Fort Myers Beach Mound House Director Adam Knight shocked members of the Cultural & Environmental Learning Center Advisory Board (CELCAB) when he recommended the town close the underground exhibit at The Mound House. It turned into a very heated discussion between Knight and the committee.
Knight said the underground exhibit should be closed due to continued flooding, the costs associated with repairs after every storm, rising sea levels and because it’s unethical to have an exhibit where there are known Indian remains. He made the recommendation after consulting with several outside experts before sharing his conclusion with the CELCAB committee. And that did not sit very well with committee members.
CELCAB Vice Chair Cherie Smith was very upset. She said that without the underground exhibit, “our Mound House will not survive.” Knight shot back and said the underground is a burial, not an exhibit or educational resource. “There are ancestors buried there. We don’t go to other cemeteries and turn them into attractions or have children play or give field trip tours. For us to continue does pose some ethical concerns.” Knight concluded that what the town is doing in the underground is unethical. Committee members were skeptical that it’s been proven that the remains on the site are from any Indian tribe.
Knight did admit that the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Indians did not step forward and file a complaint with the town, but he said through conversations he’s had with the two groups they would support the closing of the underground.
CELCAB member Ellen Vaughn told Knight that to start this process without coming to CELCAB is “unfortunate at best.” Knight responded by saying that he did not reach any conclusion but that it’s only his recommendation to close the underground exhibit. Vaughn pushed back by saying that Knight going to several outside experts first and not alerting CELCAB committee members was disappointing.
Knight said he was following the advice of CELCAB Chair Barbara Hill by seeking out other subject area experts to give CELCAB the full scope of opinions and research. Hill said Hurricane Ian exposed bones we were not prepared for. “Operating the Mound House knowing those bones are there brings everything into question.”
Director of Culture, Parks, and Recreation for Fort Myers Beach Jeff Hague said this is a financial problem for the town now as well. “Every time a storm comes through the underground floods. Over the last two years, it’s been closed the majority of the time. $450,000 worth of repairs were made to The Mound House after Hurricane Ian. The town is looking at spending another $250,000 to fix the electrical from the last storm. Is it a good stewardship of taxpayer dollars? It is a big financial burden for the town” Fort Myers Beach taxpayers kick in $550,000 every year to support The Mound House.
Vaughan said to close the underground off from visitors to The Mound House is wrong headed. When Vaughan said the remains at the facility could be tested to see who they actually belong to, Knight jumped in and said disturbing remains is a Class 3 felony in Florida.
Smith said she’s always been told that the “remains at the Mound House are not from an Indian tribe, that they were remains of people who had been on the mound and that they were white.” Committee members laughed at Knight when he said it’s been proven they are Indian remains from “oral history, linguistics and geospatial analysis.” Under federal law, Knight said, “oral history is an equal validation as DNA testing.”
Smith said you are blowing this all out of proportion, talking to Knight and Hague. “You want to close the underground so you are using ethics as your means to close it. I think it’s a grave mistake.”
CELCAB voted unanimously to explore all options necessary to ensure that the exhibit at the Mound House will remain open in some capacity, given that flooding in the future will continue. They also hope to get a forensic anthropologist to look at the remains that were uncovered with hopes of determining who they belong to.
Rising sea levels…LOL…
So who are these “outside experts” Knight refers to?
Adam Knight needs to be replaced. How did he become director? Grant money is what made the mound house and grant money can maintain it.
I agree….the Mound House is educational..not unlike the tombs in Egypt…this is our history….and because of the Mound House many more people are aware…My grandmother was Crow Native American…I want the history of our people brought forth…and not forgotten or swept under the carpet…
Sounds like Knight has an ulterior motive. Why not seek a partnership with the Seminole Tribe or even better the lessor known Miccosukee Tribe.
At some point you must get real and understand that supporting a plot of land to what sounds like just under a million dollars a year is maybe getting expensive and time to reevaluate how to control the expense of the property. How many people on a good year would visit the mounds house? Not sure what the cost is to view the location? Does the town have other opportunities to make this a profit center? Other than being the highest point on the island maybe just a park, launch site for kayaks, or private venue for rent?
If you are so worried about “Rising Sea Levels”why are you living along the coast ?
Not every Town property or asset should be evaluated based on dollars and cents. Not every asset has to be a profit center for the Town. This is short sited and frankly seems to be a decision that already has been made without involving the advisory committee or general public. So if this proceeds, to close off the underground exhibit, what happens to the Mound House? Does this just become a venue to rent out for special events with less emphasis on this historical site? Very sad.
U nailed it…what will happen to the Mound House?…when I see how our tax dollars are wasted on other things…sometimes those things that are so important to what the island originally was…is the most important…save the cave…save the cave…and dont let Mr Knight be the one who shuts it down…I own on Connecticut street…we need history preserved…or we could put up another ferris wheel there….get real
I’m not sure the comment about not making cemeteries an attraction is correct. What about all the people who have visited Arlington National Cemetery?
In Ohio we do have Indian mounds/earthworks out in Newark. It is a state park. There’s a golf course,too, in the area that has a viewing deck so that people can enjoy the earthworks.
Just wondering, is that site a burial site too? Where in Ohio is it?
What about all the mummies in museums? Seems if they have bone it would be simple to do DNA and get accurate lineage.
He is wrong about there not being other sites that our tourist attractions. Serpent Mound in Ohio is a tourist attraction and has been for decades.
I’ll bet he wanted the name Washington Redskins eliminated as well. Indian tribes supported that well
as one who is part Native American…most us wanted the Cleveland Indians and Washington Red Skins names to stay…it was a small group that caused the rukus…Cleveland Indians was a honor and became the name due to a Native American who played the game in Cleveland and it honored him…what a shame that few can dictate…
This is a historical site ! Keep it open for education of our island. It’s crazy to think that we have been enjoying this for so many many years some good doer thinks is bad Shame on you and go help someone.
It seems there’s always controversy in everything.. A decision on whether to continue or cave to trending times. I highly doubt the intent was to do anything negative by sharing the underground. Education and sharing the past is what the intent of historical places strive to accomplish. I hope those in power can stick to the original cause and whatever happens this brings folks together and not divide. History = Education, for the betterment of us all. IMO