessee. The study team is identifying sites through archival milieu—past and present—needs to be ascertained to rank it. cussions of data structures and fields. The group started by dis­ As of this writing, we still have not received replies from the research including but not limited to state master site files and cussing the inadequacies of state databases, the problems of acquir­ Research Potential Quachita Indians of Arkansas, the Coushata tribe of Louisiana, the published and "gray" literature, and by canvassing the pro­ ing and integrating data from different sources, and the fact that It was fairly obvious to all parties that each state's archeological or the Caddo, Osage, Quapaw, Choctaw, and Chickasaw tribes fessional and lay archeological communities and ttibes. The study the database developed for the study would have a limited purpose. plan was key to determining a site's research potential. It was also of Oklahoma. is being done in coordination with the state historic preservation cleat that input should be sought from, among others, the at- It was obvious that the databases maintained by Arkansas, offices, state archeological surveys, archeological research cen­ large archeological community, tribes, federal and state land Interpretation Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee did not contain much of ters in institutions of higher education inside and outside the managers, and avocationals. The workshop did not address how Judging a site's interpretive potential means examining many fac­ the needed information. Clearly, developing a database for the Delta, and other federal agencies with land managing responsi­ to exchange information among them, but a symposium was held tors. The phenomenon of earthwork construction has to be study would help address the many inadequacies in archeological bilities in the region. in November at the Southeastern Archaeological Conference in looked at across the region, so that interpretive plans represent databases curtently available to the scientific community and The study plans to produce: (1) a technical report, including a Knoxville and this issue of Common Ground was planned. different time periods, socio-cultural contexts, and functions. state agencies. It was stressed, however, that the study database synthesis and overview on earthwork sites; (2) an inventory of Existing presentations have to be reviewed for information gaps would not correct all the problems. Limited resources and a rela­ the sites identified in both a hard copy format and as an elec­ Native American Values and sites appraised in terms of accessibility, visibility, state of tively short timetable precluded collecting information not read­ tronic database; (3) an atlas of the sites, also in hard copy and In some ways, the Delta initiatives are at odds with the tradi­ preservation, and so on. ily available in extant databases, the published literature, or eas­ electronic format; and (4) publication and outreach products. tional values of Native American peoples, who prefer that the ily accessed unpublished records. Preservation sites be left alone, undisturbed by any investigation or interpre­ The discussions underscored that information better obtained Launching the Study tive program. Nonetheless, tribes want to protect these sites from The Delta legislation clearly intends to promote protection of and evaluated with CIS analysis (such as local povetty levels and endangered sites. This requires assessing a site's current condi­ The Vicksburg workshop was planned with very specific goals in destruction, a goal they share with other workshop participants. road accessibility) would not be incorporated into the database. tion as well as any impending threats to it. Decisions about mind. These were to: 1) establish criteria to rank earthwork sites The need to continually consult with Native Americans, and to A separate effort is being cartied out to develop CIS datasets and preservation strategies have to weigh this information along with with regard to their significance, interpretability, preservation, consider their values, was a theme throughout the workshop in maps using Arclnfo and Arc View software. the other variables discussed here. etc.; 2) identify the kinds of data needed to do the ranking; 3) regard to all aspects of the study. The role of GIS was discussed only briefly. It was mentioned, establish the types of maps and illustrations needed; and 4) deter­ It was pointed out that the idea of ranking earthworks by their Other Benefits however, that appropriate GIS datasets would be assembled. mine the best way to exchange information among the interest­ sacred value is a non sequitur since all are equally sacred to Lastly, the work group agreed that "other benefits" from a course Primarily this means seeking out existing datasets rather than ed parties. Native Americans. Clearly, many other factors have to be con­ of action (e.g., preservation or interpretation of a site) have to be compiling new ones. Toward these ends, DEM, DLG, and Tiger The attendees (see sidebar, page 20) divided into three groups. sidered in ongoing consultations with tribes regarding alterna­ included in the evaluation process. These benefits could include data files have been purchased. For map production, the com­ One established the criteria. Another identified the data needed. tives for preserving endangered sites or interpreting them to the preserving scenic vistas or enhancing local economies. mercial First St. and ArcUSA datasets have also been acquired, A third determined the nature of the atlas. public. Partnerships should be struck among all who might benefit, to although copyright restrictions bar distributing them. The groups deliberated for three hours, presenting their find­ The National Park Service has sought and welcomed the share the costs as well as the rewards. Although not addtessed There is a high likelihood that many of the sets already exist in ings the next morning to the reassembled attendees, who made input of the tribal community in this study. Tribes were sent let­ during the workshop, clearly the evaluations must consider pos­ one fashion ot another at the state and federal agencies that use additional comments. The final recommendations are summa­ ters and information packets soliciting their involvement in sible negative results, like the loss of endangered species owing to such data, without copyright restrictions. The Bureau of Land rized below. planning and review. Sadly, only representatives of the increased tourist traffic. Management and the Corps of Engineers have datasets that may

18 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 19 pending threats have not been evaluated in 10 years? In trying to come to grips with this issue, a quality table has Letters ol invitation to the workshop were sent to over 90 federal been incorporated in the database to accommodate very coarse state, and tribal representatives, along with several other interested evaluations of accuracy. At a future date and subject to prior persons. 01 these, 30 attended, representing the private sector as well review, concise criteria will be adopted by which sites will be as the following: assigned to "high," "medium," "low," and "none" confidence lev­ Arkansas Archeological Survey els. This process will no doubt identify some of the more suspect The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana information, but confidence with quality will continue to be a Louisiana Division of Archaeology problem. The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians Mississippi Department of Archives and History Nature of the Atlas Mississippi State University The atlas work group came to several conclusions that, by and Northeastern Louisiana University large, left few issues to be resolved. Because of the sensitive nature Tennessee Division of Archaeology of the archeological resources, it was concluded that maps in the University of Memphis final report should be scaled so that the public cannot ascertain a site's exact location. Specific locational information should be University of Southern Mississippi kept in an electronic format available on a need to know basis University of Southwestern Louisiana only. Thematic maps prepared for the final report should reflect U.S. Army Corps of Engineers the classification schemes developed to evaluate site significance, U.S. Bureau of Land Management which can be anticipated to include different cultural periods, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service earthwork types, and internal spatial organizations (presumably as U.S. Forest Service a result of different ideological and environmental factors). National Park Service With regard to this latter group, it was suggested representative John Ehrenhard (Chief, Southeast Archeological Center) site plans and environmental settings be included in the report. Guy Prentice (Principal Investigator, Southeast Archeological Center) Bob Belous (Superintendent, North Cascades National Park) The work group also recommended including maps showing sur­ Veletta Canouts (Deputy Chief, Archeology and Ethnography Program) veyed and unsurveyed portions of each state, the former distrib­ Bob Dodson (Superintendent, Natchez Trace Parkway) ution of destroyed earthworks versus those that remain, site dis­ Paul Hartwig (Desk Officer, Gulf Coast Cluster) tributions relative to public transportation routes, publicly owned Bennie Keel (Regional Archeologist, Southeast Archeological Center) earthwork sites, and currently interpreted sites. It was suggested Bill Nichols (Superintendent, Vicksburg National Military Park) that illustrative examples of Native American material culture be George Smith (Chief of I&E, Southeast Archeological Center) included in the report, but it was also recommended that per­ mission be sought from tribes before doing so. The largest issue regarding cartographic materials concerns sites fill the study's needs. Once it becomes widely known what the Louisiana is similarly evaluating approximately 30 mound sites in Park Service is doing, it is hoped that other agencies will provide, on private lands. Several landowners were upset with the Park 1948 excavation of Bynum Mounds, along the Natchez Trace Parkway in Louisiana's Ouachita River Valley. Gibson's efforts include an or perhaps share in preparing, GIS datasets of common interest. Service brochure "Lower Mississippi River Valley: Nile of the New Mississippi, thought to have been occupied between 100 B.C. and 200 A.D. overview of archeological investigations there. These could then be distributed to other state and federal agen­ World." They had not been consulted about having mound sites On a side note, the concerns with the brochure prompted John Compiling the study inventory is by itself a daunting task, with cies without restrictions. on their lands identified, and were concerned that readers might assume that all sites shown were open to the public. The work­ Ehrenhard, chief of the NPS Southeast Archeological Center, to in the neighborhood of 3,130 known earthwork/mound sites— The greatest concern among workshop participants appeared to ask workshop participants to record the errors for correction if it encompassing roughly 5,200 mounds—currently identified in the be with ensuring the quality of data, which remains an issue. One shop participants also noted several errors in the brochure. is reproduced. To avoid similar missteps, the illustrations for this combined master files of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and difficulty is that different information can be suspect for different The question was, should private lands be illustrated in the report will be reviewed for such problems prior to publication. western Tennessee. Obviously, collecting and organizing data for reasons. A mound location can be suspect because the mound report? If so, how to avoid confusion with public lands open to This will also permit archeologists familiar with specific landown­ the study will require many months, and to be comprehensive, may not be cultural in origin. Or the map recorder may not have visitation? It was initially suggested that owner permission be er concerns to possibly include them in the final report. the contributions of many people. been able to locate his or her position accurately, or may have obtained before including specific site information. But this entered coordinates incorrectly in the database. would be an immense task given the report's due date, and with­ Fortunately, various workshop participants and others have Current Developments and Future Plans already volunteered time and effort. These examples of generos­ Evaluating these possibilities requires asking different questions holding such information would cause unwanted consequences The author, as the study's principal investigator, is focusing pri­ of the data, and having done so, judging their quality as high, such as misinterpretation of site distributions. ity and professionalism will need to be repeated if the study is to marily on the site inventory database. Information in the master medium, or poor. In many cases, this is still subjective. If only the Given the problem's sensitive nature, it has been decided to meet everyone's highest expectations. It is hoped that the publi­ site file databases of Louisiana, Mississippi, and western problem were limited to site location alone, but it also extends to include all known sites in the study universe, but to portray the cation of this article will also result in additional persons volun­ Tennessee have been converted to Microsoft Access data tables cultural and time period affiliations assigned on the basis of artifact information in a way that will minimize the negative conse­ teering their knowledge, time, and resources toward the study and a true relational database. types (or lack thereof), radiocarbon dates (or lack thereof), lack of quences. Again, one method is to map at a large scale so that and the preservation of these all too rapidly vanishing memorials Robert Thorne and Michael Wild at the University of up-to-date information on the site and pending threats to it, etc. locations are too imprecise for the public to ascertain their of America's past and present cultural heritage. Mississippi are compiling and correcting mound site information How does one formulate indices to evaluate an individual's whereabouts. Omitting site names from maps is another. in that state's master file. They are finding that much of the data ability to locate sites on a map, identify ceramic types, assign cul­ Distinguishing private sites with symbols keyed to a legend is is missing or erroneous. Thorne is also preparing an overview of Guy Prentice, principal investigator for the study, can be reached at tural affiliations, etc.? How does one rank a site when the accu­ another means of reducing the problem. Making governmental earthwork sites in Mississippi as one means for understanding the Southeast Archeological Center, 2035 East Paul Dirac Drive, Box racy of its location is considered "high" but the cultural affiliation decision-makers and planners aware of these potential problems mound building and developing the criteria to evaluate the sig­ 7, Johnson Building, Suite 120, Tallahassee, FL, 32310, (904) 580- is suspect because the researcher has questionable abilities and is, of course, another route to be pursued. nificance of sites. Jon Gibson at the University of Southwestern 3011, ext. 129, fax (904) 580-2884.

