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.