The Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe/Sacred Red Rock Project receives Mellon Monuments grant

On April 4th, 2022, the Mellon Foundation announced a major grant to the Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe/Sacred Red Rock Project (formerly known as Between the Rock and a Hard Place) for the return of a 28-ton red Siouxan quartzite boulder located for the past ninety-three years in Robinson Park, Lawrence, Kansas to the Kaw Nation.

Led by members of the Kaw Nation in collaboration with the City of Lawrence, University of Kansas, Spencer Museum of Art, Kanza Heritage Society and others, this two and half year project will relocate Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe to Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park, near Council Grove. This land, owned by the tribe since 2002, is a portion of the final reservation lands of the Kaw Nation in Kansas before their 1873 relocation to Indian Territory (Oklahoma).

On behalf of the Kaw Nation, Vice-Chairman James Pepper Henry said, “The Kaw Nation is grateful and humbled to receive generous support from the Mellon Foundation for the return of our sacred ancestor Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe. This grant will also provide resources to implement an interpretive plan and infrastructure for our visitors to learn about the Kaw people, the original inhabitants of Kansas.  We look forward to working in cooperation with the City of Lawrence, University of Kansas, and other project partners to facilitate this process, and to strengthen our relationship and visibility with the citizens of Kansas.”

A key aspect of the project is acknowledging and redressing the harm done when Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe was moved from its original location at the confluence of the Shunganunga Creek and Kansas River near Tecumseh, Kansas to Robinson Park in Lawrence in 1929 to become the base for a monument to the City’s “Pioneers.”

This $5 million dollar grant will support the relocation of Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe, infrastructure and interpretation at Allegawaho Park, and programming in Lawrence (and Council Grove) that engages the community in this multifaceted story and envisions new possibilities for the place now known as Robinson Park.

Keep up with the project on our new website - www.sacredredrock.com

Filming “A Reading by Many Voices,” and the Geophysical Assessment of Iⁿ zhúje waxóbe

On April 25th, a beautiful spring day, Nicholas Ward and his crew filmed a public reading of the City of Lawrence Joint Resolution #7358 for the documentary he is creating about our project. The resolution, written in large part by City Attorney Toni Wheeler, includes the unconditional return of Iⁿ zhúje waxóbe to the Kaw People, a commitment to assist in its relocation and an acknowledgement / apology for appropriating the Rock in 1929 and “for the history of violence, maltreatment, neglect, and pernicious policies of the United States government and other units of government directed at the Kaw Nation and other Native Peoples through the history of this nation.” The full resolution can be read here.

On April 29th Professor George Tsoflias, with a student assistant and help from Lawrence Parks and Rec, used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) to assess the condition of Iⁿ zhúje waxóbe. Tsoflias’ interpretation of the data suggested that 1) the Rock’s structure is sound though there may be some discontinuous fractures, 2) that there are some sort of metal braces within the base and 3) there is clear evidence that the Rock extends deep into the base structure, perhaps nearly to ground level.

Visiting Allegawaho Park and Assessing the Condition of Iⁿ ‘zhúje ‘waxóbe

On April 2nd,  Jim Pepper Henry, Pauline Sharp, Dave Loewenstein, and Barb Stanbrough met at Allegawaho Park to begin imagining where In ́zhúje ́waxóbe’s next home might be.  It was warm and windy with a smoke-tinged sky from the prairie burns just over the horizon. We walked through the forest along Little John Creek where the underbrush was just beginning to green up. Jim said one of his ideas was to set In ́zhúje ́waxóbe near the creek, since the rock had come from water. He wondered about how often the creek basin floods. We asked Barb, the Park Caretaker. She said, just about every year.

