An LSU committee is seeking to preserve LSU’s Indian Mounds from further vandalism by erecting a large, permanent barrier around the historic site. The current plans, which haven’t been finalized, would require the removal of the parking lot in front of the mounds and the rerouting of the roads around them to reduce traffic.
The plans are currently estimated to cost $4 million, but haven’t been approved by tribal leaders or LSU administration. The Indian Mounds Education and Protection Committee will meet for the first time Friday since November to discuss the plans further.
The committee is also considering a viewing platform overlooking the mounds containing educational material explaining their history and significance for Native Americans.
After numerous incidents of vandalism, LSU built a chain link fence around the historic site to keep students and visitors from further damaging the structure last spring.
The committee was formed in the fall to find ways to preserve the mounds from further harm while keeping the historic site attractive for viewers. The committee is composed of LSU faculty, campus planning, athletics, the LSU foundation and representatives from tribal groups and LSU’s Native American Student Organization.
“All the Native American students want protection, but we can’t get any progress,” said Leigh-Anne Thompson, president of NASO. “If they knew the historical part of it and how old they actually were and the damage that they could be doing, I think they would show a lot more respect.”
In 2010, a “Save the Mounds” campaign resulted in a temporary fence, but was eventually removed. In February 2021, a group of LSU students used the Indian Mounds as a makeshift platform for sledding after a winter storm.
Members of the committee hope their plans will result in a permanent solution that prevents further vandalism. A small subset of the committee is devoted to fundraising and applying for targeted grants to fund a new barrier for the site.
Sibel Bargu Ates, chair of the committee and associate dean at the College of the Coast and Environment, said a major component of the mound’s preservation is educating the public on the mounds’ history and significance.
The mounds are one of the oldest man-made structures in North America, dated to be over 8,200 years old, according to Brooks Ellwood, an LSU archeologist.
The two mounds, labeled mound A and mound B, have both been damaged from trespassing. Mound A is composed of a mushier sort of soil filled with water. As pressure is exerted on the mound it begins to cave inward, causing the mound to become lumpy and deformed on the surface.
Mound A has already been significantly deformed from students trespassing and LSU mowing the grass on it.
“You have a crowd of folks up there, or a truck driving over it and it jiggles the mound,” Ellwood said.
Mound B has suffered less damage since it’s made of more secure soil, but is still subject to erosion as students walk and slide down it.
According to LSU archeologist Rebecca Saunders, the mounds likely served a religious and social function for the Native Americans who built them – potentially a meeting place where rituals and other activities were held.
Microscopic bone particles identified as belonging to large mammals have been found in both mounds, leading Ellwood and others to believe the mounds are filled with cremated human remains. DNA samples haven’t been allowed to confirm this, however, due to tribal restrictions.
LSU committee drafts $4-million plans for barrier around Indian Mounds: ‘We can’t get any progress’
By Corbin Ross
January 19, 2022