With birds chirping and traffic whizzing by, activists who view the Baker Wetlands as sacred to American Indians conducted a sunrise prayer service Friday to draw attention to a highway project they feel threatens the preserve.

Similar services of songs and reflection were held at other sacred sites throughout the nation as part of a “National Day of Prayer,” sponsored by the Sacred Places Protection Coalition.

Since the 1980s, the state has wanted to build a highway that would cut through part of the 573-acre wetlands, south of Haskell Indian Nations University.

But activists like Michael Caron have fought against the project, saying the wetlands are sacred to American Indians because the area was a refuge to families whose children who attended the Haskell boarding school in the early 20th century. An alternate route south of the wetlands could be used, activists say.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is weighing potential damage to the wetlands and is expected to decide by early fall if the $115 million state-sponsored project can be completed, said Jim McLean, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Transportation. He said he was anticipating litigation to stop the project.

Caron, a spokesman for Lawrence’s Save the Wetlands, told a group of about 15 people Friday the area was unique among sacred sites because so many tribes share its history.

The area was home to a boarding school attended by children from tribes throughout the nation. Haskell is now the only intertribal university in the country.

The wetlands are one of the last sites to feature the history of using boarding schools to assimilate American Indian children into Christian culture, he said. Children would run to the area from their nearby dormitories so they could speak their native languages, practice tribal rituals and see their families, who were often camping on the nearby Wakarusa River. Often, he said, children would simply run away.

“It was the greatest place of resistance,” he said earlier in the week. “There’s this constant pull between what the white administration wants, and what natives want.”

The area is said to be a burial ground for some children who died from injuries, abuse or disease while at the school, although archeologists disagree.

Mike Smith, a Dine tribe member from New Mexico, played a drum and sang a song of thanks toward the end of Friday’s ceremony.

“I continue to hope and pray for all good things, that this way of life may continue and have an effect not only on this planet but the whole universe,” said Smith, of Lawrence.

KDOT’s proposal, McLean said, would add 304 acres to the wetlands by transplanting vegetation. KDOT would also give nearby Baker University $5.4 million to establish an educational center and a trust fund to support future maintenance of the wetlands.