Prayer Vigil in Honor of the Ancestors

On May 2, 1998, National Prayer Day, 200 supporters gathered at the State Capitol Building in Springfield, Illinois, to call for Respect, Repatriation & Reburial.

Midwest Save Our Ancestors Remains & Resources Indigenous Network Group, (Midwest SOARRING) sponsored the vigil to promote dialogue between the state of Illinois and the original Indigenous Nations of Illinois to achieve two goals:

• Establishment of a Burial Board with Native American representation to monitor inadvertent discovery of unmarked burial sites during land development
• Provision of land for reburial of repatriated ancestral remains and burial goods

Since the early 1840’s, the ancestral remains of Native American have been collected for study, an activity that is spiritually devastating to the people. There are approximately 12,000 human remains stored at institutions that need to be returned to Illinois soil, but there is no land set aside for reburial. Many states have set aside property years ago for the return of the ancestors, and a similar program is needed in Illinois. After futile years of attempting to negotiate with the state, SOARRING recognized the need to turn directly to the Creator for help, standing together with representatives of all colors, denominations and cultures to join in prayer for this essential need.

The Vigil began with a 1 1/2 block march from the State Museum to the west steps of the Capitol Building. The Research and Collection Center of the museum, located 1 1/2 miles away, holds approximately 6000 ancestral remains. At the steps, Starr-Bressette of the Bad River Band Ojibwe led a prayer and smudging, with speakers following, including Joseph Standing Bear, President of Midwest SOARRING; Cindy Bloom, Vice President of Midwest SOARRING; Pemina Yellow Bird, North Dakota Intertribal Reinterment Committee; David Lee Smith, Repatriation Officer and historian for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska; Preston Duncan, Meskwaki Nation; Michael Haney, Chairman of the Repatriation Committee for the United Indian Nations in Oklahoma; Chick Hale, Kickapoo Nation of Kansas; Karen Strong, Tlingit Nation; and Regina Mahieu, Chairperson of the American Indian Council of Illinois. The vigil ended with a round dance in celebration, with drumming by Eagle Ridge Drum, of Trivoli, Illinois.

Explorer Post 2780 from Alsip, Illinois, prepared and served a supper at 5 PM at the Armory Building across the street from the Capitol. A concert followed, completing the evening with Native performers, Mitch Walking Elk, a singer/songwriter of Cheyenne, Arapahoe and Hopi descent, and Duncan Grady, of the Siksika Band of the Blackfeet Nation, playing the flute.

Follow-up work with members of the state legislature and other parties who can be instrumental in achieving the above goals is in process.