Millions of American bison, or "buffalo," roamed these prairies 700 years ago, at the peak of quarrying activity.
Hékta waniyetu opawiŋġe ṡakowiŋ héehaŋn oyate kiŋ waŋhi óta k'ak'api . . . — — Map (db m302020) HM
This site teaches us about the knowledge, wisdom, and ingenuity of Indigenous ancestors. It is an important place not just because of what happened here so long ago, but also for how it unites us today as we consider the gifts the Earth . . . — — Map (db m299340) HM
For at least 10,000 years, Indigenous people came here to acquire Grand Meadow Chert. You are standing in the only place in the world where this high-quality, gray flint or "chert" is found. The Dakota name for this landscape is "Wanhi Yukan," . . . — — Map (db m294730) HM
For thousands of years, grasslands – dotted with sparsely wooded areas called "savannas" – covered southern Minnesota. Fire-resistant oak trees took hold and grasses and flowers flourished below the canopy. Large burr and white oaks provided . . . — — Map (db m286131) HM
Think of this place like a hardware store. People collected the raw material—Grand Meadow Chert—to make many of the tools that were necessary for their daily needs.
Blanks
Ikce oyate kiŋ waŋhi . . . — — Map (db m286759) HM
This building, designed by architects William G. Purcell and George G. Elmslie stands as a historic symbol of the Prairie School style of architecture.
Built in 1910, the building captures many of the artistic and structural design . . . — — Map (db m145221) HM
Although Grand Meadow Chert drew people here, a diverse ecosystem made it possible for them to stay. The waving prairie grasses, oak trees, and meandering creeks provided ideal habitat for deer, elk, bison, birds, fish, and small mammals. Indian . . . — — Map (db m304271) HM
These pits you see here were dug by hand using tools made of stone, antler, bone, and wood. This work was only possible when the ground was not frozen. Indigenous workers loosened the dirt with digging sticks. They scooped the dirt with bone . . . — — Map (db m287512) HM
About 1,000 years ago, Indigenous people form dozens of regional villages began digging the pits here to gather chert. They shared a cultural identity that included similar languages, spiritual perspectives, pottery styles, farming strategies, . . . — — Map (db m292403) HM
Nearly 400 million years ago, limestone formed in ocean bottoms across southern Minnesota. As oceans receded, pools of glass-like silica remained, forming grey chert. Much later, was the glaciers melted, layers of sand and gravel buried the . . . — — Map (db m296846) HM
Nearly 10,000 years ago,
Indigenous hunters walking along the headwaters of the Root River Valley came upon two creek beds full of Grand Meadow Chert nodules. They realized the stone was suitable for making tools. For millennia, . . . — — Map (db m289357) HM
The process of chipping stone into tools is called "flint knapping." Native people quarried below the surface in search of chert nodules. They tested the quality by holding a nodule on a large "anvil" stone, breaking it open with a hand-sized . . . — — Map (db m288980) HM
For over four centuries, Indigenous people dug nearly 2000 pits here. Their descendants are among the Ioway, Ho Chunk/Winnebago, Lakota, and Dakota peoples.
Why did those ancestors suddenly stop coming here 600 years ago? There may have . . . — — Map (db m288473) HM
After gathering Grand Meadow Chert from creek beds and hand-dug pits, Native people chipped it into spear tips, arrowheads, hide scrapers, knives, awls, and other tools.
Inside a nodule of Grand Meadow Chert.
Spear tip • Hide . . . — — Map (db m293744) HM
