Native American Burial Mounds: Living Landscapes at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum
Fawn. L. YoungBear-Tibbetts (University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum youngbeartib@wisc.edu)
Wisconsin has one of the richest histories of Native American burial and effigy mounds in the United States. At the time of European contact, over 20,000 mounds were scattered across the landscape. The earliest mounds date back to the Late Archaic period, between 500 b.c. and a.d. 100. These are generally conical and linear mounds and are most often associated with burials. Effigy mounds, which can be found in many shapes such as bear, bird, and even human-like figures, are thought to have been constructed between just over a thousand years ago until the end of the nomadic lifestyle of the Oneota around a.d. 1200. These mounds indicate different clan systems of the Oneota: the sky clans and upper world are represented by bird forms, water clans and lower world are represented by water panthers and serpents, and the earth clans and middle world are represented by human- and animal-shaped mounds. Many “natural” places in Wisconsin are in fact built and living landscapes with a past and current rich cultural history.
The University of Wisconsin Arboretum, a 480 ha urban wildland located in Madison, Wisconsin, in the south-central part of the state, is home to three groups of Native American burial mounds. About a year ago, Arboretum Director Kevin McSweeney and I talked about one group of mounds located in the Lost City Forest area of the Arboretum. The Lost City Forest is a less intensively managed area of the Arboretum, and the director informed me that because of limited resources the Arboretum had not been able to extend proper care to the Lost City Forest mounds. He asked me if I knew anyone who might be interested in stewarding them. This conversation ignited a passion in me to learn more about these mounds, which provide us with some unique opportunities to be stewards of a sacred landscape as well as some big responsibilities.
Previous Lost City Forest management plans at the Arboretum listed the mounds under a “Special Features and Values” section, but did not include any measurements or descriptions or address these areas specifically. In 1985, Wisconsin set a precedent as the first state to enact legislation expressly prohibiting the disturbance of burial sites in the Burial Sites Preservation Law (Wisconsin Assembly 1985). Native American mounds are classified as burial sites and are protected because of the possibility of human remains in them. Also, the Ho-Chunk people in Wisconsin, who are considered descendants of the mound-building Oneota, have drafted guidelines for mound maintenance. The two other groups of mounds at the Arboretum have benefited from proper management.
To assist me in surveying the Lost City Forest mounds and creating an appropriate management plan for them, I recruited two classmates, Samantha Nagy and Alexa Nelson, from a class, “Native American Environmental Issues and the Media,” taught by Dr. Patty Loew. We researched and compiled all existing management plans, including the Ho-Chunk tribal guidelines, the State of Wisconsin Mounds Maintenance Protocol (Cupp 2006), and the Arboretum Lost City Management Plan (Kline 1992), as well as other documents such as archived maps. We then began to assess the condition of the Lost City Mounds.
Maps of this area from the early 1900s indicate two linear mounds and a conical mound in this location. They were mapped and documented as the Vilas Mounds prior to the founding of the Arboretum in 1934. During our site survey, carried out throughout the spring and summer of 2008, we located three mounds. During one survey in May 2008, we discovered woodland mosses and ephemerals growing on portions of the mounds. There was also an overabundance of invasive plants, such as garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica), and honeysuckle (Lonicera spp.). These and other invasive plants are growing throughout the Lost City Forest. We did find native plants as well, such as wood anemone (Anemone quinquefolia), Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum), ferns, and shagbark hickory trees (Carya ovata) growing on or very near the mounds.
While trying to assess the mounds and locate them using GPS, we first identified one as an effigy mound; however, thick undergrowth made it initially difficult to measure and to distinguish the shape. We now know that it is linear and has undergone extreme erosion so that it seems to have an effigy shape. We measured one section of this mound as 23.47 m long, but we could not access at least another 25% of the mound because of the dense growth. The widest point is approximately 7.62 m across, but, again, accurate measurements could not be taken because of the extensive amount of brush.
