New St. Louis Rams Stadium May Be Built On Ancient Native American City

A $1 billion plan to build a new stadium for the St. Louis Rams NFL team has archaeologists and Native Americans up in arms because of its proposed riverfront location. Just a few blocks northwest of the current Edward Jones Dome, the remains of two dozen earthen mounds dot the Mississippi River bank. While the mounds were flattened in the 1800s to accommodate the rise of St. Louis as an urban center, underneath the buildings and parking lots is a 900-year-old Native American town.

Across the river in Illinois, the site of Cahokia is much better known. Currently a 3.5-square-mile historic park, Cahokia boasts over 80 mounds and decades of archaeological research that has revealed a Grand Plaza, mass burials and sacrificial victims, and a unique copper workshop. Due to differences in funding and state laws about development, though, Cahokia's sister city in Missouri is not well understood.

Archaeologist Joe Harl told St. Louis Public Radio that he is certain that ancient Native American artifacts will be found if the building project goes forward. Even though the project will use state bonds to finance a portion of it, because the project will be on private land and has no federal funding, in Missouri, developers are not required to call in archaeologists. Neither Harl nor Everett Waller, chairman of the Osage Minerals Council who spoke with Indian Country Today Media Network, wants to see plans for the stadium completely shelved.  But both suggest that the stadium proposal task force take another look at possible locations and factor in money to do archaeological survey first.

Many states, like Florida where I live, require archaeological survey in advance of big development projects such as this.  Missouri does not.  But the expense to do a thorough archaeological assessment of the new site prior to or during construction is a very, very small fraction of the stadium's reported $1.5 billion price tag.  It would be in the best interest of the stadium proposal task force to advocate for archaeology, to ensure we preserve and record as much of our country's collective past as possible while celebrating our present.

To read more on this developing story, check out Veronique LaCapra's piece at St. Public Radio, "New football stadium threatens what remains of St. Louis' Native American past -- and present," or Rodney Harwood's article at Indian Country Today Media Network, "Sacred Native site to be buried by new St. Louis NFL stadium."