Jim Pepper Henry, Pauline Sharp and Barb Stanbrough at Allegawaho Park

Along the trail we were met by a group of visitors. They had come from all over and had heard that some representatives from Kaw Nation might be there. Jim and Pauline said, that’s us! They had lots of questions. Jim and Pauline were patient and answered them all. Walking up out of the creek basin, we stopped at the mosaic interpretive marker embedded with the names of the Kaw Clans, and then headed east through the dry prairie and up the hill. At the top, we drove along the ridge, Pauline and Barb in the truck, Jim and Dave sitting on the tailgate.  We stopped to take photos and imagine. Pauline said that Curtis Kekahbah had mentioned the rock possibly going to the north of the 1925 monument to the “Unknown Kanza Warrior.”

The next morning in Lawrence, we met up with Prof. Jay Johnson, Casey Messick-Braun (Spencer Museum Curator of Global Indigenous Art), Toni Wheeler (City Attorney), and Andreas Möller and Tony Walton (KU geologists) at Robinson Park to make a further assessment of the In ́zhúje ́waxóbe’s condition and consider possible ways of moving it to Allegawaho Park. Another warm windy spring day. Andreas and Tony described the formation of the rock, reminding us that the story of its creation and journey are elemental and epic. As the group wondered about those folks who did the work of dislodging, moving and re-situating In ́zhúje ́waxóbe, there was discussion about its orientation and how much of it might be hidden by the base it was set into.

Keith Middlemas, Jim Pepper Henry and Andreas Möller at Robinson Park

Stone mason Keith Middlemas arrived and had lots of ideas about how the rock might have been set initially and how we might go about moving it. He’d never worked with a rock quite this large but was able to diagram how it could be moved. There was discussion about possible harm coming to the rock from removing the plaque. Keith thought that was unlikely due to the relative hardness of the rock compared to the concrete holding the plaque to it. Jim suggested that if it is decided that the rock is too fragile to be moved without damaging it, it could be reinterpreted where it is.

In order to better understand the shape of the rock underneath its base and how it was mounted, folks recommended using both Lidar and GPR. It was also suggested that to stabilize In ́zhúje ́waxóbe and then excavate a portion of the base to see how it was anchored.  Jim added that it would be good to carefully document with photos and video (including drone footage) In ́zhúje ́waxóbe in its current context. Ongoing research includes continuing to look for documents and photos at the Spencer Research Library, Santa Fe Railroad, and City archives. And soon, we will be organizing a park clean-up day with the help of the City.

Pauline Sharp as Chief Lucy, first woman Chief of the Kaw

On Tuesday, February 9th at 7:00pm, the Quivira Chapter of the Santa Fe Trail Association, will present Pauline Sharp as Chief Lucy, first woman Chief of the Kaw.  Zoom information can be found below.  We hope you will join us to hear Chief Lucy!

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84528963481...

Meeting ID: 845 2896 3481

Passcode: kansas

Kaw Nation letter to the City of Lawrence

On October 11, 2020, project Co-leader Pauline Sharp presented to the Kaw Nation General Council, updating them on our project and offering some possible actions that they might take regarding the Big Red Rock.

Following the presentation, Kaw citizens overwhelmingly voted in favor of making a formal request for the return of the Sacred Red Rock. The attached letter was drafted by the Kaw Nation Tribal Council and outlines the requests. This formal letter was sent to Lawrence City Commissioners and Douglas County Commissioners on November 30, 2020.

The Between the Rock and a Hard Place team fully supports this letter and will work closely with the Kaw Nation, the City of Lawrence and Douglas County to carefully plan a process that brings our communities together to reflect and address the many issues and opportunities expressed in it.

Canoeing to the Confluence

On September 20th, a group from the Between the Rock and a Hard Place project took to the water to explore the place where the Big Red Rock lived for thousands of years before being removed to Lawrence. Led by project partner Dawn Buehler and the Kansas Riverkeepers, we entered the Kansas River just west of Tecumseh and floated downstream along the south bank until we met the Shunganunga Creek. (All of us wore protective face masks and kept proper social distance during the trip).

In addition to project filmmaker Nicholas Ward, we were joined by artist Lisa Grossman who piloted her drone to capture unique footage of our trip. It was and easy paddle. The river was low with hardly any wind as we quietly imagined the river and the Rock one-hundred, two-hundred, a thousand years ago.

