大家都知道伯洛伊特学院校园里有土丘. Everyone should know that these are Indian mounds, 几百年前印第安人建造的建筑. 每个人都应该知道这些是墓地. In fact, the entire central portion of the campus is cataloged as a burial site by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

How has the college treated the mounds, and how has the college—the Logan Museum of Anthropology in particular—interacted with the region’s indigenous people? 这些问题的答案都很长很复杂，但在这里我们将讨论几个关键点.

First, let’s clarify the terminology. 校园里的土丘都是印第安人的土丘和墓葬的土丘，但它们并不都是雕像的土丘. 雕像是用动物或人的形象制作的东西. There is only one effigy mound on campus: the turtle mound on the hill behind the Wright Museum of Art. 所有其他校园土丘是圆锥形(圆形或半球形)，椭圆形或线性土丘. So the campus does not have effigy mounds; it has one effigy mound—which is itself also an Indian mound and burial mound—and it has 19 conical, oval, and linear mounds.

These 20 mounds, plus a possible remnant just off campus, are what remain of the original group of 25. 五个土墩的损失发生在土墩得到法律保护之前. 直到1986年，威斯康星州才对包括土丘在内的古代墓地提供保护. The 80 percent mound survival rate on campus contrasts with the 80 percent mound loss rate throughout southern Wisconsin. Since the early 1800s, mounds have been leveled or destroyed by farming, development, erosion, or looting. 一些土丘，包括贝洛伊特校园里的几个，是由考古学家挖掘出来的. Beloit anthropology classes periodically excavated test squares and trenches to learn about mound structure and contents and to train students in archaeological methods.

校园土丘的挖掘在20世纪70年代停止，大约在洛根博物馆工作人员的时候, faculty, 学生们开始与威斯康星州北部的土著人密切合作. 实地考察马德琳岛和赤壁保留地(君主的家) Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa) led to close relationships with tribal members and reburial of human remains on tribal land long before such repatriation was required by law.

贝洛伊特在保护包括土丘在内的所有墓地的州法律中发挥了关键作用. 在20世纪80年代中期，住宅开发威胁到马德琳岛上的土著墓地. Findings from Beloit archaeological field schools, along with Ojibwa oral histories, 展示了该遗址的重要性，并使其得以保存. 看到有必要在全州范围内解决土墩和墓地被毁的问题, Wisconsin’s Legislative Council appointed a committee to draft a law to protect all burial sites. The committee’s membership included tribal representatives as well as archaeologists and anthropologists, among them Dr. Robert Salzer from Beloit College, Dr. 71岁的琳恩·戈尔茨坦(当时就读于威斯康星大学密尔沃基分校), 和我自己(当时在威斯康辛州历史学会). Over a two-year period, we drafted legislation that was passed nearly unanimously. The law 提高了对全州墓地的意识和保护. Known sites—including the Beloit College mounds—were entered into a statewide catalogue of burial sites. 部落官员和国家历史学会审查任何对这些遗址的干扰.

与此同时，我们正在努力确保校园土堆得到妥善处理. After consulting with Ho-Chunk tribal officials, 我们要求物理工厂在土堆上使用手动割草机而不是拖拉机割草机, reducing the chance of inadvertent damage. The Ho-Chunk cultural resource staff also conducted a pilot ground-penetrating-radar survey on campus to try to detect remnants of two of the “lost” mounds. 香农·菲(Shannon Fie)的《十大菠菜台子》(Principles of Archaeology)课程在此基础上进行了更广泛的研究 土丘及其周围地区的地球物理(非侵入性)勘测.

The Wisconsin Inter-Tribal Repatriation Committee (WITRC) invited the Logan Museum to partner with them to determine tribal affiliations of cultural items from mounds and other Native material in museum collections. 基于洛根号遵守联邦遣返法, 这一努力促进了与该州各地部落的工作关系. 博物馆还定期与其他地区的部落进行磋商. 我们把陪葬品和圣物送回部落, 在某些情况下，应部落的要求托管这些物品. 我们甚至与因纽特第一民族就加拿大的藏品进行了磋商. 这是对土堆保护和归还的认可, the Logan Museum organized a Weissberg Program panel in 2015 on “Indigenous Cultural Heritage Preservation and Repatriation: International and U.S. Perspectives.小组成员包括Ho-Chunk民族的部落历史保护官员.

After Wisconsin tribal members and allies 2016年初，挫败了削弱该州墓葬保护法的努力, 一个新的立法会委员会花了一年多的时间来修订和澄清该法律. 我是这个委员会中唯一一个曾在1985年委员会任职的成员. The result was enactment of clearer guidelines for tribal and public involvement in the preservation process.

Earlier this year, Shannon Fie and her students were instrumental in setting temporary markers around mounds during Commencement to minimize foot traffic across the mounds. Another of Shannon’s class projects resulted in a statement about the mounds—”The Significance of Place”—in the Commencement program. President Bierman’s introductory remarks included our statement acknowledging both the sacredness of the site and the Native nations on whose land the college was founded:

“我们承认并尊重我们聚集的土地是神圣的, 位于主权Sac祖先领土内的土著地方 & Fox, Ho-Chunk, and Potawatomi Nations as recognized by treaties between those Nations and the United States of America.”

这种说法在加拿大很常见，在美国也越来越常见.S.

There are some easy-to-access resources for anyone interested in learning more about the campus mounds. A good place to start is the “Beloit College Mound Group” exhibit in the Godfrey Anthropology Building lobby. The exhibit includes a bronze plaque placed on the largest mound in 1924; upon tribal requests, 牌匾从底座上脱落后，我们没有重新安装它. 然后，查看文章、地图和其他文档 Campus Archaeology Moodle Group. Anyone wishing to do more work on these topics or with ideas about new ways to protect the mounds and honor their builders is invited to contact Shannon Fie or Bill Green.