Let's 'nationalize' Cahokia Mounds

Cahokia Mounds is an irreplaceable piece of American history, the only ancient city in North America and one of a handful of places in the United States listed by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site.

Since 1925, the central mound area has been state owned, but it was not until 1989 that it received a quality site interpretive center.

However, time has taken its toll. The park's infrastructure requires renovation and upkeep, there is a staff to pay, mounds need stabilization, and the state needs to preserve more of the site.

Now budget cutbacks threaten to undermine this preservation effort and to severely limit public access. It seems that the maintenance of Cahokia, as worthy a cause as that is, is an expense the state can ill-afford.

As University of Illinois archaeologists who have invested our careers working around the site, we believe that it is time to "nationalize" Cahokia.

Most other World Heritage sites in North American - Chaco Canyon, the Statue of Liberty, Mesa Verde and the Grand Canyon - are owned, managed and maintained by the federal government.

As tourist attractions, they flourish, and a Cahokia Mounds National Historic Site in St. Clair and Madison counties would be a tremendous boon for the downstate economy.

It is time for Illinois to recognize worldwide importance of Cahokia and insist that Cahokia join the ranks of other important U.S. historical sites as a national park.

Thomas E. Emerson

Timothy R. Pauketat

University of Illinois

Champaign