Durbin Reintroduces Bill To Make Cahokia Mounds A National Historic Park
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) today reintroduced his bill to designate the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site as a National Historic Park. Durbin’s bill, which would elevate the site beyond its current designation as a National Historic Landmark, will offer additional protections for the ancient mounds in St. Clair and Madison counties along with Sugarloaf Mound in St. Louis – the city’s only remaining mound.
“Cahokia Mounds is an important natural, archeological, and culture landmark that represents the indigenous peoples and landscapes that once made up America’s first cities in the Western Hemisphere,” said Durbin. “With this bill to update the site’s historical designation, we can take another step forward in recognizing Cahokia Mounds as the cultural asset it is and offer the necessary protections to ensure the site is protected for generations to come.”
U.S. Representatives Mike Bost (R-IL-12) and Cori Bush (D-MO-1) are introducing a companion bill in the House of Representatives.
The City of Cahokia was inhabited from 700 A.D. to 1400. At its peak, from 1050 to 1200, the city covered nearly six square miles (larger than London at that time) and between 10,000 and 20,000 people lived there. More than 120 mounds were built over time. The site is named for the Cahokia subtribe of the Illinois tribe, who moved into the area in the 1600s.
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