This is the confluence of the Kansas River and Shunganunga Creek. In the background is the railroad bridge over the creek where a crane was used to remove the Big Red Rock in 1929.

New Banners in Robinson Park

With the help of City staff and approval of both the City and County (watch the County Commission meeting about our project here), colorful new banners were installed calling attention the Park’s name, history and meaning. Each sign poses a question or invites collaboration.

Adapting to the times

Between the Rock and a Hard Place is moving forward with new plans for community engagement. Since we will not be having large community gatherings any time soon, we hope to encourage visitors to the park and those who are learning about it from other places to share their thoughts, stories and ideas with us via email. You can email us directly at robinsonpark1929@gmail.com And come back soon to hear about new activities and research we’ll be announcing for the summer!

First Community Imagining

Our first imagining workshop was held on a warm February day at the public library. To begin, the group of twenty-five participants each shared a story of a place outside that held great meaning to them. Next, there were two presentations. Tai Edwards went through a visual timeline of the Park and what it had been before it was a Park, including the County Jail. Pauline Sharp followed Tai with her presentation about the Kanza People’s connection to the Big Red Rock.

The good weather allowed us to walk over to the Park and in groups explore its different facets. Filmmaker Nicholas Ward accompanied us and began to record interviews. One focused on the Park’s features including the cannon, flagpole and benches. Another group investigated access (or lack of) to and from the Park, while others paid close attention to the signage in and around the Park, and of course the Big Red Rock and the Pioneer plaque adhered to its surface.  A few of us explored under the bridges to look at graffiti and think about it as a place where people sometimes sleep.

We walked back to the library where each group shared their experiences and what they discovered. Among our observations were –

A pathway under the bridges could connect to the park from below

Women on the plaque are only identified as Mrs. and not by their own names

The land could be given back to the Kanza

Separate the plaque from the rock

Just west of the park was once the county jail and in 1882 it held the three men who were lynched

Examining the rock shows it has many textures, colors and patterns

Lighting the rock at night

This is an opportunity for Lawrence to show it cares

Since the Santa Fe was involved the first time, maybe they would help again

Make it a place of healing with native plants

The cannon signifies violence and shouldn’t be there

How can the park communicate with people driving by?

The rock holds our prayers

Listen to the rock. What does it say?

*Next up, the project team will be meeting with Lawrence City Commissioners and the City manager to introduce the project and talk about ways we can collaborate.

Opening Public Presentation

Between the Rock and a Hard Place kicked off with a public presentation at the Watkins Museum of History on January 26, 2020. An energetic crowd of over 100 filled the lower level meeting room. Among the crowd were Kanza Tribal citizens, historians, geologists, professors and even four descendants of the early founders of Lawrence.

We began by making introductions to the project team and then around the room as each person said what brought them to the meeting. Next Pauline Sharp, project co-leader gave a short presentation that shared a history and context for the Pioneer monument known to the Kanza as the Big Red Rock. Beginning with the last ice age that brought this glacial erratic south to the confluence of the Shunganunga Creek and Kansas River, onward through its relationship with indigenous peoples and finally to the story of its capture and removal to Lawrence, Pauline personalized the story including how her grandmother, Lucy Tayiah Eads, was Chief of the Kanza at the time the Big Red Rock was moved.

After outlining the project timeline and objectives, we got together in groups to imagine the Park and all of its features in five years. We explored how the Park might change to address issues related to accessibility, cultural equity, and potential use of the space. In the share-backs that followed, we heard a wide range of possibilities including –

That the Kanza Nation should decide what happens with the rock

Add the geologic history of the rock as part of a timeline

Change the name of the park

Replace the rock with a hologram

What is the relationship of Robinson Park to the lynchings of three African-American men in 1882?

Make this a place of education and healing

Engage with descendants of the founding abolitionists

Thanks to Editorial Cartoonist Greg Kearney