When Knocking Down Homes Is Actually a Step in the Right Direction

Driving north on I-55 in St. Louis along the Mississippi River, Sugarloaf Mound is easy to miss. It’s nestled between the river’s west bank and the freeway, appearing as a hill that descends as you travel north, vanishing into the landscape as quickly as it pops up. You might catch a glimpse of two rooftops, homes that squat on the mound’s northern, flatter end. Yet this seemingly ordinary hill has been a contested site for many years: it is the last remaining sacred mound originally belonging to the Mississippians, now Osage Nation, one of many groups of Indigenous peoples who were forcibly removed from this land generations ago.

Since 2008, the tribe has been working to reacquire the mound, or "rematriate" it, placing it back under their control. This hasn’t been an easy task, however—over time, the mound has been carved into three distinct parcels; three private owners would need to sell or transfer their properties to the tribe to make it happen.

As part of a land back effort spanning decades, in 2009, the Osage Nation successfully acquired one of these properties. Then, in 2021, it found a somewhat unlikely ally in their ongoing effort. The tribe began collaborating with Counterpublic, a civic-minded arts organization that mounts citywide triennial arts festivals and public exhibitions, to acquire the two that remained. The alliance, which included festival staff, lawyers, and curators, has since helped usher one of the two owners of the properties into the process of a land transfer, which ended last week when they announced the tribe would acquire the next third of the mound.

St. Louis is sometimes called Mound City after the numerous Indigenous sites that once existed here. Sugarloaf Mound is the last one standing, all others having been decimated by European settlers. According to a report from the Altoona Mirror, mounds in the region were built between 800 and 1450 AD, and each held a specific and sacred purpose. "These are very special locations. When we look into our history and at the organization of our society—the political and religious organization—mounds played a role and in all instances. They were significant structures that took an enormous amount of time and labor to create," says Dr. Andrea Hunter, the Osage Nation’s historic preservation officer.