The Dallas County Conservation Board (DCCB) invites you to a very special day at the Kuehn Conservation Area. On Saturday, June 15 from 2 to 5 pm, we will be hosting, together with the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA), an event titled- “Healing of the Mounds”.
On the river ridge at Kuehn, overlooking the Raccoon River valley, are a series of Native American burial mounds. The presence of these mounds at Kuehn has been instrumental in the origination and evolution of the Prairie Awakening-Prairie Awoke Celebration at Kuehn over the past 20 years. Long before this land was in public ownership and management, the burial mounds were desecrated. A large hole was excavated into the mound, undoubtedly for the purpose of looting this sacred site. Over the past number of years, as the First Nations peoples joined us in the Celebration at Kuehn, they have preformed the needed drumming, song, dance and ceremonies to heal this scar on the landscape. In accord with the spiritual traditions of these Nations, the mounds were healed.
The OSA, however, wishes to continue this healing process, to physically heal the mounds by filling in the excavated scar. The Native community has agreed to participate in this action and will guide us in a ceremony to continue the healing.
In the arena at Kuehn, this program will begin with a presentation by the OSA detailing the archaeological story of the peoples this science terms the Woodland Culture, who were the builders of these burial mounds at Kuehn. This presentation will review what archaeologists have learned of these first peoples of Kuehn, and the history of the Woodland Culture in the Raccoon River valley. Following this presentation, representatives of the Native community, will tell the story of these mounds and their builders, through the eyes of the Native culture. Following these presentations, participants will be invited to join us in the act of physically healing the mounds. For individuals able to engage this act, you are invited to carry soil up from the river bottoms at Kuehn, to the valley ridge, to be placed in the mound’s scar. Transportation to mounds site, and soil, will also be provided to participants unable to summit the valley ridge. Together, with spiritual elders from the Native community, the healing ceremony will take place, erasing the scar on our landscape.