Cahokia Mounds Cultural Gallery Closed

Lobby (Restrooms, Site Model, Temporary Exhibit, and Gift Shop) are open

Wednesday through Sunday from 9:00 am till 3:00 pm

Cahokia Mounds has closed the exhibit gallery that displays cultural items from Native American communities throughout the Midwest region.

Recent updates to the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) now require consent from lineal descendants and/or affiliated Native American Tribes in order for Native American sacred objects, objects of cultural patrimony, funerary objects, and/or human remains to be on view.

Cahokia Mounds is committed not only to compliance with NAGPRA but to consultation and collaboration with affiliated communities whose heritage is represented in our galleries.

Therefore, the cultural gallery will remain closed while staff continue to review existing
information and engage in meaningful conversations with the descendant groups of this important Indigenous Site.

The INTERPRETIVE CENTER (MUSEUM)

 The Interpretive Center Lobby (restrooms, gift shop, site model, Canoe exhibit and a new temporary exhibit) will be permanently open Wednesday through Sunday, 9 am to 3 pm, while we work on exhibits.

The Grounds are OPEN to the public DAILY, from DAWN UNTIL DUSK:

  • A WATER FOUNTAIN is located near the Monks Mound Parking Lot
  • MAPS & BROCHURES are located in designated holders near Monks Mound Parking lot & in front of the Interpretive Center (Museum)
  • DOGS must remain on a leash at all times
  • A VAULT TOILET is available near the Monks Mound Parking Lot

CAHOKIA MOUNDS WORLD HERITAGE & STATE HISTORIC SITE is the largest pre-Columbian site north of Mexico. At its peak, around 1100, this metropolis stretched over 4,000 acres, encompassed about 120 earthen mounds, and hosted a population of nearly 20,000 individuals – larger than London at that time. The State of Illinois now protects roughly 2,200 acres of the central portion of the Site. Including 72 of the nearly 80 remaining mounds, as some mounds are situated in unprotected portions of the Site.

The Site was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1965, and designated a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 1982, for its significance in the pre-Contact history of North America.

FIND CAHOKIA

One of the greatest cities of the world, Cahokia was larger than London was in AD 1250.

30 Ramey Street Collinsville, IL 62234 | 618-346-5160 | © Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site