County of site: Fulton County
Location of site: CR 9, west of IL 97, about 6 miles N. of Havana and about 6 miles SE of Lewiston
"A curious Kathy-Lee Galvin couldn't pass up the chance to be among the last visitors whose conscience was stirred by the 237 uncovered skeletons in the Dickson Mounds Museum.
"Galvin made the 180-mile pilgrimage from northwest suburban Elk Grove Village Friday, the last day the display was open to the public, because she had heard it was a unique learning experience.
"But after viewing it, along with more than 3,000 others from as far away as Germany, Galvin said she was glad Gov. Jim Edgar decided to cover up the 1,000-year-old Native American burial ground.
'"Even though they`re old bones, they`re still somebody`s," said Galvin, 29, who works as a bartender. "It`s not that I`m super-religious, but they were buried so they could go to their god, and we opened it up and made a tourist attraction out of it."
"Of course, Galvin wasn't being prodded by protesting Native American activists and doesn't have to count votes. But it was similar thinking that led Edgar to risk angering local residents by reversing a promise and sealing off one of the last public displays of authentic Indian remains in the country.
"At sunrise, Native Americans who fought for several years to shut down what they considered a racist display celebrated the closing with a pipe ceremony around a bonfire on a hill next to the museum.
"From there, they could look out over the Illinois and Spoon River valleys where the early Mississippian settlers now buried in the many mounds around Lewistown first tilled the cornfields that blanket the landscape.
"Later, they held a procession from the hilltop to the museum, where they placed a replica of a tombstone near a historical marker. A Lewistown resident placed a bouquet of flowers on the railing that separated visitors from the exhibit.
"Five state patrol cars filled with state troopers were stationed at the museum, but the day passed peacefully with no protests like those in past years when some of the skeletons were covered with dirt and blankets.
'"We rejoice that our ancestors will now be treated with respect," said Michael Haney, a member of the United Indian Nations from Oklahoma who led the fight to close down the exhibit.
'"The State of Illinois has come from the bottom of the list to the top of the list in respect to human remains," he said.
"But also among the visitors who took their last peek at the controversial display were angry local residents who said the remains were part of their heritage, too, and who haven`t forgiven Edgar for breaking his 1990 campaign promise to keep the display open.
"Under an agreement struck last November among state officials, local residents and Native Americans, the remains will not be buried but rather entombed in limestone or another natural material so they are not damaged.
"In exchange, Edgar vowed to fight in the General Assembly this spring for $4 million to renovate the museum in hopes that it will continue to provide economically struggling western Illinois with a tourist attraction, education center and research facility.
"But with the state`s financial troubles threatening health and welfare programs across the state, lawmakers have expressed doubt about that promise too.
"State officials said they made the decision to close the burial ground in compliance with a nationwide movement of museums to reinter Native American remains.
"Archeologists have criticized the Dickson Mounds deal, pointing out that no direct blood link was established by the protesting Native Americans and that the loss of such collections would be devastating to science.
"Friday was an emotional homecoming for many Lewistown-area residents who recalled joining chiropractor Donald Dickson in the shallow pits he dug in the 1920s to help brush dirt off the freshly uncovered bones.
"Janie Irish, now of Downstate Blandinsville, remembered visits to her aunt in Lewistown as a little girl when Dickson picked her up in the morning so she could help out at the site. Ralph Manley, a former educator from Mapleton, made the trip from his retirement home in Florida.
"Thomas and Hedwig Popp, on vacation from Peiting, Germany, made their Bloomington relatives take them to the site, which Hedwig's parents visited 15 years ago.
'"Maybe we should respect them," said Thomas Popp, who noted the stark contrast between the open burial chamber and the closed tombs of ancient leaders in his own country.
'"The way I feel about it is those Indians are as much my ancestors as anybody`s," said Mary Wheeler, 44, of Ottawa, who first visited the site on her honeymoon 25 years ago. ''We`re all going to suffer a great loss of educational value, but it`s another case of minority rule."
"Steven Sharpe, who runs a car repair business in Macomb, said he sent Edgar a letter on the issue.
'"I told him that dead Indians don`t vote, and out-of-state Indians don`t vote either,'' said Sharpe, who arrived with his 9-year-old son, Jeremy, and a video camera. "I told him I`m not sure I`ll vote for him either after what`s happened."
'"Now all we've got is 15 minutes of videotape," he said." ~ The Chicago Tribune, by Hugh Dellios, April 4, 1992