Recently my wife Susanne and I spent a few days in Whitewater,
Wisconsin. I was looking forward to visiting the largest group of Native People’s
effigy mounds this side of the Mississippi. I was taken aback when we arrived
at the entrance of Effigy Mounds Preserve. We found ourselves in the middle of
a newly built upper middle class and upper class suburb. A large area of lawn
surrounds the signage, a wood post and wire fence demarcates the boundaries of
the preserve, a wide mowed path constitutes the trail system around the
mounds and small information signs placed at appropriate locations describe each
one. The first leg of the trail was incredibly weedy and the first set of mounds
could not be distinguished from the surrounding growth, my expectations
vanished. As we made our way into the preserve we noticed that some mounds had
been herbicided and exhibited a brown desiccated look to them. The landscape looked better now with large
patches of prairie plants; obviously there has been restoration of the savanna within
the open oak canopy at some point in the past. A healthy group of young oaks
promises to replace the older ones in the future. My landscape architectural
training makes its presence in my mind. What if low-growing native sedges
covered the mounds? They would offer a
good distinction from the surrounding savanna and afford a better visualization
of the mound shapes; perhaps extending slightly beyond the mounds’ contours so
that the effigies could be clearly experienced. I could not help wonder if Native
People had been consulted on the maintenance; it seems the site is under major
neglect. The presence of mansion homes along the periphery, clearly seen from
within the site, constitutes a terrible contrast to the sublime and small scale
of the mounds themselves. Anger at this outrage burned inside me. Some of these
mounds date back to 900 AD and whoever allowed this subdivision to be built
showed much disrespect to this sacred site and the native culture. There must have been an alternative solution that
could have been worked out with the developer such as establishing a native
species buffer between the development and the preserve. I also wondered if the
site could be given to the native people for upkeep, I bet it would be treated
with deserved respect. It seems to me that some remnant perverse values of
Manifest Destiny are still at work here. This was my last thought upon exiting
the preserve.
On the drive back towards Chicago another perspective popped
in my mind, what did I know about the native outlook on this? I am not part of
that culture, what if the mounds are a last burial ceremonial act and then the
complex is left to natural occurrences? Is the need to exhibit, a western cultural
phenomenon? The native people came back to the site periodically shown in the different
age and style of the mounds and must have had some maintenance protocol. Someone
must know or would they, given the forced dispersion and intentional
dismemberment of this culture by European settlers. If we are to maintain a
physical connection to this history, we should do it in the best way possible
and the general condition of this monument does not represent our best effort.
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