The Winter Lecture Series opens on Sunday, January 24 at 2:00 pm, with “New Perspectives and Recent Research on Monks Mound at Cahokia,” by Washington University archaeologists Dr. John Kelly, Dr. T.R. Kidder, and Timothy Schilling. They will review recent information derived from excavations, soil analysis, mound stratigraphy, and coring in and around the largest earthen mound in the Americas that has provided new insights into its construction stages, selection and use of different soils, and the sources of those soils, and what this implies when and how it was built by the Mississippian culture that built it, along with 120 other mounds at this famous site. The lecture is free and open to the public.

“Visions of Black Elk” is the theme of a new temporary exhibit opening at Cahokia Mounds on January 24. This exhibit will feature the evocative and award winning photography of Chris Brewington of the Badlands National Park and of the Pine Ridge Oglala reservation in South Dakota, including the Wounded Knee site and the Stronghold Table, the place of the Ghost Dance ceremonies. Chris spent two weeks in the Spring of 2007, camping and traveling in the Badlands, documenting the people, the wildlife and the Lakota culture. These powerful and influential images depict the beauty of the Badlands landscape and the spirit of the Lakota people. Chris was one of the few people granted permission to visit some of these areas, including those where Black Elk received some of his visions.

There will be a reception and an opportunity to meet Mr. Brewington and view his photographs on Sunday, January 24, at 3:30 pm, following the Winter Lecture Series program, in the Cahokia Mounds Interpretive Center. Refreshments will be available Chris will answer questions about his photographs and excursion into the Badlands. For more information about Mr. Brewington’s photography, visit www.home.earthlink.net/~cbrwski/eagleclawoutdoors.

During January and February, the Cahokia Mounds Interpretive Center is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, closing one hour earlier than usual. The Interpretive Center is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.