Speaker: Taylor Keen

Picture Cave is a 1,300 year old rock art site approximately 60 miles south of present day St. Louis and the former city of Cahokia. Picture Cave was inhabited by the ancestors of the Omaha, Ponca, Kansa/Kaw, Osage and Quapaw tribes, otherwise known as the Dhegiha. The stories entombed in the rock art detail the first celestial family, the Great Serpent, and a mysterious being known as either Morning Star or Redhorn. There is a strong possibility that some of the stories may pertain to another Siouan speaking related group known as the Chirwere, which includes the Hochunk, Iowa, Otoe and Missouri tribes. The site has been of recent controversy by its public auction and sale to an undisclosed buyer. The site may be inhabited by the spirit of the Great Serpent…