Illegal Construction at Effigy Mounds National Monument

Unauthorized Construction May Have Damaged Effigy Mounds
By Becky Ogann, KCRG TV

Story Created: Apr 23, 2010 at 11:45 AM CDT
(Story Updated: Apr 23, 2010 at 1:15 PM CDT )

(Image: Great Bear Mound group, just one of the sacred places in the
Effigy Mounds National Monument, from Wikipedia Commons)

HARPERS FERRY - Unauthorized construction projects may have damaged the ancient cultural features that Effigy Mounds National Monument was established to protect.

A team of archaeologists is working to determine what, if any, damage to the mounds may have been inflicted by the unauthorized construction of a maintenance shed in the north unit and an elevated boardwalk trail on the Nazekaw Terrace directly across Highway 76 from the visitor center.

“We didn’t mean to do wrong, but we did,” said Effigy Mounds Superintendent Phyllis Ewing.

In an effort to improve access to mounds for people of limited mobility, Effigy Mounds staff began construction of the Nazekaw Terrace boardwalk in the fall of 2008. Work was abruptly halted a year ago when Park Service regional staff, conducting a periodic compliance review, found that two required documents — an environmental-impact statement and a historical and cultural impact statement — had not been completed before the project was undertaken.

The review uncovered other irregularities dating to 1999, including a similar malfeasance preceding the 2002 construction of the much larger Yellow River boardwalk and bridge, said Steve Adams, the Park Service’s Midwest regional associate director of cultural resources.

Adams said it remains to be seen what repercussions may ensue from the violations of federal law.

“It’s a very serious matter,” he said. [Yeah, right.  Tell me, was anybody fired during the last go-round?  Was anyone prosecuted for malfeasance in office?  Ha!]

The maintenance shed has already been dismantled, and the fate of the Nazekaw Terrace boardwalk will be determined by an advisory council, which includes tribal representatives, after the archaeological study is complete, Adams said.

Options include removing the trail’s aboveground portions; removing the entire trail, including the many underground concrete piers; leaving it as is; and completing it.

A similar evaluation will be required for the Yellow River trail. Adams said his gut feeling is that the Yellow River boardwalk and bridge will not have to be removed.

“The fortunate thing about the Yellow River trail, at least it was down there (in the river bottoms) away from the mounds,” Adams said.

The same can’t be said for the half-finished spur to the Nazekaw Terrace, which has a few intact conical and linear mounds, many degraded mound remnants and more remnants likely to be confirmed by the archaeology studies now under way.

A team under the direction of National Park Service archaeologist Steven DeVore has spent most of April conducting aboveground testing of the soil’s magnetic and electrical resistance. The readings, DeVore, said will pinpoint areas in which the soil has been disturbed, indicative of ancient mound construction.

State Archaeologist John Doershuk said, “It is possible that significant cultural resources were adversely impacted.”

Ewing and her staff “misunderstood their responsibilities under the National Historic Preservation Act” and did not take full advantage of available Park Service experts, Doershuk said.

Nor did they consult, as they should have, his office, the State Historical Society of Iowa and their tribal contacts, Doershuk said.

Meskwaki Tribal Council member Don Wanatee said his people were disappointed that the final resting place of their ancestors may have been disturbed. “We’re concerned that the underground piers (used to support the elevated trail) may have caused permanent damage to the site,” he said.

“It was a mistake, and the Park Service has apologized for it,” said Patt Murphy of Salina, Kan., a member of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, who has been on site monitoring the archaeologists’ work for most of this month.

Murphy said the site is sacred to members of 12 Indian tribes whose forebears once lived along the Upper Mississippi River.

“Any place where Indians have been buried is sacred to us. My personal feeling is that people were buried here because it is sacred ground,” he said.

Murphy said the park managers’ mistakes do not reflect a lack of respect for Indian sensibilities. “They respect our opinion, and they respect the land,” he said.

Doershuk, too, said Ewing has been a conscientious steward who has worked hard to develop good communications with the descendants of the people who created the mounds.

Ewing said she takes full responsibility for the failure to follow the legally prescribed procedures.

The Park Service’s dual mission, she said, is to preserve natural and cultural resources and to make them available for the education and enjoyment of the public. In this case, park staff failed to maintain the proper balance, she said.

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Hmmmm.  Who got paid how much, and when, and who ultimately benefited from the prior construction project and who would benefit financially from this latest illegal project?  Follow the money.  I have a feeling, though, that this is the last we'll hear of this story.

Wikipedia information on the Effigy Mounds National Monument