Green Travel

Ecotourism

Indigenous Tourism

Indigenous Tourism in Wisconsin

Common Questions

Experiencing the land and its people - Indigenous Tourism in Wisconsin

By Liz Wessel, owner Green Concierge Travel, from an article in Madison Originals Magazine 2009 Vol. 18, To see a copy of the magazine, visit Madison Originals Magazine’s web site, pages 32 – 33 of May 2009 Vol. 18.

Walking clockwise around the mound, the size is what strikes you first. Then the precision and the geometric calculations that went into the mounds alignment and creation. A goose, a thunderbird, a panther, a deer – all of these can be found in Wisconsin and in Dane Co. There used to be a lot of mounds. But now, the few that remain clearly serve as markers and witness to those who lived here before.

Travelers and local residents have more opportunities to visit the past and present of indigenous life. Indigenous – having originated in, or living or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment – Tourism describes travel experiences linking historic residents of an area to today’s people. Guided and unguided experiences are offered from Mexico to the northern reaches of Canada and Alaska.

In the Midwest and particularly Wisconsin, we have an opportunity to re-write the history we learned. Explore ancient and more modern indigenous culture at sites like Aztalan near Lake Mills, Waswagoning Village at Lac du Flambeau, and the remnant effigy mounds found throughout Wisconsin.

Aztalan State Park just outside Lake Mills, WI protects what remains of an ancient Middle-Mississippian village including a stockade and ceremonial mounds that thrived between A.D. 1000 and 1300. It is thought that Aztalan represents the northern extension of a sophisticated culture that thrived along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, west into Oklahoma and east into Georgia and North Carolina.

To get a sense of this expansive culture, visit the site at Aztalan State Park just off Highway B ad Q east of Lake Mills. Once you absorb the scale and organization of this village/city, I encourage you to make the trip to Cahokia in southwestern Illinois (See Concierge Services – Great Ideas). This massive city’s remnants recalibrate one’s thinking about ancient culture in North America and the Midwest. This city of some 10 – 20,000 people was larger than London in AD 1250. You can walk the site, climb the main ceremonial pyramid mound, explore the cedar pole solar calendar (Woodhenge) and the excellent interpretive center. If you can, take a half a day or more to explore this very significant site.

Cahokia Mounds State Historic site is located in Collinsville, Illinois off Interstates 55/70 and 255. Cahokia Mounds is just fifteen minutes east of St. Louis, Missouri.

Waswagoning Village at Lac du Flambeau, WI provides a living/learning experience. The Village, which is privately owned and operated by local Native Americans, presents camps (summer, winter, fishing) which capture what life was like and the relationship to the seasons and the environment. Be prepared to step back, slow your pace down and enjoy the opportunity to interact with your guides and learn a lot! The Village is open from mid-May until the middle of September.

In Wisconsin, the “Woodland Tradition” culture occurred between 700 BCE and 1200 CE (Common Era) and has been credited with pottery, domestication of plants and the unique earthen burial mounds – some in the shape of animal forms or effigy mounds. These beautiful and unique mounds certainly served a spiritual purpose as well as possible practical ones.

As you walk around a mound or a group of mounds, exercise respect and stay off the mounds themselves. Walk in a clockwise direction and consider the mysteries of these mounds which have a footprint of different soil and required knowledge of mathematics in their construction and orientation. Over 1500 mounds are known to have been in the Dane Co.; the ones you see today represent a small fraction of these.

Once you start to explore this past and its link to today, curiosity may get the better of you. Look for opportunities where First Nation members are intimately involved in the design, operation and delivery of the experience. Learn the unwritten code of conduct while visiting a site or a community. For example, when attending a ceremony, make sure to ask for permission to photograph or film. Many cultures do not want to have their picture taken. And if you are not sure about something - ask – it’s a sign of respect. You can create a positive travel experience building your own environmental and cultural awareness while contributing financially to the local community.

My eyes and mind were opened to the ancient cultures that lay beneath my feet in an exhibit titled “Hero, Hawk and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South” put together for the Art Institute of Chicago in 2004. There is no denying the richness and sophistication of indigenous culture in America and Wisconsin. So as you take your next walk through the woods, remember people have lived amidst the Wisconsin landscape for thousands of years pre dating the written historic record. Learn, experience and enjoy!

Resource web sites:
For more ideas for Wisconsin, visit the State of Wisconsin’s Native American tourism web site - http://tourism.state.wi.us/Native_American.aspx

Resources available in the Library system and at the State Historical Society:
Native People of Wisconsin, Patty Loew, 2003. Wisconsin Historical Society Press, Madison, WI. This also comes with a Teacher’s Guide and Student Materials.

Water panthers, bears, and thunderbirds: exploring Wisconsin's effigy mounds, by Amy Rosebrough and Bobbie Malone, 2003.

Native American Mounds in Madison and Dane County, Robert Birmingham and Katherine Rankin, 1996. City of Madison and State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.