20 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND/ SPRING 1996 21 1 I , M TT 1 1 M T'I - r. si#G'- '. Tnk>' M 'w'-- . i/T/ mwwlii1 iw 'W \1 1m- wm m&MMlmi,i>L/ • - vv Hidden : fmmSKm.

NATIONAL A.VTHKOl'OIXMilCAI, ARCHIVES, SMITHSOXIAX IXSTITI TIO.V oger G. Kennedy, Director of the National Park Service, recently authored the book Hidden Cities aoour the of westering colonizers the 1680s until the 1770s, antiquity slumbered as commerce fret­ had little to prepare them for the possibility of ted and scratched overhead. struggle during the first hundred years of the republic to understand the monumental architectural and archeologi- ancient cultures . . . The traders had come out Antiquity, it is true, had only recently gone to slumber, as time of the southern Carolinas, and reached the was counted in the Valley. It had been wide awake when in 1539 cal record of prehistoric America. Despite the efforts of the finest intellects in the nation, the achievements of Mississippi by routes which happened to bypass a Spanish expeditionary force led by Hernando De Soto hacked all the major mound centers. Though the and burnt its way through active mound-building cultures from American Indians were ignored in the face of westward expansion. Kennedy's thesis is that we have a new opportu­ French had been installed around Nashville for decades, in ter­ the Georgia piedmont to the plains of Texas. But antiquity was rain full of ancient ruins, they did not provide forewarning of silenced soon enough. The would-be conqmstadors who emerged nity to recognize and appreciate the achievements of ancient Americans, expanding our understanding of the massive archaeology to their competitors from Carolina or Kentucky. They were mercantile folk; neither by training, incli­ Late 19th century sketch of the Phenard Mounds, Arkanas, by Cyrus diverse cultures that have contributed to this nation. The following excerpt from Hidden Cities suggests the future nation, nor the beguilements of leisure were they to be diverted Thomas. The head of the Smithsonian's Bureau of American Ethnology, from their goods and ledgers. None of these early merchants was Thomas could not reconcile the geometric precision of the mounds with the possibilities. —F.P. McManamon, Chief, National Park Service Archeology and Ethnography Program leisured and none seems to have had time for wonder; so, from notion that they were built by Indians. He later changed his mind.

22 COMMON GROUND/ SPRING 1996 23 artificial categories. One of our pri­ mary themes will be how, in the valley, these people, newcomers and those who had been there for thousands of years, played out their prejudices about each other. It is true that among the Founding Fathers, the word "African" was vir­ tually a synonym for slave, and "Indian" or "Red Indian" nearly synonymous with "savage." But not all of them thought this way, and none of them thought so all the time. Many were better and more broadly educated, less preju­ diced and more conscious of their opportunities, than they have been said to be by most of theit biogra­ phers. Especially during the Jim Crow period of American history,

NATIONAL ANI HIIOI'OI.OOK AL ARCTUVIIS, S.MIT IISONTAN I.NSITH HON from the 1880s through the 1940s, it was conventional to present the Cyrus Thomas illustration of mound site with rural train station beyond, views of the Founders on racial matters shriveled to the crabbed from the late 19th century. understanding of those who were then writing about them. Probably this was because it was embarrassing to acknowledge into the Appalachian province from Florida left a legacy, though that the Founders might have felt obligations and opportunities they did not establish colonies. Their legacy was disease. After upon which they failed fully to act. Besides, if, during that unhap­ their microbes thronged to accelerate the destruction already py phase in American life, their foiled aspirations were too strong­ underway by those already loosed by sailors and slavers along the ly presented, there was the uncomfortable possibility that the his­ coast upon the Indians, who did not have the appropriate anti­ torians' own contemporaries might be induced to be as bold in bodies, an unbroken Indian tradition of many centuries was their thinking as the Founders actually were. removed from the scene. It had been destroyed not by force of But that acknowledgement is required of us: the Founders had arms—De Soto's entrada was a failure—but by the silent insidi­ set out to cteate a "New Order in the Universe"—so they pro­ ous action of European plagues. claimed on their Great Seal. They had hoped that their new De Soto's was the first force of Europeans to enter ... a region nation might have been freed of the prejudices and superstitions the British later called "the Western waters." . . . The Spanish learning about Egypt; had they known something of it at the time of Europe. But the revolutionary generation was disappointed; Cyrus Thomas' view of the Gardener Mound in Arkansas. interest in its culture was limited to what pillage might be gotten the power of old vices was not broken. they wete acquainted with ancient America they might have from its temples and palaces. Desoto's study of its architecture enlarged their sense of Negro possibility considerably farther— By the end of the patriarchy of George Washington (1789-1797), the imptession of the nature of one people in the eyes of others. did not go beyond determining the best means to storm its forti­ and, by extension, their apprehension of what other darker- the Founders, most ruefully President Washington himself, The Founders had not anticipated that they would find, in the fications. So his chroniclers lavished little language upon skinned people, such as ancient Americans, might have done. acknowledged that those vices were so ingrained that they were West, large, sophisticated, and ancient work, performed by the accounts which might have forewarned the English or the French But they were neither so fortunate nor so bold. We are so fortu­ not purged merely by a change of government. Human slavery, kind of people still resident there. . . . about the ancient buildings of the West. Not until the end of nate, and we may be so bold. Knowledge of the past may help for instance, seemed fixed ineradicably within the American sys­ That architectural evidence was too obtrusive to be ignored. the eighteenth century did some Euramericans begin to show real alter the present. tem. And though the West offered a second chance, the The new cities of the central valley—Cincinnati, St. Louis, curiosity in the history of their land and its peoples. Fortunately for us, the Founders did not consume all possible Founders were not so young as they had been in 1776 when Marietta, Portsmouth, Lexington, Pittsburgh, Natchez, and Some of the seekers and invaders who entered under the flags salutary surprises about American antiquity. Some startling has things seemed simpler. Nashville—had to be built by clearing away evidence of older of Spain and Great Britain were pinkish in skin tone, others been vouchsafed to us. Much has been learned in the late 1980s A second theme of this work, extending from the first, is that in ones. In the countryside there were hundreds of thousands of brownish or blackish. Some were free, some slaves, some inden­ and early 1990s about our predecessors in the Great Valley, much the West the Founding Fathers missed a great opportunity. A earthen reminders of prior habitation; there still are tens of thou­ tured servants or slaves for a term. The pinkish ones, masters or that still imparts the thrill which encouraged the Foundets to third is that they knew it. This book has been written because I sands. The shock of these discoveries forced upon the Founders servants, discerned themselves as distinguished by skin color from make the new beginning they promised themselves and the believe that we, too, have an opportunity and that we must not the possibility that Indians were not all savages. the darker people among them, whether slave or free, and from world. fail in it. We are likely to do better if we know what some of them Since the Indians were other, and yet obviously human, it was the people already present in the valley. The races were then said And we may try again. attempted, and why they failed. The time has come for another not difficult for some of the Founders, especially George to be White, Black, and Red, though of course not a single person Washington and Albert Gallatin, to open their minds to the pos­ so described was or is, in fact, white, black, or red. The color mighty effort to fulfill the highest aspirations of the Founders in sibilities presented by the presence of Blacks, also other but From Hidden Cities: The Discovery and Loss of Ancient North scheme was artificial, but within it were categorized people of an the centtal valley of North Ametica, where they glimpsed the human. Even Thomas Jefferson's French friends insisted that the American Civilization fry Roger G. Kennedy. Copyright 1994 by infinite variety of colors. Rewards and penalties were meted out possibility of a wotk of redemption. Blacks, though enslaved, were fully human. Roger G. Kennedy. Reprinted with permission of The Free Press, a for no better reason than occupancy of one or another of those They had the benefit of a shock of discovery. In few instances in human history has architecture been so important in altering The Founders knew nothing of ancient Africa outside of a little division of Simon & Schuster.

