How Our Journey Began

By Bill & Doris Emmett

In 1992, a local historian named Ralph Duvick told us a story of the Grand Village of the Kickapoo. Until we heard the story, we were unaware of the historical significance of the farm we owned, which is on the southwest quarter of the Grand Village site. After learning some of the history, we began researching the Village.

Of the many Native Nations that lived in early Illinois, the Kickapoo was among the most populous, occupying a large central area of the state. From the mid-1700's to the early 1800's, between 2,000 and 3,000 Kickapoo lived on approximately 10 million acres, with the main village - the Grand Village - located in the center of the state between Bloomington and Champaign. Many burial sites lie hidden around the Village and a nearby Indian fort. During this era, the district hosted a timber stand that covered over 14,000 acres, with deer, buffalo and other abundant food sources. There the Kickapoo lived in pole-frame houses covered with elm bark, tapping maple trees for sap, sugar, and cultivating garden plots for corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, and watermelon. In a treaty signed at Edwardsville in 1819, the Kickapoo were made to give up all rights to their land in Illinois. The nation fought removal for many years, then was forced across the Mississippi River into Missouri and Kansas in 1838. From there, the tribe was later pushed into Oklahoma and Texas, with some eventually settling across the border in Mexico. Today's Kickapoo maintain a great reverence for the Grand Village as a religious site, in respect for the ancestors buried there.

One Sunday we learned Heartland Hogs was planning a large hog factory on the north end of the Village, which would have placed a lagoon over the burial site. We felt it was morally wrong to allow this to happen so we formed a local citizens' group. "The Kickapoo 4 Association," dedicated to stopping this facility from locating on the Grand Village. After many meetings with the people planning the facility, they decided not to build there. The Kickapoo tried to purchase the land, but the owners changed the price and terms, creating problems the Kickapoo were unable to overcome.

In 1998 we heard the owners were once again going to sell the land. The Kickapoo were not in a position to purchase it, so we thought about the need to preserve the burial site. Purchasing the site placed a great burden on our family finances, however, we were convinced this was meant to be. Everything surrounding our being on this land convinced us we were being guided by a Greater Power; therefore, we took possession of the northwestern 160 acres of the Grand Village in January of 1997, making us caretakers of the west half of the Village.

In honor of the Kickapoo, we have dedicated 2 and 1/3 acres of the land as a permanent memorial to the Grand Village in the form of a park.

It is our hope to eventually preserve the entire village, but we do not have the financial resources to do so. We are praying that an individual, group, or foundation will intercede to buy the remaining 240 acres so none of the village will be in danger of desecration.

• To the ancestors who lie buried at the Grand Village site, we pledge our ongoing  work to protect and preserve your gravesites.
• To the desendents of the Kickapoo yet to come, we promise our creative, consistent  struggle to provide a land for you that knows it is blessed by your presence.
• To our volunteers, patrons, and committees, we thank you for your dedication to the  Grand Village of the Kickapoo Park. Without your support the park would not have become a reality.

          We are now in the process of trying to raise funds to develop the park with a permanent sacred circle, arbor, native prairie plants and flowers. It is our hope also to build a public information center when funds become available.

The Return of the Buffalo to the Grand Village

1998 was the year the Kickapoo returned to the Grand Village.  During 1999 prairie grasses were re-introduced to the Village site.  It was also the year the buffalo returned.

  To us, the circle in being completed.  The human world, the plant world, and the animal world are once again in harmony at the Grand Village of the Kickapoo.

  Through the helpful efforts of Dave Grimes (Farmer Dave's Buffalo Ranch in Farmer City), we now have a prospering buffalo heard at the Village site with numerous babies, most of whom were born here at the Village.

  To once again have buffalo roaming the hills of the Village makes one wonder what it must have been like here in the 1700's.  To sit on a hill and watch these magnificent animals and remember their importance to the many peoples who once lived here is a privilege few are granted.

  Now the ancestors will not only hear the drums and old songs, but they will also hear the hoof beats of the buffalo people at the Grand Village.

Our First Gathering of Maple Sap

  For several years we had considered gathering maple sap from the Grand Village site.   Bill works with Mike & Debbie Funk at Funk's Grove near McLean, Illinois.  The Funk family has been making maple sirup for the past 100 years.  Mike agreed to assist us to make maple sirup.

  In early February 1999, with the help of several volunteers we placed 100 taps on 36 trees.  Wes marked the trees, Bill drilled them, Dave set the taps, and Steve set the buckets.  We then gathered the sap daily and delivered it to Mike Funk for cooking into sirup.  Within six weeks, we had gathered enough sap to produce 51 gallons of maple sirup.  We bottled the sirup in 1/2 pint bottles and had our own labels made for them.

We feel good that the village is once again producing maple sirup as when the Kickapoo lived here. We are grateful to the maple trees for their generosity and continue to harvest sirup annually.