Meskwaki Anthology
The Stone House
was built with government funds by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC’s)
Indian Labor Division in 1941. The intended use was to be perhaps a gas station,
souvenir stand, food sales or some combination in order to utilize the
traffic of (old) Highway 30 … the Lincoln Highway. However, no permanent organization was made for its economic use. Only sporadic sales of Indian goods were accomplished
at or near the Stone House until 1955 when Highway 30 was relocated by the
state of Iowa to north of the Settlement. The first Settlement village had been located
west of the Iowa River near this location, which was inside the first 80
acres purchased. But the area was
prone to flooding and many families moved across the river to higher ground
as more land was acquired by the Tribe.
Even in the beginning, after a grand opening affair and
dedication ceremonies which were performed by a Presbyterian minister, the
Stone House functioned primarily as a community center for a few years where
games, parties and holiday celebrations took place. But the area near the “Cave” site (at the intersection of Meskwaki
Road and Battleground Road) rapidly developed into more of a social hub almost
immediately after the Stone House was completed. The Cave site offered a more central location
for activities plus had the following establishments: Leaf’s store “The Chieftain”, the Legion Hall,
the Council house, an early school, and the Cannery. The Stone House became less frequently used.
Interest in the Stone House was somewhat revived when the
Cave site lost the store and the cannery fell into non-use and the Legion
Hall activity subsided. The old Sac & Fox
Day School located mid-way on Meskwaki Road (now retired, having been replaced
by today’s new Settlement School on 305th St.) was built in the
late 1940’s.
In 1955, Highway 30 was relocated to north of the Settlement,
effectively rendering the Stone House useless as a roadside point of sale
for Indian goods. The souvenir trade
moved to the north part of the Settlement as well and numerous family stands
sprung up along the new roadside. Also
during the 1950’s the Settlement Day School continued to gain prominence
as the community center of choice due to having a gymnasium that was more
suitable for large gatherings. At
this time the Stone House was used as an occasional community building for
family games, parties, and smaller scale events and continued in this capacity
up until the late 1960’s when it again fell into non-use and began to deteriorate
from lack of attention.
Then in the early
1970’s a VISTA group (Volunteers In Service
To America) worked to repair the building. Another repair took place in the late 1970’s when a CETA group
took the Stone House up as a project. The present-day Tribal Center with
a gymnasium was built in 1979. Most
governmental and many large-scale social events quickly moved to this new
facility.
The Stone House was conceived as an economic venture but
never realized that potential. When
initially envisioned, the population center of the Settlement was at the
old village site nearby. However,
the population center has steadily shifted north to its present day hub of
activity. The Stone House’s economic failure boiled
down to simple bad timing.
While the Stone House might be a unique structure on the
Settlement, it is one of many such buildings made by CCC workers across the
country. It has a standard design
and is identical even in material to some here in Iowa. A handful of these CCC stone buildings have survived in city parks,
state parks and as private residences. The
quality that distinguishes the Stone House as a truly unique building in
the U.S. is that it was the only one made by the hands of this Tribe on our
own land.
Today the skeleton of the old Stone House is about the only reminder there is of the Tribe’s persistence in trying to make a living without having to move away from the Meskwaki Indian Settlement. While this venture didn’t pan out as expected, many economic ventures continued to be pursued over the following years with the same hope of providing good jobs to the community so that tribal members could continue to maintain a truly tribal society and keep customs alive.