A few months ago I had the opportunity to visit Cahokia Mounds State Park on the outskirts of St. Louis. Never heard of it? I am not surprised.
The Cahokia Indians lived in St. Louis long before Lambert was built; long before the floods of the 90's. Long before the Arch. They lived (and died) in St. Louis from 800-1400 AD.
For years I have wanted to experience the Mayan temples and pyramids in Mexico, but as I had never gotten there, with 2012 quickly approaching, I went to Cahokia Mounds... a Pre-Columbian settlement right in the heart of America.
As I walked the grounds with my son, Jonathon, we talked about what their life must have been like and wondered what connections there were to the Mayan culture. Much of it was similiar.
With all the "hoopla" about 2012 being the end of the world, I wanted to see if there was "spiritual experience" I could have with my son, so we climbed to the top of the Priest's Mound, and stood still listening as if we might hear some spirit speak to us...
It did.
Here is what I heard:
"We lived a long time ago and we know you have forgotten us. Most of you do not know we ever existed, and so you attribute much of your history to the American Indian that hunted buffalo and battled the white man, but we were before that...
We lived here. Ate here. Farmed here. We had no science to speak of, no weather radios, no television, and so we lived here without any knowledge of where we were or what we might encounter.
We settled here against the banks of the most powerful river, built huts and temples here on top of the New Madrid Earthquake fault, and we experienced powerful twisting winds that destroyed all that we built every couple of years...swirling forces that came with no notice.
And now we are gone. There is nothing here bu some broken pottery, a few stone tools and these mounds...
Learn from us..."
Okay, maybe I did not hear a voice, but that is what I heard in my mind.
I did my research. There are a lot of explanations as to where these people went, but each one is as good as another, and so I added my own theory... these people lived in the worst disaster area I could think of and never had a chance.
Now, in 2012, we are launching our new "Cahokia's Kids" Disaster Preparedness Series of programs. This series will not only replace our 2010-2011 Scouting Series, but will offer the opportunity for ANY children to participate. We will teach about the Cahokia's. We will speculate as to what happened. We will look at how we can be better prepared for the future...
The Mayan Calendar never said life would end, folks... it said that the TIME would end. What time? Well, it could be that time we live in now where travel is easy, gasoline is available, homes have heat and electric and there are groceries available at every corner market. Maybe they are right... maybe the TIME in which we live will end and will find ourselves thrust into a new time where those who were prepared will stand on their mounds and watch cities crumble.
I hope not, but it makes you think doesn't it? After all, at some point, there were these Cahokias...
Check out our new pages at www.CahokiasKids.com
