Oneoto Sioux Earthwork at Merom, Indiana (Sullivan County)
Earthwork placed on the highest bluff of the Wabash River was believed to constructed by the Oneoto Sioux.
The Strawtown
earthwork was excavated by IPFW in Fort Wayne, Indiana and their
conclusions were that the earthwork was Oneoto Sioux in origin. This
earthwork had been plowed for many years and its original contours
diminished. The archaeologist replaced the earth when finished;
leaving no apparent signs of an excavation. The earthwork at
Yorktown, Indiana looks similar in design to Strawtown, also on the
White River and may also prove to be Oneoto in origin.
The large mounds found in the southwestern portion of the State represent some of the largest mounds ever constructed by the Hopewell. Eli Lilly had made the suggestion that Murphy, Bone Bank and the Indian “citadel” at Merom, on the Wabash in Sullivan County, were indicative of a Siouan relationship, equating the three with the Oneoto culture. Moorehead said of the Murphy site that the platform pipes represented “early Siouan.”
