Village to move spirit rock to safe site near river

A Native American spirit rock that has sat off Wisconsin Avenue in Grafton near what is today Blain’s Farm & Fleet will be moved to Lime Kiln Park later this month.

The Grafton Village Board on Monday approved a donation of the spirit rock, a flat-topped boulder said to be about nine by four feet, from the Ahlers family, which owns the land where it currently sits, and agreed to have it relocated to a site near the Milwaukee River at the park.

The new location is “a quiet peaceful area near the river, which we feel is appropriate,” Acting Village Administrator Jessica Wolff said, noting that the relocation has been approved by the current and new owners of the Ahlers farmstead.

“There’s great symbology of it being near water,” Trustee Sarah Scarpace, a member of the Parks and Recreation Board, told the board. “It’s the perfect place to put the rock.”

The rock, which likely originated in Canada and arrived via glacier, is on the Ahlers family farmstead, which is earmarked for a new Culver’s restaurant and a Tommy’s Express car wash.

The Grafton Historical Society has been working with the village on the relocation after it discovered the rock “has cultural, historical and spiritual significance,” according to the village.

Its status as a spirit rock has been confirmed by village resident Richard Gonzalez, a member of the Iroquois/Oneida Tribe, who conferred with Johnathan Buffalo, the Meskwaki Nation historic preservation director of the Sac & Fox Indians of the Mississippi, according to the village.

Buffalo said the rock would be highly revered by local tribes, noting a spirit rock has such significance that food and tobacco would be placed on it and burned to purify and honor ancestors.

Spirit rocks are so significant that they cannot be moved without a proper ceremony, called a smudging ceremony, that is intended to honor and purify as well as explain the purpose and justification for moving the rock.

This ceremony can be performed by any Indian who understands and has appreciation for the right and reverence of honoring one’s ancestors, Buffalo said.

Gonzalez said he has received approval to perform the smudging ceremony, which will take about 15 minutes, from two chiefs and the Oneida tribe.

The ceremony will occur before the rock is moved.

After the rock is relocated, a plaque will be erected nearby, Wolff said.

The plaque will honor the local Native Americans who settled in the area and depended on the Milwaukee River for their livelihood as well as explain the significance of the spirit rock.

“I think this is a great idea,” Trustee Dave Armstrong said.

But he asked if the new location might make the rock a target for vandals.

Village staff members don’t believe that will happen, Wolff said.

The Parks and Recreation Board has discussed ideas to deter vandalism, officials noted.