WICKLIFFE, Ky. – In recognition of Native American Heritage Month in November, Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site has acquired a temporary exhibit from the Kentucky Historical Society called, “Of Father Sky and Mother Earth: Early Southeastern Indian Art and Culture.”
The exhibit, which will be displayed through October, consists of poster panels interpreting the many aspects of Native American art and culture in the southeastern United States. Photographs of prehistoric artifacts of the southeastern Native Americans and images created by the first Europeans to encounter them illustrate the history and customs of the period. Informative labels explain the archaeological evidence that reflects the aspects of everyday life, from food and clothing to leisure activities and religion. In the 1500s, Spanish explorers in the interior southeast of North America found agricultural villages clustered around massive earthen mounds and sophisticated economic and religious systems. The villages are now gone, yet some of the mounds and artifacts still remain, as do modern-day descendants.
November has been designated as Native American Heritage Month in Kentucky. Foods, customs, ideals, place names, games, these are just a few examples of the many gifts that Native Americans have given to today’s culture. Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site will offer a $1 admission fee to all teachers, schools, scouts and home school groups who visit in November.
Visitors are invited to the view the exhibit in the Wickliffe Mounds Welcome Center. The special exhibit is free to the public and general admission fees apply to the museum. The park is open daily in October and November from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (closed Thanksgiving Day). For more information, call the park at 270-335-3681 or visit our website at www.parks.ky.gov .
The park is located in the Wickliffe community about 30 miles west of Paducah, on Highways 51-60-62 West, near the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.
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The Kentucky State Park System is composed of 52 state parks plus an interstate park shared with Virginia. The Department of Parks, an agency of the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, operates 17 resort parks with lodges -- more than any other state. For more information on Kentucky parks, visit our Web site at http://www.parks.ky.gov