24 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 i i n T 0 G R 1 P IM D I • It t L V A R I 5 C 0

Penny Jessel I llivt

VO_ - e have Icarried Cf on the Green 5Corn Ceremony," says the 84-year-old tribal elder. "We kept all the sacred ceremonies going... Sometimes we feel like we're just hanging on, but always the new generation came through." Hers is just one voice that Penny Dm DAT (ami), DIRECTOR or TUBIH-DIIOII CULTURAL m niSTOiuc PIESEIYITIOII, win COISCIHTOIS EIRE DAKDRT, JI. (IEII), tin DRCHT DARBRT (RIGHT). Jessel, a Cherokee of Shawnee descent, heard in speaking to tribes across the Delta. What she found is that the mound cultures are still very much alive among Native Americans with roots in the lower Mississippi.

MDllf IIMS ® nil it I ( II i i y u I 5 (o

26 27 THE WHITE RACCOON IS A RARE ANIMAL. cigar box. Without the bodies and [with] no way to He doesn't look like the other. If you ever run into a determine which remains went with which artifacts, white raccoon, you will return to where you come the remains were buried within the mound with the from." Addie George, an 84-year-old Yuchi woman, is museum on top of the graves. It is felt that the objects telling a parable of hope and reclamation. It is a Yuchi are all around those who are buried there. The muse­ parable, but it speaks of something that is common to um and the artifacts that it houses are now an educa­ those Native Americans who still feel the ancient spir­ tional tool and a visual statement of Tunica affluence itual pull of the Mississippi Delta, their place of origin. of the past." There is an Indian movement in progress, and its When Glenda Galvan of the Chickasaw nation speaks focus is reclaiming all that is Indian. Who are the to schoolchildren, she brings along a cutaway sketch descendants of the people who built the mounds on of a mound. "We explain to the kids why, from the the rich alluvial soil that lines the Mississippi River? beginning of our time, in our homeland, why we had The answer is a journey across time, place, and mem­ the mounds. You can feel it in the classroom. There's ory. a sense of dignity and a sense of loss. They under­ In Louisiana, the Chitimacha are surrounded by stand. When I'm gone, the teacher can pick up with a reminders of their legacy. Roslynn McCoy, the tribe's textbook and go on." What she tries to do, she says, is director of cultural and historical research, says about "tell what the textbook can't tell." I t is said the mounds, "There are thousands of them. Addie George describes Yuchi history and the deter­ Everywhere. They're everywhere around here. You that in the begin­ mination to preserve tradition. "The sacred fireplace can see them in the canefields. You can tell by the ning there were and [herbs and coals] were all carried to Oklahoma shells on the ground, too. Chip [Louisiana state two great alliga­ when they walked the Trail of Tears. . . And they still archeologist Charles McGimsey] has taught us what tors, one red, one carry on again with the thousand-year-old fireplace. to look for . . . about 25 miles from here there's this Old people worshipped in it. The children grow up in mound that's higher than our ceiling. Beautiful." blue. They it and understand it. Those who go away to college, Working with the state of Louisiana and private moved aside and they have lost out, they don't know songs, language, firms, the Chitimacha are rediscovering their past. allowed the and so on. I am 84 years old and have been here all The tribe has applied for a historic preservation grant Tunica to pass these years and have seen all these changes. I do to identify all the archeological sites in its traditional through into this [teach children] and the grownups too, they come to homeland—part of south-central and all of southeast­ world. There is me and ask me about the language and customs. I ern Louisiana. Both cultural tradition and research teach my grandchildren. I want my family to know all indicate that the Chitimacha buried their dead on the red mud here and this." mounds into the 1920s, and possibly as late as 1940. a blue mud, so To some Native Americans in the Delta, the fact that McCoy says that traditional Chitimacha ways "are who knows? In many mounds are on public land won't stop them starting to come back. Prayers, burning tobacco and every myth there from worshiping on them. "We'll go on public land," sage. It's acknowledging the ancestors. When [they] is an ounce of visit the mounds [they] make sure [they] do that." says one. "We don't ask anybody. We just do it. White truth." —Bill The desire to reaffirm tribal identity is evident people have been desecrating graves for years—even among many tribes with connections to the mounds. Day when there were laws that said they couldn't. They Says Bill Day, director of Tunica-Biloxi cultural and just went out and did it." historic preservation, "The Tunica-Biloxi . . . built a The early antiquarians who studied American indige­ replica of a temple [ceremonial] mound and a muse­ nous people concluded that the marvelous race that um in anticipation of receiving items robbed from constructed the mounds had simply disappeared, pos­ Tunica graves in the 1950s. The so-called "Tunica sibly to Central and South America. They believed Treasure," thought to be the world's largest collection that the American Indians filled the areas that the of Indian and European artifacts from the 17th centu­ "Great Race of Mound Builders" had vacated. The ry, were kept at Harvard for ten years. By the time the expeditions of DeSoto and La Salle, and even Andrew grave goods had been returned, they were nearly Jackson's army, were in fact looking at that race. It destroyed due to improper storage and lack of conser­ had been forced to vacate its lands—not for other vation. The tribe . . . was not in a financial position Indians, but for Europeans. to undertake the restoration. So they purchased two By 1700, Georgia, the ancestral home of the Yuchi, salvaged refrigerated semi-trailers and solicited pri­ was overrun by Anglo-American farmers. The Yuchi, vate funding and donated equipment. Professional along with many other affiliates of the Creek conservators were brought in to teach tribal members Confederacy, were forced to flee. The Yuchi found how to [restore and care for the artifacts]. Now we do homes among the Creek and other southeastern BILL DAY AT MOUND all of the conservatory work ourselves." tribes, but they ceased to exist as a tribal entity. The SITE PURCHASED BY The only human remains returned to the Tunica- remaining Yuchi were one of the tribes that was forced THE TUNICA-BILOXI. Biloxi, says Day, "were in a box about the size of a MICHEL V A R I S C 0 to walk the Trail of Tears. This culturally distinct

