Indians of Southern Illinois
The Southern Partnership Project pools the talent of interpreters and staff
from several sites to develop and distribute historic information focused on southern Illinois. The goal of the Partnership is to enhance the educational experience at IHPA sites: to aid students, teachers and visitors in enjoying and learning about southern Illinois history through age-appropriate, engaging, informative educational activities and resources. Indians of Southern Illinois displays 14,000 years of Indian history from this region of the state. The concave side of this exhibit displays Indian prehistory: Paleo-Archaic, Woodland and Mississippian.
The convex side displays historic Indian settlement patterns and culture; ending about 1850 with Indian removal west of the Mississippi River.
For more information about this exhibit, please call Cindy Upchurch at 618-251-5811 or William Iseminger at 618-346-5160.
Concave side (examples of images) Of special interest is the prehistoric rock art and surviving mounds.
Paleo artifacts
Pete Bostrom Lithic Lab.
Old Stone Fort
Johnson County
Department of
Natural Resources
Twin Mounds
Located at Cahokia State Historic Site in Collinsville, IL
Human footprints pecked in the stone,
The Archaeology and Rock Art of Piney
Creek Ravine by Mark Wagner,
Charles Swedund, photographer.
The Convex Side displays the historic period starting with European exploration and ending with the Trail of Tears. This exhibit closes with “How Do We Know?”
The Piasa bird, painted near present day Alton, was described by Father Marquette as horrifying.
Mercantile Library, University of Missouri, St. Louis
Investigating at Fort de Chartres
Jug uncovered during field work in East St. Louis, 2003.
View of the front of the exhibit, Indians of Southern Illinois. Each time period
is color coded. The frame is 10 ft. x 8 ft. (no lighting included).
View of the back of the exhibit.
The historic period begins with European contact and
ends with Indian removal west of the Mississippi River.
Indians of Southern Illinois
