LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) The Lawrence City Council has unanimously approved a measure to return a Native American tribe's prayer rock that was transformed more than 90 years ago into a monument.
photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World
The Shunganunga boulder, pictured Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, is a 23-ton red quartzite rock that sits in Robinson Park in downtown Lawrence across from City Hall. In 1929, a group of Lawrence officials arranged to take the boulder from the Shunganunga Creek near Tecumseh, where the creek joins with the Kansas River â a site that was sacred to the Kanza tribe.
Decades after the City of Lawrence removed a sacred prayer rock from the Kaw Nation’s homelands and made it into a monument honoring settlers, city leaders will begin working to return the rock and issue a formal apology to the tribe.
photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World
The Shunganunga boulder, pictured Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, is a 23-ton red quartzite rock that sits in Robinson Park in downtown Lawrence across from City Hall. In 1929, a group of Lawrence officials arranged to take the boulder from the Shunganunga Creek near Tecumseh, where the creek joins with the Kansas River â a site that was sacred to the Kanza tribe.
City leaders will soon consider a request from the Kaw Nation to return a sacred prayer rock that was removed from the tribe’s homelands decades ago and made into a monument honoring settlers, including potential ways to fund the rock’s relocation.
Posted By: George Lawson December 14, 2020 @ 5:30 am Local News, News
By the Associated Press:
A Native American tribe is seeking the return of a prayer rock that was transformed into a monument honoring Kansas settlers.
Before the Kaw people were forcibly moved from Kansas to what is now Oklahoma in 1873, they held ceremonies and gathering before the 23-ton boulder known as the “Big Red Rock.” As Lawrence prepared for its 75th anniversary in 1929, the rock was moved to a park in town.
A letter from the Kaw Nation says the intent is to bring the rock to Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park in Council Grove. The long-range goal is to develop the site into a place where people can learn about the state’s original inhabitants.