COMMON GROUND/ SPRING 1996 29 group was forcibly incorporated into the Creek Nation neling through the Mother Mound to arrive in this life. J.A. Paredes, professor of anthropology at Florida of Oklahoma by the U.S. government. place, and the other of arriving by a migration." The State University, has spent some 20 years with the "Yuchi were moundbuilders to begin with," says Addie importance of Choctaw cultural preservation is made Poarch Creek Indians. With pride in his voice, he states, George. "The sacred burial mounds and the mounds poignant as Carleton states that the Choctaw consid­ "The Poarch Creek struggled for a long time, but finally they lived on. I kind of figure children would be safe er Panlndian Powwows and other events that suggest received federal recognition in August of 1984." Their from animals up high like that. They would dig a grave a generic "Indianness" "cultural pollution to [their] efforts are geared to reclamation of what was denied right there where they live, bury the dead and continue traditional ways. Eighty percent of the people speak them for a very long time: their right to their Creek her­ living right there on top of it." With few of them left Choctaw. English has always been taught as a second itage. and their language fading quickly, the Yuchi display an language in the Choctaw schools because children The collective consciousness of American Indians is astonishing tenacity to retain their identity. Valerie spoke Choctaw at home. As sharecroppers and the directed toward reclamation—not only of artifacts and Harjo George claims, "We are under the Creek Nation victims of discrimination in the community, they were ancestral remains, but of all things Indian. Increasingly and have filed a petition for federal recognition, but it segregated from the general society. This segregation one sees the desire to reconnect with tradition: the was denied because we are already in a federally recog­ acted as a preserver of the language. Yuchi seeking independence; the Poarch Creek learning- nized tribe [Creek]. So we are going to file again." "A recent problem is that the children at age five are relearning their cultural traditions; the Tunica-Biloxi "The Choctaw carried the bones of their dead with coming to school speaking English rather than sheltering their ancestors and their children from non- them," says E.T., a Choctaw elder, relating a creation Choctaw . . . The tribe has . . . received a language Indians by conducting their own works; the Mississippi tale. "They said the bones were the treasures of their preservation grant to teach reading and writing Choctaw insistence upon teaching their language and traditions to their children; the Chickasaw searching out people. They had many heavy bags of bones with explain to the Choctaw in the high school." their ancient grounds. them, since they had been traveling for a long time ... 1kids why, from Th e conflict between living among the dominant society and the desire to remain Indian has its costs. Nearing the end of his life, a 96-year-old Yuchi chief the beginning of Asked about his tribe's connection to the mounds, took his two daughters and went to see where the Yuchi our time, in our one Native American says, "I don't hear anything used to live. As Addie George tells the story, "They homeland, why about mounds around here. I know they had mounds, stopped for gas in Alabama . . . The service [station] we had the but I don't know what for or what's the meaning." attendant said, 'You look like Indians.' 'We are Indians! We are the Yuchi, and I am the chief mounds. You can And at a Poarch Creek powwow, a tobacco-chewing good old boy was overheard saying, "I ain't never seen of the Yuchi Indians!' feel it in the such a big bunch of nothing in my life." For all the "The people there treated them real good. They got classroom. native cultural renaissance, there is a good share of Poarch Creek. The event is held in the spirit of them a nice hotel room, free meals, the red carpet . . . There's a sense They took [the chief] to a cafe. When they entered, he heartache and loss. Some of the mounds in Indianness and old ways, but the modern world M We'll of dignity and a Chitimacha country are very accessible, according to crowds around, unbidden. Booths offer dream-catch­ spotted the white raccoon on display. It was stuffed. He go on public sense of loss." Roslynn McCoy. "They're off levy roads, and they're ers, brand-name moccasins, and war bonnets for chil­ was so excited because it was prophesied that if you see him, this white raccoon, you will return to where you —Glenda plundered, brutalized. Kids go up on them and party." dren. There are hot-pink-and-blue-colored feathers. land. We don't On a trip to a mound in what she describes as "a very come from." Galvan Under a sign saying, "Mother Earth Herbs and ask anybody. We Exploring the Mississippi in the early 18th century, the old [part of the] Chickasaw homeland," Glenda Cures" is a white man in a long black wig, head­ just do it. White Galvan recalls the tearful reaction of an elder woman French had the rare privilege of seeing the last of the band, and leather tunic. Another booth is selling people have been as they prepared to rebury ancestral remains they had colorful plastic Mardi-Gras-style plastic trinket jew­ true moundbuilders. They were the Natchez in their desecrating brought with them. "Everywhere we stepped," she elry and roach clips with feathers attached. waning days, disappearing into the darkness of time. In graves for Sacred Geography of the American Mound Builders, says, "we found pieces of bone. We gathered as many The Poarch Creek are descendants of some of the Maureen Korp says, "These thousands of mounds dot­ as we could and buried them where we thought they "Friendly Creek Indians" who were living in south­ years—even ting the landscape attesting to the powerful presence of were appropriate." Nearby were two men in a Blazer. western Alabama at the close of the Creek War of when there were With their shovels and buckets stored in the back, ancient Americans are rather like a giant page of braille, 1813-14- The majority of the Creek people were laws that said now damaged by plow and progress, whose code there is they were waiting for the Chickasaw to leave. removed to Oklahoma in 1836, but some remained they couldn't. not even hope of ever fully deciphering. Yet, some of the "Our history is not written down," says Valerie Harjo in Alabama as interpreters. Over the years, through They just went marks, some of the signs, are so potent they whisper still George. "[It] is not being taught to our children." separation and acculturation, these interpreters lost of ancient meanings." That whispering is in an old lan­ Says Addie George, "Every year we lose four, five, or the ability to speak the Creek language. However, out and did it." guage, one whose sound crosses time to a new world. It six people. Now there are only four elders. Two are through decades of discrimination and depredation —Native is often faint, but Native Americans listen still, and hear. over one hundred years old." that enhanced solidarity, the remembrance of American The Choctaw decided to stay and settle down and Richard Grounds of the University of Tulsa is working Indianness that bound them together held strong. bury all those bones, and the place they buried them to preserve the Yuchi language before it disappears. Patiently, painstakingly, they began to develop and Penny Jessel is senior associate at the Gray Group of was a great mound, our Mother Mound, Nanih Waiya" "There are 12 speakers of the Yuchi language left. I reclaim the heritage they had lost. They work Tallahassee, Florida, which provides consulting services for [see next article]. have taken this semester to record and document as toward that end still. the development of affordable housing for low-income fami­ "The Mississippi Band of Choctaw may actually have much of the language as I can. Unfortunately, I was In a small square, roped off with heavy twine, is lies. She has also worked with Indian Housing Authorities been made up of a remnant population of several of EARL BARBRY OF THE unable to find any grant to assist, so I'm working with Gail Thrower, tribal historian. There, she exhibits throughout the country. Ms. Jessel is of Shawnee ancestry YOUNG POARCH CREEK the Mississippi tribes who were despoiled during the TUNICA-BILOXI HOLDS no salary. But you can understand why it is important food sources of the historic Creek Indians such as and is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of GIRL AT A POWWOW. 16th and 17th centuries," says tribal archeologist Ken A PIECE OF HIS TRIBE'S that I do it now." indigenous grains and herbs. She patiently explains Oklahoma. She is currently a graduate student in anthropol­ POARCH BAND OF CREEK INDIANS ogy at Florida State University. Carleton. "There are two creation stories, one of tun- HERITAGE, MICHEL VARISCO It is Thanksgiving Day, the annual powwow of the to passers-by tribal history or uses of different plant

30 COMMON GROUND/ SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND/ SPRING 1996 31 venerated for centuries. The mound—focal Variously translated as "stooping hill" or There is the possibility that the mounds origin stories. So Nanih Waiya was proba­ ressure from the U.S. government even­ MOTHER MOUND OF THE CHOCTAW point of their origin stories and the figura­ "place of creation," Nanih Waiya measures were Proto-historic (1550-1700) or perhaps bly never the center of any major religious tually caused the Choctaw nation to By Ken Cnrleton P tive heart of the Choctaw homeland—is 25 feet high, 140 feet wide, and 218 feet even Woodland, but all clues have been activities. It was simply there, a fundamen­ relinquish much of its ancestral land. hen they emerged from the mound, today in a state park in Winston County, long. At one time, it was surrounded on lost to the plow. tal part of Choctaw identity and worldview Today, elders regard Nanih Waiya with a Mississippi. The archeological history of the three sides by a circular earthwork that since before sustained European contact. mixture of nostalgia and resignation. Wthe first Choctaw were still damp he Choctaw appear to have made only from the Underworld. Aba iki, the Father site is little known, with no substantial exca­ was 10 feet high and encompassed about "It is said," recalls a Choctaw elder, "that According to one, modern Choctaw see the one square mile. A visitor to the site in 1854 Tlimited ceremonial use of Nanih Waiya. Above, who had brought them forth, laid vations having been conducted there. From the Choctaw would have council meetings mound more as a historical site than some­ reported the barely visible remnants of sev­ Their traditional religion is very private, them out along the ramp of the mound to surface artifacts it is known that the first on top of the mound a long time ago. thing sacred. Its incorporation into a eral smaller mounds nearby, which by that and they conduct few public rituals. Unlike dry. The scene unfolded ages ago, accord­ occupation of the site was in the Middle Maybe the council met up there because Mississippi state park, she says, has a lot time had been all but obliterated by plow­ almost every other group in the southeast, ing to one origin story, deep in a Woodland period (ca. 0-300 A.D.), which is the mound is sacred." In the 1840s, the to do with it. "It is not ours," she says. "Our ing. Portions of a smaller mound to the the Choctaw apparently did not have a Mississippi wood. In other versions, the most likely when the mound was built. Its Choctaw Claims Commission investigated Mother Mound is not even ours. It has been north of Nanih Waiya are still visible today. Green Corn ceremony, the annual "first pyramidal shape is similar to others from U.S. non-compliance with the provisions of given away. I would encourage the state of Choctaw and Chickasaw entered the world fruits" and renewal festival. The only well- that period, such as Igomar Mound in the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek (the Mississippi to give it back to the Choctaws. from a cave near the mound. Yet another rom the 17th century on, the site was a documented public religious activities have Mississippi and Pinson Mounds in 1830 Removal Treaty). Many of the older The mound was sacred. The mound was variation tells of a prophet arriving from the Fplace of homage, revered by the to do with the burial and veneration of the Tennessee. Choctaw, when asked where they were Mother Earth . . . Maybe one day we will go west followed by an entire people. The Choctaw as the central location of their ori­ dead. Occupation continued into the Late born, responded that they had come from back to the old ways for Choctaws and mound, he divined, was meant to be their gin stories. During the 18th and early 19th Their traditional religion is one of commu­ Woodland period, lasting until about 700 the Mother Mound, Nanih Waiya. Writing we'll have Nanih Waiya again." new home. They settled and later broke up centuries, offerings were taken to the nion with spirit guides, human-like animals A.D. Though the site is often referred to as years later of the incident, J.EH. Claiborne into different groups. One followed a man mound and placed in a large hole at the who appear in many southeastern stories Mississippian (1000-1550 A.D.), there does said, "Many of the Choctaws examined . . . Ken Carleton is Tribal Archeologist with the called Chata, and became the Choctaw. top. The small mounds that were noticed and impart knowledge and abilities char­ not appear to have been any occupation regard this mound as the mother, or birth­ Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. He Others followed Chicasa, his brother, and in 1854 may have been constructed by the acteristic of particular animals. Choctaw during that time. place of the tribe, and more than one can be reached at RO. Box 6257, became the Chickasaw. Some say the Choctaw for their dead. traditional beliefs are structured by the claimant declared that he would not quit Philadelphia, MS 39350, (601) 656-5251, fax Creek and Cherokee originated there tales elders tell to the young, and that the country as long as [Nanih Waiya] 656-0218. PHOTO COURTESY KEN CARLETON / as well. include, among others, the Nanih Waiya, "Mother remained." MISSISSIPPI BAND OF CHOCTAW Mound" (In%itopa isla) Inscription on back: "View of Nanih Waiya, of the Choctav* the sacred mound of the Choctaws, situated Indians, has f in Southeast Winston County. Made by B.N. been Powell, photographer, Columbus, Mississippi, November 28, 1914. From the south side and across the public road." fromX Ancient

Archeological V 110 Parks in the ^kllv Delta I I to tourist attraction by Mary L Kwas and and beyond Robert t Mainfort Jr. third-grader has just spent the morning at a Native American festival sponsored by an archeological park. He got to reconstruct a pot, watch A a flint-knapper, and dance with Native Americans in traditional dress. As his teacher rounds up the class for the bus ride back to school, he runs up to her, his eyes sparkling. "My mom was wrong!" he says.

