Indians created first major urban centers

Though not as well known as their counterparts in Mexico and the American Southwest, the Indians in the ancient Midwest and South thrived for millennia, as their settlements transformed the untamed wilderness (between 2000 B.C. and A.D. 1600) into a complex political and economic network, often linked by waterways, such as the Missisippi River. From Cahokia in southern Illinois to Poverty Point in northeastern Louisiana, the mound builders, as they came to be called, created the first major urban centers in North America.

Essential to this highly integrated and interconnected system was the cosmic vision of the universe upon which it was based. Communicated through great works of art and in ceremonial and religious practices, this vision and its societal systems yielded advanced pre-Columbian settlements. Some, such as Cahokia, had populations of 20,000 in 1200. By examining nearly 4,000 years of art and culture identified with the people of these regions, the richness of these civilizations can be brought to light.

The exhibition "Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South" delves into the context in which the powerful art of the ancient Americas was created, examining these civilizations in a new way, illuminating their history and way of life.

Organized both chronologically and by region, the exhibition begins with the Archaic period (c. 6000-500 B.C.), during which the first works of art and identifiable ceremonial structures were made. The largest settlement found from this period is Poverty Point in the Louisiana forest.

Next is the Woodland period (beginning in 500 B.C.), which encompasses the Adena and Hopewell societies of the central Ohio River valley. Ceremonial mound building, stone carving, and increased trade were hallmarks of this time.

The exhibition then surveys the Mississippian period (beginning in 800). Included are plans and drawings of major archaeological sites, most notably Cahokia, located just across the Mississippi River from present-day St. Louis. "Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand" subsequently delves into the effects of contact with European settlers on these Native Americans, concluding with the relocation of the tribes to the Oklahoma territories beginning in the 1830s.

As the societies of these ancient Native Americans developed, so did their art. Objects created from precious materials such as mica, stone, ceramic, shell, copper, silver, and gold were used by the chiefs as trade items and were rife with symbolic meaning. The sky and stars, as well as the cycle of life and death, were important themes. Certain animals closely linked to the movement of the sky and the afterlife (birds and reptiles, for instance) became principal motifs. Heroic figures and powerful ancestors, often associated with these animals, are represented in dramatic masks and other highly crafted objects.

"Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand" is on view at the Saint Louis (Mo.) Art Museum through May 30.

Mystery of the Cahokia Mounds

Flourishing with art, science, and the remarkable construction achievements of its mounds and sun calendars, Cahokia became the regional center of the Mississippian culture. At its zenith, from 1050 to 1200, this capital city covered nearly six miles and, with a population close to 20,000, was one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world.

Cahokia Mounds, site of the largest prehistoric settlement north of Mexico, lies eight miles east of metropolitan St. Louis in the wide Mississippi floodplain known as the American Bottom. The 4,000-acre area was inhabited in 700 by Woodland Indians, then, from 800 to about 1400, by Indians of the Mississippian culture. By 900, the Mississippians had developed a complex chiefdom society with a sophisticated agricultural system and a highly specialized political and religious order.

The remains of the ancient city have been preserved at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, a 2,200-acre tract that contains 68 of the original 120 mounds. At the center is Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the New World. A platform mound with a 14-acre base, it contains an estimated 22,000,000 cubic feet of earth and rises in four terraces to a height of 100 feet. It was at the summit where the principal Mississippian ruler lived, conducted ceremonies, and governed the city. Monks Mound was named for the French Trappist monks who lived nearby in the early 1800s.

The cause of the decline of this thriving society is not known, but by 1400, the population had vanished. Descendants of the Mississippian culture--the Osage, Omaha, Ponca, and Quapaw Indians--make no references to the captial city in their legends. Even the original name of the site remains a mystery. The name Cahokia dates to the arrival of the French in the late 1600s, when the site was inhabited by a sub-tribe of the IIlini Indians called the Cahokia.

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