Meet us where indigenous communities are honored
The Serpent Twin Mound is an indiginous effigy mound and piece of earthen public art in Schiller Park.
Pokto Činto, the Koasati translation of Serpent Twin, was created by indigenous artist Santiago X out of earth, indigenous grass and ancestral dirt from tribal lands throughout the nation.
Native Americans have long used mounds as burial sites or for ceremonies or wayfinding. For Santiago X, the Serpent Twin is a reminder of the way indigenous civilizations created communities and trade networks long before European explorers landed here.
The effigy mound and the interpretive learning experience that is growing around it is a way to honor the people who have long called this land home, while creating an indigenous space in a place where American cities were built over the top of an existing culture.
The Serpent Twin Mound is part of the 4000N trail, a nine-mile, art-lined trail celebrating the indigenous communities that lived in the area and their histories.
Daylight hours are the best time to visit the Serpent Twin Mound and Schiller Woods.
There is no cost to visit the Serpent Twin Mound or the 4000N interpretive trail.
It is local artists and Native Americans who are your guides at the Serpent Twin Mound and on the 4000N Trail. As the walking museum is developed, artist activations and educational signage will interpret the living histories of the indigenous communities along Irving Park Road.
Artist Santiago X, the creator of the Serpent Twin Mound, is a multidisciplinary artist and futurist who specializes in earthen installations. He is a citizen of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana and the indigenous Chamoru from the island of Guam.
The Serpent Twin Mound is in Schiller Woods-West. Free parking is available.