Parkin Mounds, Arkansas, 1934. , M,™*,,,,,, AHKAN&ASMUSEUM

34 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 35 "What's that/" serious consequences. For example, we have observed the effects years have witnessed a decline in general support. Exhibits were facilities, lack of trained personnel, and inadequate funds all "Well, my mom said that I wouldn't have any fun. That this of an overzealous tractor driver mowing an earthwork after sev­ last updated in the mid-1970s and are now dated and deteriorat­ contribute to limiting the public education potential of these would just be boring. But she was wrong. It's the best field trip eral days of heavy rain. Something as innocuous as selecting grav­ ing. The reconstructed houses around the outside plaza have suf­ sites. The permanent interpretive exhibits, as well as the sites I've ever had!" el for walkways can prove deleterious. We know of one instance fered greatly from inadequate maintenance and holes are now themselves, reach many people who might not be exposed to the This is a true story, reported to the staff of an archeological park where chert gravel was the choice for trails that forever after will visible through the thatched roofs. The dioramas are suffering science and contributions of archeology any other way. Add to by a teacher. And it is a telling example of how these parks can plague archeologists searching for lithic debitage. from the elements. Choctaw Indians have been employed as that special events, school tours, and scout programs, and one reach the public, guiding popular ideas about archeology and Despite these problems, we feel that the negative impacts of guides for many years, but unfortunately have lacked training in gets an inkling of the amount of people who would discover that Native Americans while delivering the message in a way that is developing archeological parks are more than offset by the enor­ fun, exciting, and memorable. mous benefits gained by heightening public awareness of arche­ The exhibits and interpretive programs at the archeological ology. parks in the lower Delta (mainly preserved mound sites) consti­ tute what is arguably the public's single most important source of Development and Interpretation Today information about archeology. That, along with preservation of In the Delta today, all mound sites open to the general public are the sites themselves, is undoubtedly the most important benefit on public lands, mostly under state management. Many have from the development of archeological parks. been developed for public use as archeological parks, which include museums or interpretive centers with exhibits and staffs Dilemmas in Park Development to provide educational programming. The public has long been fascinated by ancient earthworks. In Levels of development are similar at major archeological parks. the 1800s, mound sites were the focus of early antiquarian mus­ All contain an interpretive center or museum with exhibits, ings. Later, public interest prompted the preservation of some as which usually include an overview of southeastern prehistory parks or privately run tourist attractions. Although many arche­ from paleoindian to European contact periods, often something ological parks preserve unique or significant sites, the develop­ about the methods of archeology, and an interpretation of the ment of most was largely determined by quirks of fate, such as site. Less common interpretive treatments may include town their location or the interest of a landowner or community. reconstructions and preserved excavations cuts. Facilities may Unfortunately, fate has not been kind to most of the mounds include an auditorium for general programs, a gift shop, and col­ within or adjacent to Illinois' Cahokia, a World Heritage Site. lections storage. Like many mounds in the Delta, they have been destroyed. Interpretive programming varies widely at these parks, but most On the surface, it may seem that public ownership and inter­ sponsor at least one annual festival highlighting contemporary pretation of mound sites are both inherently "desirable." But Native American cultures and provide regular guided tours to more thoughtful consideration raises a number of caveats. Many school children. A number of the sites offer year-round programs archeologists and land managers might assume that "public own­ that include crafts festivals and classes, scouting activities, lec­ ership" equates with preservation, but experience shows that this ture and film series, storytelling, archeology fairs, and other is not always the case. events focusing on Native American cultures or archeology. The largest mound at Tennessee's Shiloh National Battlefield (see sidebar) sits precariously on the edge of an eroding bluff over Chucalissa: An Example 100 feet above Kentucky Lake. The erosion was first noted Preservation of mound sites as parks undoubtedly has con­ decades ago, but to date nothing has been done about it. tributed to their survival, but location on public lands does not Several years ago, the mean water level of Tennessee's Reelfoot guarantee their safe management, nor even their continued sur­ Lake was raised by a foot. Although this may not seem like much, vival. As an example, consider recent events at the Chucalissa it was enough to destroy a large mound remnant in a matter of a site in Memphis. few years. Unchecked erosion is destroying archeological deposits The site has been open to the public for about 40 years, first at Tennessee's Chucalissa and Pinson Mounds. Public ownership under the management of Tennessee state parks and later the can contribute to site preservation, but only with sensitive land University of Memphis, which has made it available to faculty Pinson Mound 6, a pair of large, intersecting conical burial mounds. This learning about archeology is fun. management. and students for research and training. The site includes two Unfortunately, few archeological parks are reaching their full As strong proponents of archeological parks, we are nonethe­ mounds and a plaza area, around which have been reconstructed and several other mounds at the site are on lands managed as part of the Tennessee Division of Forestry tree nursery. .»,,,,,• KWAS potential. Outdated exhibits and facilities, lack of trained per­ less obliged to note that developing them will always have a half-dozen thatched Mississippian-style houses, popular with sonnel, and inadequate funds all contribute to limiting the edu­ adverse impacts. Constructing interpretive centers, kiosks, and visitors and filmmakers, and rarely seen at other sites. Facilities archeology or public education, making the quality of tours cation these sites are capable of. Management of archeological trails will affect the archeological remains. An extreme example includes a small museum, auditorium, and curation space. A uneven at best. Worst of all, the university president has properties requires special considerations that few park personnel is the unfortunate choice of a location for the museum at Pinson variety of educational programs have been offered at Chucalissa, announced plans to close the site and museum due to budgetary have the training to deal with and that cannot be corrected by Mounds, which proved to contain important prehistoric archeo­ ranging from crafts classes to guided school tours to festivals. An constraints and what are considered to be insufficient revenues attending a week-long seminar or weekend workshop on man­ logical deposits. Construction of playground and picnic areas annual "pow-wow" has been held for about two decades, while generated by this educational resource. At this writing, the future agement style or interpretive ideas. cannot only damage archeological deposits, but also detract from "Native American Days," a three-year-old event targeted to ele­ is uncertain. Without a doubt, the most pressing need at these parks is for the visual impact of nearby earthworks. mentary school students, attracted over 3,000 visitors in its first personnel to manage them wisely, able to ensure their protection While thorough, sensitive planning can minimize impacts on year. Although popular with tourists and school groups, declining Reaching the Potential while promoting their educational potential. These managers admissions average slightly under 30,000 per year. archeological resources during construction, even simple park Archeological parks such as Chucalissa and those mentioned must also have the training to develop educational programs maintenance tasks such as mowing and grounds upkeep can have Despite the site's commendable history of public service, recent above hold the key to public education. Outdated exhibits and based on sound archeological knowledge.

