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Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe/Sacred Red Rock Project

Led by members of the Kaw Nation in collaboration with the City of Lawrence, University of Kansas, Spencer Museum of Art, Kanza Heritage Society and others, this thirty month project will relocate Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe, a 28-ton red Siouxan quartzite boulder, which has lived for the past ninety-three years in Robinson Park, Lawrence, KS, to Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park near Council Grove, KS. Allegawaho Park has been owned by the tribe since 2002 and is a portion of the final reservation lands of the Kaw Nation in Kansas before their 1873 relocation to Indian Territory (Oklahoma). A key aspect of the project is acknowledging and redressing the harm done when Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe was moved from its original location at the confluence of the Shunganunga Creek and the Kansas River to Robinson Park in Lawrence in 1929 to become the base for a monument to the City’s “Founders.”

Allegawaho Park

Rematriation

Curriculum

Robinson Park

OUR SUPPORTERS

Grateful and Humble

On April 4th, 2022, the Mellon Foundation announced a major grant to the Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe/Sacred Red Rock Project (formerly known as Between the Rock and a Hard Place) for the return of a 28-ton red Siouxan quartzite boulder located for the past ninety-three years in Robinson Park, Lawrence, Kansas to the Kaw Nation.

On behalf of the Kaw Nation, Vice-Chairman James Pepper Henry said, “The Kaw Nation is grateful and humbled to receive generous support from the Mellon Foundation for the return of our sacred ancestor Iⁿ‘zhúje‘waxóbe. This grant will also provide resources to implement an interpretive plan and infrastructure for our visitors to learn about the Kaw people, the original inhabitants of Kansas. We look forward to working in cooperation with the City of Lawrence, University of Kansas, and other project partners to facilitate this process, and to strengthen our relationship and visibility with the citizens of Kansas.”