Native American Artifacts Removed from Etowah Historic Site Museum in Federal Repatriation to Descendant Tribes

Once housed in an onsite museum at the Etowah State Historic Site in Cartersville, Native American artifacts from the ancient Etowah culture now have been removed and repatriated to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Artifacts from the Etowah Indian Mounds State Historic Site in Cartersville have been removed from an on-site museum.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

The small museum at the Etowah Historic Site now is nearly empty. In place of the cases and shelves filled previously filled with artifacts, the nearly empty space now houses only a replica native dugout canoe, some signage about the tribes history, and a movie which tells of the site, tribe history and archeological digs at the historic mound site. Most recently, the museum displayed a variety of artifacts discovered at the site by archeological digs dating back to the 1954 and 1973. Items displayed included Mississippian culture pottery, monolithic stone axes, and ornamental copper plates.

According to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources State Parks and Historic Sites department, all "human remains were removed from display decades ago." though those remains have not yet been returned to the tribe for reburial.

A dug-out canoe recently made using traditional methods and a few remaining information signs remain in the former museum space.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

The 54-acre site, considered to be "one of the most intact Mississippian culture sites in the Southeast" by the Georgia State Park system, remains open to visitors.

Currently, the museum space is used for interactive demonstrations conducted by park rangers and others. Visitors also can walk the 54-acre site on dedicate trails, including climbing staircases to the tops of the three tallest remaining earthen mounds. The three major mounds are 63, 25, and 10 feet in height, and cover more than When water conditions allow, the remains of rock and stone fishing dam are visible in the Etowah River at the site.

Visitors can still walk around the 54-acre site and climb three of the earthen mounds.Photo byDeanLand / OurTravelCafe.com

"Borrow pits" surround the site, where earth was removed to build the mounds. Some historians believe that the canal-like pits were once flooded by the river, strengthening the defensive characteristics of the Etowah town at the site.

The return of artifacts to native tribes follows the 1990 adoption of the federal Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act. The federal law mandates federal agencies and museums that receive federal funding return Native American human remains and cultural items to descendants and federally recognized tribes.