36 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND/ SPRING 1996 37 rcheotourism as envisioned in the Delta initiatives has all the right fauna would invite picnickers and wildlife enthusiasists. Signage and perhaps liilniii his i TI li i MISSISSIPPI kii ingredients in place on the Yazoo River. Little Spanish Fort, a a kiosk could explain the site's past as well as the archeological investigation. mound site in Mississippi's Delta National Forest, holds great Little Spanish Fort, despite its importance, should not stand alone, since it offers The largest Middle Woodland period promise as the prototypical archeological park. Aside from being an opportunity to educate the public about the long history of man-land rela­ site in the Southeast; includes the second tallest mound archeologically important, the mound, with its semicircular earth­ tionships in the Delta. The site's location in bottomland hardwood forest in North America at 72 feet and a geometric enclosure Aen wall, is in a rare natural setting, is accessible by boat as well as car, and allows for interpretation on the importance of both. The site could be tied to similar to Ohio Valley examples; located near Jackson, is near several other major sites. Tennessee. Until recently, interpretations of the fort were based more on sentiment UTHING ALONG THE YAZOO A small Late Mississippian period town; than fact. Because it was long assumed that native peoples were incapable of under the Forest Service Challenge Cost Share program, the University inblic since 1955; noted for its period town ambitious architectural constructions, local tradition had it that the rn Mississippi undertook a six-week investigation of the Yazoo site as • on; located in Memphis, Tennessee. Spaniards built the earthwork for defense. Archeologists, however, believed it archeological field school. Seven pits were excavated in two locations, was constructed in the Late Archaic period by peoples of the Poverty Point cul­ a small collection of pottery and stone tools and exposing the layers An Emergent Mississippian period site ture, since its semicircular shape echoes Louisiana's Poverty Point. a show the embankment construction sequence, with astronomical alignments of mounds; located near Like so many mound sites in the Delta, Little Spanish Fort is tucked away ovations were conducted in the partially plowed-down mound within Little Rock, Arkansas. in a quiet little backwater. A forest of hardwoods stands where the Yazoo nkment and also in a mussel-shell garbage heap along the riverbank. Thought to be the town of Casqui visited River flows lazily around a and stone artifacts were carefully collected from the surface around the by de Soto in the 16th century; the newest archeologi­ bend. Cotton grows in id in the cultivated portion of the embankment interior, cal park in the Delta, opened in 1994; located in nearby fields, but more lotions revealed that while the initial occupation of this stretch of the Parkin, Arkansas, about 40 miles wesl of Memphis. than anything else, the river began during the Late Archaic period (ca. 1700-500 B.C.), the construction place is the domain of the iankment dates to the beginning of the Middle Woodland period (ca. Unique site dating to about 1200 B.C.; alligators, rodents, and I\.D. 450). Three radiocarbon dates on excavated material clustered includes earthen ridges arranged as nested arcs and a II? M countless birds that make large mound thought to resemble a bird; located near evidence that the place was sparsely occupied during that time. A Delta National Forest their Epps, Louisiana. m the lower stratum of the shell heap yielded a date of 180-80 B.C., Right Time home. A closer look, how­ from the base of the interior mound (probably dating the site's usage Preserves several earthen enclosures ever, reveals that, con­ and a number of mounds, dating to ca. A.D. 1; located ARCHEOTOURISM ON THE I cealed among the oaks and mound was built) produced a date of 190-90 B.C. The ceramics in town of same name in Louisiana. gums, is a promising Iblue­ recovered from these contexts fall comfortably within the early Middle Woodland iYAZOO RIVER print for archeotourism. time range. Contact period BY SAM BROOKES, EDWIN JACKSON, ANB PAT CALLOWAY Most of the site has been in Artifacts from the surface and the upper stratum of the shell heap represent site with several mounds present; located in Natchez, cultivation for over 40 later occupations. Broken pottery from several distinct cultural periods, along years. A house and barn, now many years gone, once stood atop the mound. with numerous mussel shells, are now known to be present on the mound. Based We are still not fully certain about the site's original function, but due to on numbers of pottery fragments collected on the surface, its major construction recent excavations we are much better informed about its date (see sidebar). phase appears to date to the Late Woodland Baytown period (A.D. 500-800). The wooded part of the site is in Delta National Forest—the only bottom­ Because the enclosure is so lacking in artifacts, there was probably not a village land hardwood national forest in the country. The site is also on the within its walls; instead, it probably served some sacred or ceremonial function Mississippi Waterfowl Flyway. Flooding is common. The soil is generally for which it was intentionally kept clean. heavy clay, not well suited for agriculture, but the forest is an excellent place This occupation was not the end of the fort's usefulness. While the earthwork for hunting and fishing as well as for viewing wildlife. was not used after A.D. 450, later peoples continued to use the mound as late as The Corps of Engineers Vicksburg district has purchased wetlands near the A.D. 1300, with pottery testifying to their presence. But the site was clearly not forest as part of an environmental mitigation. Forest Service archeologists a fort, and we now know conclusively that it was not Spanish either, since it was and biologists hope to acquire the rest of the site as part of that project, paving abandoned well before De Soto and his men crossed Mississippi in 1541. the way for preserving and interpreting it. The fort fits well within the concept of the Delta initiatives. It is located near several other major sites. It has been included on several mound tours a nearby nature trail that passes the site of the famous Teddy Roosevelt bear conducted by archeologists. Further, the state historic preservation office is hunt. The Little Sunflower boat launch is also close. working with the Forest Service to nominate the site as a National Historic In short, Little Spanish Fort could provide a rewarding weekend for those Landmark. With interpretive signage, the site's location would make it a travelling down Highway 61 in search of the Delta's mythic past. One way to improve management is to see that each archeo- Making the public aware of these sites is a first step. The objec­ prime destination for recreational activities. logical patk had a boaid of advisots. Such a group, consisting of tives of the initiatives to study the Delta should do much to For these advantages to be realized, a number of actions need to be set into For more information, contact Samuel 0. Brookes, U.S. Forest Service, 100 professionals in archeology, museology, and education, as well as enhance their potential. motion, but Little Spanish Fort appears to be in the right place at the right time. West Capitol St., Suite 1141, Jackson, MS 39269-1199, (601) 965-5518, fax local supporters, would institute general policy to oversee The first is for the Forest Service or some other agency to acquire land still (601) 965-5519, Edwin Jackson, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, changes in exhibits, quality of interpretive programming, physical in private hands. The second is a development plan. The site can be reached University of Southern Mississippi, RO. Box 5074, Southern Station, impacts to the site, and requests for research permits. Such a For more information, contact Mary L. Kwas or Robert C. by automobile, but one needs a detailed map to find it. Roadwork and park­ Hattiesburg, MS 39406-5074, (601) 266-4261, fax (601) 266-5800, or boatd would limit capricious decisions while setting goals for the Mainfort. jr., at the Arkansas Archeological Survey, Box 1249, ing spaces are necessary to make the site accessible. As the fort is on the river, Patricia Galloway, Mississippi Department of Archives and History, P.O. Box future. A board would go a long way to ensuring that archeolog- Fayetteville, AR 72702, (501) 575-6560, fax (501) 575-5453, e- it would be an ideal spot for a public boat landing. This plus the flora and 571, Jackson, MS 39205-0571, (601) 359-6863, fax (601) 359-6975. ical parks become the jewels of education they are meant to be. mail [email protected].

38 COMMON GROUND/ SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 39 ften, the dilemma for archeologists is that the desire

to preserve is pitted against the desire to know. In

Louisiana, an archeologist teams with a geologist to find

ways to achieve both, ahead of the impending destruc­

tion that threatens earthworks throughout the Delta.

5' P & & D 1 rl G A U iii A J) 0 ]•' T U ii

Research in

Louisiana

J Saunders and Thurman Allen

he rate of mound destruction in northeast Louisiana In the good old days, plowing lowered mounds, scat­ is discouraging. Add land leveling to the equation, tered artifacts, and disturbed subsurface features. and it becomes staggering. In one parish, it is estimated Minimally, one still could determine a site's location, that approximately 20 percent of the agricultural land age, and (in many instances) function. It was possible to has been leveled: so if one assumes an equal distribution reconstruct settlement patterns through time. But of sites throughout the parish, 20 percent of the sites (prehistoric and historic) has been destroyed. EiBBBI

COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 41 where land has been leveled, one can't even determine exactly begins forming a B horizon between the A and C horizons. Conclusion whete the site was. All one can conclude is that a particular site The B horizon develops in two stages. First, an increase in iron, We are aware that coring of mounds cannot replace proper exca­ was occupied during certain periods of time. and a slight increase in clay, changes the color of the B horizon vation. Cores provide an extremely limited view of mound A 1993-94 survey of 35 mound sites in one parish determined (usually redder), and this is called a cambic B (Bw). Second, the stratigraphy and virtually no information on associated artifacts. that at least one mound (if not all) had been leveled at 12 of the clay particles continue to increase in the Bw horizon, and land forests that once covered the Delta, However, the rate of site destruction is so tapid that it will never sites. Conversely, only 5 of the sites (14 percent) had at least 1 through time, transform the Bw horizon into an argillic (Bt) hori­ ancient earthworks were probably every­ be possible to conduct even limited excavations of impacted mound that had not been disturbed. A 1995 survey of 9 sites in zon. In some soils, an E horizon forms between the A and Bt hori­ where. How plentiful were the mounds before mound sites. So alternatives must be sought. a second parish identified 5 where at least 1 mound had been lev­ zon. The E horizon is an horizon whose sediments have been agriculture started? Tennessee's Reelfoot Basin Obviously, preservation is the preferred option. But as we pre­ eled. All of the mound sites had been disturbed, with only two stripped of clay and iron and lacks organic matter. Farticle size gives a glimpse. viously stated, commitment to preservation changes with owner­ retaining visible evidence of being an earthen structure. analysis of samples from each horizon help to measure the degree In 1811 and 1812, the New Madrid earthquakes ship. Our second option is to collect as much data from existing These figures may be unfair because they represent the destruc­ of weathering that has occurred in the mound fill. struck the area. The tremors caused some land mounds while minimizing impact on the sites. tion of mounds recorded as far back as C.B. Moore's early 1900s One can conclude that a mound with only A and C horizons is around Reelfoot Lake to subside, rendering it Coring of mounds is perhaps the most efficient method avail­ excursions in Louisiana. <^ Also, landowners today are preserv­ younger than a mound with A, B, and C horizons. Furthermore, a unsuitable for agricultural use. Ignored by the able. There are several sound reasons why it should be pursued. ing most of the large mound complexes. They are aware of their mound with an argillic B (Bt) horizon is older than a mound with plow for generations, this small area contains a Minimally, it will allow us to distinguish natural hills from mound significance and take pride in protecting them. But that aware­ a cambic (Bw) horizon. The actual amount of time necessary for surprising density of mound sites—dozens of sites. Second, it will provide accurate information about mound ness changes with ownership, as recently demonstrated by the the development of these horizons is unknown. However, prelim­ them, including groups that contain 20 mounds stratigraphy. Third, allowing that furthet refinement is necessary, leveling of the south end of Ridge 6 at Louisiana's Poverty Point. inary research suggests that in northeast Louisiana, Bt hotizons or more. Quite by chance, virtually all were the use of soil development for dating a mound is promising. Furthermore, smaller mound sites, often overlooked, continue to can be seen in mounds that are 3,000 years or older. Bw horizons acquired by state and federal agencies. They Fourth, AMS and luminescence-dating are exciting develop­ be plowed or leveled. develop in mounds that are about 2,000 years old. Mounds that • •• • __ • . . • • 1_ n - ments. They may prove to be an accurate method of dating These data strongly suggest that prehistoric sites are rapidly dis­ are less than 1,000 years old usually lack distinct Bw horizons. are a striKing contrast to what remains. mounds. Although both methods ate considerably more expen­ appearing. All sites, historic or prehistoric, mound or non-mound, sive than standard radiometric dating, eliminating the cost of site are impacted by land leveling. Howevet, earthen mounds are fewer Mound Stratigraphy was duly collected and dated. A site that had repeatedly dated to excavation quickly balances the scales. The truth is that we con­ in number and represent only 361 of 2,547 recorded sites in north­ Soil coring provides an efficient means of defining mound stratig­ circa 3500 B.C. was suddenly dating to 1600 A.D. tinue to lose valuable information on a daily basis. The sadder east Louisiana. Mound sites probably number less than 300, given raphy. With examination of a soil core, one can identify stages of We recommend that only samples obtained by continuous coring truth is that the process cannot be stopped. the erroneous identification of natural features as mounds (11 in mound construction and if there is evidence of human occupa­ be submitted for dating. A continuous core collected from Mound two parishes alone) and the misplotting of sites, with multiple site Joe Saunders is Regional Archeologist at the Regional Archaeology tion beneath the mound. 2 at Marksville, Louisiana, recovered organic material at 155 cen­ numbets for the same mound complex (one mound site was Program, Department of Geosciences, Northeast Louisiana The people who built the mounds did so by depositing basket­ timeters below the surface. A second core from a different place on assigned three different site numbers because of plotting errors). ful after basketful of earth in a heap. When examining a coring University, Monroe, LA 71209, (318) 342-1899, fax (318) 342- the mound yielded the same material at 157 centimeters down, 1755. Thurman Allen is Resource Soil Scientist with the Natural This destruction, plus the fact that earthen mounds provide a sample, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between individual indicating that we had located a former organic surface. Resources Conservation Service, 1605 Arizona St., Monroe, LA. wider range of data than other surface sites, is why we have focused basket loads of earth and the surfaces of succeeding stages of Both cores contained Bw horizons (a B horizon's earlier stage), (318) 387-8683, fax (318) 388-4275. mound construction. Taking multiple cores, though, clarifies the our attention on this atea for the past three years. As an outgrowth suggesting a date between 2000 and 1000 years before present. stratigraphy because earlier stages of mound construction will be of our field work, we have developed new techniques for estimat­ Radiometric analysis of the organic matter produced a corrected References found at roughly the same depth in different areas of the mound. ing the age of mounds, defining their stratigraphy, and perhaps date of about 1,460 B.E 1. Moore, C. B. Antiquities of Ouachita Valley 14:7-170, 1909. eventually determining how old they ate without excavating them. The second method is luminescence-dating sediments from 2. Moore, C.B. Some Aboriginal Sites in Louisiana and Arkansas The Absolute Age of Mounds buried A horizons in mound fill. Luminescence is a measure of 16:7-99, 1913. Estimating the Age of Mounds There are two ways we know of to evaluate the absolute age of a the stored energy in crystalline materials (such as quartz) that 3. Gibson, J. L. and J. Saunders. "The Death of the South Sixth Louisiana has an advantage over other states in having devel­ mound, and they can be employed without excavating. We are accumulates by the action of natural radioactivity. When the Ridge at Foverty Foint: What Can We Do?" SAA Bulletin 11 (5):7-9, oped a qualitative method to estimate the age of earthen struc­ currently evaluating both methods. crystalline materials are exposed to light or heat, this stored ener­ 1993. tures. At least eight mound sites have been dated to >5000 B.E The first is by recovering small fragments of charcoal from buried gy is released, thereby erasing the luminescence signal. So the sig­ 4. Gagliano, S.M. Occupation Sequence at Avery Island. Coastal (before present) A'" almost doubling the known antiquity of A horizons. With acceletated mass spectometry it is possible to nal is proportional to the time that has passed since the sample's Studies Series No. 22. Louisiana State University Fress, Baton Rouge, 1967. mound building in the southeast United States. With a greater obtain radiometric dates. Once the stratigtaphy of a mound has last exposure to heat or light. span of time to examine, the process of soil development in been defined by coring, charcoal taken from the surfaces of earlier The layer of organically rich soil on the ground's surface—what 5. Manuel, J.O., Jr. The Hornsby Site—16SH21: An Archaic Occupation in St. Helena Farish, Louisiana. Manuscript on file, mound fill (i.e., how the soil changes over time) offers a conve­ stages of mound construction or from sub-mound surfaces should eventually becomes the A horizon—contains quartz grains that, Regional Archaeology Program, Northeast Louisiana University, nient means for estimating the age of mounds as pie-Woodland provide accurate dates for the sequence of building and occupation. exposed to sun and daylight, lose their luminescence. Once the Monroe, 1983. period (>3000 B.E), Woodland period (<2000 B.E), and We assume that charcoal recovered from a buried A horizon is moundbuilders began their work, however, dumping their bas- 6. Neuman, R. W. Report on the Soil Core Borings Conducted at the post-Woodland period (<1000 B.E). in situ, undisturbed, a product of activities on the mound or sub- ketloads of earth over this surface, the quartz grains would have Campus Mounds Site (16EBR6) East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. The weathering of soil provides clues that help us estimate the mound surface. Charcoal from basket-loaded fill is not dated, been shielded. Luminescence loss would have stopped and accu­ Museum of Geoscience, Louisiana State University. Submitted to age of mounds. The rate and degree of soil formation on mounds because it was ttansported to the mound from somewhere else. mulation of stored energy would begin again. Thus, lumines­ Technical Report, 1985. is determined by time, parent material, environment, slope, and The first time we tried this method, we were not successful. The cence-dating of the A horizon would determine when the vari­ 7. Russo, M. "A Brief Introduction to the Study of Archaic Mounds organisms. The process begins with the parent material, the soil site in question was remote, and we were unable to get to it with ous stages of mound construction began. in the Southwest." Southeastern Archaeology 13(2):89-92, 1994. and sediment used to construct the mound. The unweathered the coring truck. Instead we used a bucket auger (a mechanical James Feathers of the University of Washington's luminescence 8. Saunders, J., T. Allen, and R. T. Saucier. "Four Archaic Mound parent material is defined as the C horizon. As time passes, arm with a bucket-like device on the end) to retrieve charcoal lab collected three sediment samples from radiocarbon-dated Complexes in Northeast Louisiana?" Southeastern Archaeology organic matter is mixed with the surface of the C horizon, form­ from the mound's A horizons. On its way in and out of the exca­ buried surfaces at two sites. The samples were collected from (Winter), 1994. ing an organically enriched A horizon on the surface of the vation shaft, however, the bucket would knock charcoal from the walls of test excavation units. If the dates prove reliable (results 9. Saunders, J. W. and T. Allen. "Hedgepeth Mounds: An Archaic mound. With the passage of time, the movement of watet surface of the mound down to the bottom of the shaft. Mistaken should be available by this spring), further samples can be col­ Mound Complex in North-central Louisiana." American Antiquity through the soil strips clay and iron from the A horizon and for material from the mound's buried A horizons, the charcoal lected from continuous cores. 59(3):471-489, 1994.

42 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 43 In Search of a Mound By Joe Saunders

own the bock trails in the horizon) above the unweathered sediments (C horizon). The soils at Hedgepeth suggested that the mound had stood for thousands of years, and I began to wonder if perhaps this was piney hills south ol Bayou a natural feature. Topographically it appeared to be manmade, but the lack of artifacts and the degree of weathering reminded D'Arbonne in Louisiana we me of a story I had heard recently. A few years ago, an archeologist discovered a mound in Louisiana's uplands that made a stir in the local news. The rumbled along in search of mound was associated with artifacts that dated to the Poverty Point period (ca. 1700-1200 B.C.). But a geologist who exam­ the mound. My companion, Frank Thomas, knew the ined the site came to the conclusion that it was not a mound at all. Instead, he claimed, it was a natural feature on which Poverty Point people had camped. Was the Hedgepeth site route, since it was his property. But he wasn't the only also a natural feature? That would explain the absence of pot­ tery. Was I about to make the same mistake? one familiar with the back roads that led to the mound. I contacted soil scientist Thurman Allen of the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Allen had worked at Poverty Point and also conducted a number of soil surveys in the area which explained why I was along for the ride. Looters of the Hedgepeth mound. At first sight, he concluded that what we were looking at was indeed a mound. But after he examined had been here too. They, too, knew about the site, and soil horizons in the trench walls, he too began to wonder. There appeared to be no conclusive answer to the question until a few days later, when I visited the site again with Mr. had already put in some hard hours of digging. Thomas. Looking hard at the trench wall one more time, I The evidence they left prompted the Thomases to call me at noticed what appeared to be a large piece of quartz. As I Northeast Louisiana University. What could be done to stabi­ cleaned the area around the object for a photograph, it gradu­ lize the damage and preserve the mound? ally became clear that it was a ground stone adze. There was It rose up out of the swampy underbrush, perched on an allu­ no evidence of an intrusive pit in the trench profile, so the arti­ vial terrace above the bayou. Conical in shape, the mound was fact had not been placed in a pit that had been excavated into about 50 meters wide at the base and six meters high. The work an existing mound or hill. The adze had to have been trans­ of the relic-hunters was plainly visible: a trench 3 meters wide ported to that spot during mound construction. Only one and 25 meters long. agency was capable of transporting an object of that size to the Around the turn of the century, the land had been farmed by top of the mound: human labor. The Hedgepeth mound was, the Hedgepeth family. Though it had been plowed for decades, indeed, a prehistoric mound site. few artifacts turned up: several projectile points, a grinding Because of the extensive weathering in the mound fill and the stone, no pottery. Mr. Hedgepeth knew that there was some­ absence of pottery at the site, Allen and I were convinced that the thing extraordinary about the mound, because he forbade fam­ site was at least preceramic (pre-500 B.C.). Later, a test pit dug ily members from disturbing it. The site had remained intact in the bottom of the looters' trench would yield charcoal from a until the looters arrived. submound hearth which dated to ca. 3000 B.C. I examined the exposed trench walls for artifacts, but found Thurman Allen and I have since been using soil development none. Instead, my attention was drawn to the horizontal bands as a means for identifying mounds that we suspect to date from of weathered mound fill exposed in the walls of the trench. A the Archaic period. We plan to re-evaluate the site that appar­ beautiful sequence of soil horizons was clearly visible. In ently had fooled the archeologist a few years back. What we Louisiana, it takes tens to hundreds of years for surface sedi­ had learned from the Hedgepeth site makes me wonder. ments to become organically enriched (A horizon) and thou­ Perhaps the archeologist had found an early mound, and it was sands of years for the clay near the surface (E horizon) to be the geologist who had been tricked by the soil.

