While brilliant purple and yellow wildflowers (I say wild, although they were undoubtedly meticulously planned by the city's Park and Rec dept.) line the sidewalks and grace the rolling hills at Indian Mounds Park along the Mississippi River in St. Paul, the six large mounds in the middle of the park remained well groomed.
Before the mid-1850's, there were 37 mounds in the area. It's believed that several different groups of indigenous people have used them over the years as a final resting place for their dead. Several mounds were thought to be upwards of 2000 years old. This tradition could have been continued, but it wasn't even respected. Several mounds were destroyed, as well as a spiritual cave, to make way for the railroad along the river. In 1896, the city of St. Paul decided to make improvement to the area and turn it into a park. During this process of "landscaping" and grading out the area, eleven more mounds were destroyed.
Sitting on the edge of the park, with two large mounds to my right I stared down at the river, marveling at where I was, what this location now is, and what it used to be.
At the very least, I find peace in the fact that, for thousands of years, others have found a special connection to this waterway.
