Watershed Art & Ecology invites you for a weekend excursion to Emiquon Preserve and National Wildlife Refuge, along the banks of the Illinois River downstream from Peoria. It’s one of the largest floodplain restoration projects in the Midwest – something like paradise for thousands of migratory birds. It’s also the ancestral home of the Peoria, who have not forgotten where they came from.
We will leave on Friday June 12 at 2pm (a 3-hour drive), camp at Havana Riverfront Park Campground, 416 N. Schrader, Havana, IL 62644, and spend the 13th exploring the wetlands and the nearby Dickson Mounds Museum in company of artist Ryan Griffis. You can also arrive on Saturday morning, and there also a hotel (the Big Horse Inn) in nearby Lewiston you can check out. On Sunday afternoon, most of us will head back and some may continue down the Illinois toward the Mississippi River.
This excursion is the first event in a larger program called “What is an Illinois River?” It will include a second overnighter in August, a reading group in the fall, and two shows in September and October. The first, by Ryan Griffis and his many collaborators, is directly connected to Emiquon. The second, in October, is by Libby Reuter and Joshua Rowan, presenting the project “Watershed Cairns: Water Marked with Art,” which is an experiential and artistic mapping of the entire Mississippi region. In August we hope to meet Libby and Joshua in or around Alton Illinois.
To join this excursion, just write to us at watershedartandecology@gmail.com.
Location on a map
Nature Conservancy Preserve
National Wildlife Refuge
Two articles on Emiquon and the drainage of the Illinois River Valley:https://uofi.box.com/s/dy7sj9ytsnp9xpmlvuxag28y1d4ds6gc (sign in with google)
Logan Pappenfort discussing the significance of the area around Emiquon to the Peoria Nation:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdAwwki7BY0
A ProPublica article about the history and NAGPRA issues at the Dickson Mounds Museum:https://www.propublica.org/article/dickson-mounds-museum-history