stripped and redeposited, forming a clay-enriched zone (Bt Landowner in potters trench, Hedgepeth Mound. .IOK SAl'.VDKRS

44 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 BmcJb ^B B. B-^^H Hi

. Hi $ \ m •_• # J ft • # • Implementing the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

Digital Collections System was 31 years ago that the alarm was first sounded porting historic preservation in the Delta Initiatives study. May Aid Repatriation bout what was happening to the archeological sites All that is fine and dandy, but what does this mean for the Anchorage Museum, Brigham Young I the Mississippi Valley. Archeologists doing highway future of whatever shreds remain? The Corps of Engineers is ge work in southeast Missouri were watching the There has never been a study to rival the one we did in developing a collections man­ Univ. Submit Repatriation Inventories agement system that may levelers scrape away the natural levees, filling in 1968. There is no comparable data today about farm poli­ Since the last issue, the Park Service anyone but the Timpanogot chief. Bholes to make the world safe for soybeans. cies, practices, and how they effect sites in the future. help the repatriation process. archeology and ethnography program Great-great grandchildren of Black The cry brought archeologists together to confront the More rice? More fish farms? It would be useful to do TASC, Inc., of Dayton, Ohio, has received the following completed Hawk's brother, Mountain, have problem of Soil Conservation Service-sponsored destruc­ another specific review of a local area to see if another has been working with the inventories of Native American human claimed the items on the basis of lineal tion of sites. The result was two studies, one for Arkansas, quarter or more of the recorded sites are gone. Intensive Corps to display its thousands remains and associated funerary descent. the other for Missouri, to find out exactly how bad the sit­ surveys of vulnerable areas (urban spread, flood control) of artifacts electronically— objects: Anchorage Museum of History uation was. It was pretty bad. Both studies concluded that could be planned. We're probably 20 years too late for provided they are of a non- Office of the State Archeologlst and Art about a quarter of known sites had been destroyed in the much of that, but better now than never. sensitive nature—in a rela­ University of Iowa Anchorage, Alaska previous ten years. The heritage tourism industry is growing fast. There is no tional database. Iowa City, Iowa Remains consisting of one skull frag­ A long-neglected issue was gaining momentum. doubt we should act now—making long-term plans to Archeologists and tribes The remains of a woman, from a collec­ ment excavated from a cemetery on Archeologists met again in 1968 to determine how much protect selected sites of various time periods, investigate will be able to identify objects tion donated by the estate of a Mr. Little Diomede Island, donated to the John Morrie. Through information was known about the area between Illinois' Cahokia and and interpret them. Here is a way archeology could actu­ and determine their cultural museum in 1970. The Inalik Native affiliations on-line. Non-pho­ provided by the donors, the state Corporation, which represents the vil­ the mouth of the Mississippi. They suggested an area-wide ally enhance the economic opportunities in the delta archeologist reasonably believes they tographic images will show lages of Little Diomede for repatriation program of survey and testing, as well as ways to fund it. A while at the same time saving those sites which have the were found on the Columbia River near purposes, has identified the island as where in the body particular meeting in St. Louis the same year brought significant greatest research and interpretive potential. Vantage, Washington. The state arche­ the traditional territory of the local results—the drafting of the Archeological and Historic bones are from. ologist has consulted with the native people since pre-contact times. Preservation Act, which became law six long years later. triage principal, what to save and what to aban- The implications go beyond Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Museum officials have determined that SCS land leveling programs had instigated the crisis, but n, should be applied on a regional basis. But it NAGPRA, however. With Yakama Indian Nation, who have con­ shared group identity can be traced other federal undertakings bore responsibility too, partic­ II take local support to carry through. This means the images available, artifacts sidered the river's hanks part of their between the human remains and the ularly those of the Army Corps of Engineers. In truth, all avy-duty public information to the movers and may no longer have to be lands since before contact with native group. agricultural practices were wreaking havoc on archeolog­ shakers in the levee boards, the city councils, zoning handled, inviting access by Europeans. Bureau of Reclamation a the public and teachers. ical sites. The 1968 meetings suggested tackling the prob­ authorities, and state governments. Museum of Peoples and Cultures Upper Colorado Regional Office lem from an administrative angle, creating advisory and Archeologists who have worked in the valley for a long The technology has been Brigham Young University Salt Lake City, Utah steering committees, and another committee made up of time have become discouraged because trying to record shared with the Army's cen­ Provo, Utah The remains of seven individuals dis­ landowners and amateur archeologists. They advocated a sites while the machinery whizzes by seems like such a tral identification laboratory, The remains of a man, approximately covered during archeological surveys nuts-and-bolts approach, too, demanding priorities be set drop in the bucket. which specializes in identify­ 45 to 60 years old, and 13,558 associ­ prior to the construction of a dam and for a 20-year program of survey and excavation, realizing ing human remains. A ated funerary objects. The items, exca­ reservoir at Nambe Falls on tribal There should be a region-wide effort to come up with lands owned by Nambe Pueblo. There September roll-out of the vated from Forest Service lands near that any site could be gone tomorrow. ways the valley could increase its economic potential Spring Lake, Utah, in 1917, include are also the remains of three dogs rea­ system is anticipated. Most interesting of all is a statement the SCS issued at through heritage tourism (read archeological research, brass bells, an iron spur, several thou­ sonably believed to have been placed the time, estimating "confidently" that "In less than 25 site protection, and development). That should whip up For more information, con­ sand multicolored glass beads, a metal with the individuals as part of a death years, all levelable land in Arkansas will have been enthusiasm again, particularly if there is some reason to tact Fred Briuer at (601) axe head, and copper bracelets. rite or ceremony. All the human cleared and leveled." Now, almost 30 years later, can any­ believe that it will be worth the effort. 534-4204, e-mail As early as 1919, Anglo inforrnants remains, identified as Puebloan, are thing be left to worry about? Has the situation changed? Heritage tourism is well-recognized as a source of eco­ [email protected]. positively identified these funerary believed to be ancestral to present-day Yes. Improved? No. Worsened? Probably. Should alarms nomic growth. The potential is there for Good Things to be objects as the personal belongings of Nambe Pueblo people. once again ring across the land? Of course. done for the remaining sites and for the economy. If we For More Information Black Hawk, chief of the Timpanogots, Certainly, the situation has changed. Leveling continues, can't get together to tackle this in the next 25 years, be Contact Timothy McKeown, who died in 1870 and was buried in As of February 13, the archeology and the area where the items were found. so everything wasn't wiped out in 25 years. A few of the assured that you will be able to visit Poverty Point, Toltec NAGPRA Program Leader, ethnography program's NAGPRA team Representatives of the Unitah-Ouray has received 292 inventories from Mounds, Parkin, Fatherland, and a few precious other Archeology and larger important sites have been placed in public hands. Ute tribe say the objects are typical for museums and federal agencies. Seven The amount of archeological work done in the valley in sites, but nothing else will remain. Ethnography Program, RO. late 19th century burials. No evidence hundred-three summaries have been these last 25 years probably more than doubles that done Box 37127, Washington, DC suggests that the remains are those of submitted. in the previous 100. Sites are recognized by listing on the Hester Davis is a member of the Arkansas Archeological Survey, a 20013, (202) 343-4101, fax National Register. Congress has recognized the impor­ professor at the University of Arkansas, and since 1967 the State (202) 523-1547. tance of the history and prehistory of the delta by sup- Archeobgist. Contact her at (501) 575-3556, fax (501) 575-5453.

46 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 COMMON GROUND / SPRING 1996 47 National Park Service Archeology and Ethnography Program P.O. Box 37127 L _» *mr . jam-.* Washington, DC 20013-7127