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SPECIAL INTERESTS
What a slanted article (“The museum built on Native American burial mounds,” Feb. 9). I was the Illinois state representative in the early 1990s representing Fulton County, including the Dickson Mounds facility. This article is nothing more than a shakedown operation by special-interest groups. A few weeks ago, I visited Dickson Mounds and was shocked by the dilapidated condition of a once-educational state museum.
The “Native Americans” claiming a connection to the Mississippian culture may have, through their ancestors, been the reason for the Mississippians’ destruction. Now they want control over modern scientific research by substituting their own superstitions.
Bill Edley
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
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IT’S GREED
It is amazing to me that whites of this land take what they want, do what they want and expect no one to question them when they do it. How would they feel if someone went and dug up their family members and took whatever is on their physical bodies? I know that to be stealing from the dead. They would be furious. But it is OK to do to Indian burial grounds? Indian burial grounds have always been known to be sacred. And yet, whites think the Indians are savages.
To say the Indians have no rights to their ancestors’ remains and the state is holding their belongings for proper storage is rubbish. They just want to keep the artifacts because they are worth money. The Sac Fox Tribe are my ancestors. This hits a personal chord for me. I resent anyone digging up the dead, no matter who they are, but especially when done for greed.
Karen Le Seure
Springfield
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DICKSON DESCENDENT
I grew up in Lewistown and am actually a descendant of the Dicksons. Growing up, I remember when we would go on class trips. As for not seeing the remains as being human, that is far from the truth. It was always done in a respectful and educational manner. I left after high school to join the military. I retired in 2009 and was shocked to see how run-down it had become.
Joe Wilcox
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
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ENOUGH
How many millions of taxpayer dollars has Horace Mann already received (“Downtown demolitions,” Feb. 16)? When will the city say enough is enough? The taxpayers should be part owners of that business by now. The TIF program has been seriously abused in Springfield.
Rob Bell
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
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NO BLIGHT
This doesn’t qualify under the definition of a TIF: “The original intent of a TIF program is to stimulate private investment in a blighted area that has been designated to be in need of economic revitalization.” I don’t see the blight. Am I missing something?
Aaron Graves
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
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MORE HOLES
Less buildings, more holes. Just what we need.
Tim Moore
Via Facebook.com/illinoistimes
This article appears in Emergency response under scrutiny.
Karen Le Seure…. Ah, I am half-Italian… Have you ever been to Rome? Have you seen Rome’s catacombs tour?
I see where you claim your Indian heritage. What specific (i.e DNA) connection does your tribe have to the Mississippians?
Native American Indians were violent backward societies (See “North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence (2007- the University of Arizona Press”).
I have American ancestors that were brutely murdered by your “Native Americans.” Honestly, these “Native Americans” made some very bad choices. They aligned themselves with the British, French, and Spanish against American settlers. Many “Native Americans” owned slaves and lined up with Confederacy during the Civil War. Thus, they lost. And we won. So, live in the present, and stop dredging superstitious BS to cancel scientific inquiry.
I’m with the previous respondents, Horace Mann has been gorging itself long enough at the TIF buffet table. This profligate graft belongs squarely on the city council’s dinner plate.