The second mound may actually have been part of another linear mound; it is unclear at this point owing to overgrowth. The third mound was mostly clear of vegetation with the exception of honeysuckle and other brush toward one end. It is 5.18 m wide in the center and 3.05 m at the end with the honeysuckle growing on it; the length is 51.20 m, and it is just under 1 m tall. This mound in particular had more native woodland plant species present, such as spring ephemerals and mosses.
In the short term, we recommend that Arboretum staff conduct a comprehensive plant survey within 3 m of the mounds (YoungBear-Tibbetts et al. 2008). We have also suggested the creation of an access path to the mounds and the removal of downed trees, brush, and invasive plants on top of mounds. We recommend that all trees be cut within 6–7.5 m of mounds to reduce the possibility of trees falling on and denting the mounds and also to reduce the potential destruction of the mounds from tipped-up trees. Trees should be cut at ground level, and stumps should be left to decay naturally, as pulling of the trees roots would disturb the soil. Prairie grasses are recommended as cover plants on mounds, because the deep root systems are crucial to maintaining the integrity of the soil. Soil compaction on mounds is very low, usually only about 30-40%, thus making erosion a major concern in maintaining mounds. Canada wild rye (Elymus canadensis) may be a good prairie grass with which to seed the mounds, since it is shade tolerant for a prairie plant, and the mounds are located in a dense part of the Lost City Forest. We may be able to obtain seed from the Arboretum’s restored prairies.
Our long-term management recommendations for the mounds are with only low-level maintenance in mind. The existing Lost City Forest management plan recommends conducting prescribed burns in order to return the southern portion of the forest to an oak savanna. The mounds are located in the northcentral portion of this region, and we recommend that they be explicitly included in the management goals. Prescribed burns are currently being used by the Ho-Chunk to maintain a group of mounds at the Kingsley Bend Site near Baraboo, Wisconsin, and further research on this type of management should be pursued. This mound restoration project will take considerable effort and time from Arboretum staff and volunteers to complete. We estimate that work in the Lost City alone could potentially take up to five years or more.
Caring for sacred sites is a long-term commitment, and management plans will need to be updated. We encountered numerous opportunities for further research in the fields of restoration ecology, horticulture, ethnobotany, and cultural revitalization, and also see unique educational opportunities. This project has given me the opportunity to expand the educational value of the Arboretum and to create a culturally relevant volunteer project for the Native American community and for myself. This project will hopefully give all people in Madison the opportunity to engage with the living and historical landscape of Wisconsin. I offer any part of the management plan to anyone who requests it. Please feel free to contact me for further information.
References
Cupp, M.E. 2006. Protocols for cultural resources protection and preservation on public and private lands in the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway. Unpublished final proposal. Muscoda: Mounds Maintenance Protocol Ad Hoc Committee, Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board.
Kline, V. 1992. Lost City Forest management plan. University of Wisconsin Arboretum.
Wisconsin Assembly. 1985. Burial sites preservation law. Wisconsin Statutes 157.70. www.wisconsinhistory.org/hp/burialsites/law.asp
YoungBear-Tibbetts, F.L., S. Nagy and A. Nelson. 2008. Lost City mounds management plan. Unpublished report for the University of Wisconsin Arboretum.
Mound Restoration Resources in Wisconsin
Amy Rosebrough, Assistant State Archaeologist, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison
Daniel Einstein, Program Manager, Lakeshore Nature Preserve University of Wisconsin–Madison
George W. Christiansen, Archaeologist, Great Lakes Archaeological Research Center, Milwaukee
Jay Toth, Tribal Archaeologist, Ho-Chunk Nation, Black River Falls
Larry Johns, Mounds Surveyor and Oneida tribal member, Wisconsin
Leslie Eisenberg, Burial Sites Program Coordinator, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison
Vicki L. Twinde-Javner, Research Archaeologist, Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center, University of Wisconsin–La Crosse
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