The resume says that Sharon Herren was hired to help handle the moat crisis at Moline Park, the discovery of Native American remains in land adjacent to the park. But who is Sharon Herren? She is a professor of archeology and spirituality at Black Hawk Junior College just down the road from Moline Park. She is a mother of two grown daughters. A person more at home in blue jeans than an evening gown. A woman who likes her alone time in a house that is to order what Shirley Johnson's is to chaos. She is peace, warmth, calm, sincerity, self acceptance. An archeologist by training, a Ra�lian by belief. Her face scrunches as she smiles, so widely her eyes almost shut. "Just doin' my job," she explains of her work on behalf of the Sac and Fox Indians. Why does she act as she does? Indians "got such a bad deal. It makes me mad."
Her sciences: geology, astronomy, meterology, archeology, space science, psychology, spirituality. Sharon believes that a superior race gave us our technology and will come back for us. "It's all out there if you just look around." Although she is largely self taught past her archeology degree, Sharon is not a kook. "I read books, you know, all kinds of books, spiritual books, technical pamphlets. And I listen to the radio. Late at night you learn things, listening, watching the skies." Is there a conflict between empiricism and belief? Not at all. "Science is more than what people say. There's a lot we don't see, but that doesn't mean it's not there."
Knowing so much and accepting more allows her to understand all that she doesn't know. "You can be fearless and be totally yourself. It's freedom." And why is she happy? She beams and speaks in a voice soft, clear, measured. "I'm doing what I love, and I'm just a happy person, I guess."