One of Milwaukee County’s last remaining Native American burial mounds is in Lake Park, near the intersection of Lake Drive and Locust Street. The mound is about 5 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter. It’s covered in grass and surrounded by trees, benches and a softball field.
A historic marker used to sit on top of the mound. The sign explained that the other mounds were destroyed. But now it’s gone. That’s why Bubbler Talk question asker, Carole Dede, wants to know:
"Why did it disappear and who’s taking care of bringing back the knowledge to the park so that we can read about the mound without stepping on it?"
I met Dede at Lake Park. When I approach, she’s sitting on a bench, admiring the mound. We met here to talk to some of the people involved in removing the sign. Jennifer Picard is the principal investigator at UWM’s Archaeological Research Laboratory Center. She directed the project to remove the historical marker from the mound.
Picard said the mound dates back to about 1,500 years ago during the Woodland period.
"The Milwaukee County Parks actually contacted us about removing the sign generally because the presence of this concrete marker on the mound is considered to be disrespectful by the Native American community and also tended to encourage people to go up on the mound to read the sign," she says.
Picard helped remove the 115-year-old sign last year. That process included consultation from Bill Quackenbush, the tribal historic preservation officer with the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Quackenbush shared his experiences at the historic site.
"I often found people either sitting on it or alongside it or throwing frisbee with their dog," says Quackenbush. "It wasn’t really doing it justification from its purpose; the protection and preservation of a sacred site, a burial system of our ancestors being here."
Katerina Macheel is a park planner at Milwaukee County Parks. She says the site is a resting place that a public park was constructed around.
“The construction of the park razed the many other mounds that existed in the area," she explains. "We hope that visitors understand that while the mound may look different than cemeteries that have headstones, that this is also a sacred place. It is sacred to present-day descendants and tribes, and it is important to respect their customs.”
Quackenbush explains the significance of the mound to the Native American community.
"They still serve a very important role in that they protect and preserve where our ancestors are buried," he says. "We’ve been losing them ever since the industrial age. They fall under the plow to folks with advancements of the larger cities and such. They disappear."
There are plans in the works for new signage near the mound. Quackenbush is collaborating with Milwaukee County Parks to ensure that it’s strategically placed. He says the mound should feature different vegetation to distinguish it from the rest of the park.
"Putting some type of plant barriers in between the park itself and here," he says. "You want to place those things in there, then begin to monitor that to see how effective that is and if it needs change, you change it again."
Sarah Toomsen is the director of planning at Milwaukee County Parks. Toomsen explains that collaborators are also crafting new language for the sign to better represent Indigenous groups and educate park visitors.
"There were also some words used in the marker itself that we would not use today, referring to Native peoples as 'prehistoric,'" she explains. "We know much of the history of the Indigenous peoples is known and should be respectfully acknowledged on the lands that are still present today. For that reason, as well, we wanted to remove the marker and reset the understanding of the burial mound."
Toomsen referenced a Journal Sentinel report from February last year that highlighted "some of the troubling aspects of the marker." That report sparked the conversations that led to removing the marker about eight months later.
Back at Lake Park, Bubbler Talk question asker Carole Dede shares a suggestion with Quackenbush on where to place the new sign.
"If you sit on the bench, you actually get the best view of the mound itself," Dede says. "So, I’m hoping when you put the sign in, it’ll be more on that side so that the mound will show. It’s a depth perception kind of thing that that was the best view over there."
Quackenbush responds:
"That’s got to be the best intel I have gotten out of this whole deal where to place this marker," he says. "Other than that we want it off this footprint and maybe over by the walking trail so we don’t have to create yet another walking trail."
The new marker will be installed next spring. Quackenbush shares how he would like to celebrate it.
"Next year, hopefully if we get that signage in place here and this project gets completed over here, we’re going to invite the local communities to come to one of our green corn dance ceremonies right in the same park," he says.
Quackenbush adds that the ceremony will be an opportunity to celebrate with the community and educate them about the significance of the Lake Park burial mound.
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