In his address, Russ Baldner, of Spillville, noted that Northeast Iowa has a rich Native American heritage that spans more than 10,000 years of prehistory and 350 years of history as preserved in the archaeological, oral and written record. In his keynote remarks and with artifacts from the Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland, Oneota and protohistoric-early historic cultural periods, Russ provided the larger prehistoric and historic context of which the local Native American presence is a part. Russ complimented the organizers of the Workshop for helping to increase awareness of Native American history and culture in the area, and the interested public that attended the all-day session.

In his keynote remarks, William Quackenbush, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, headquartered in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, outlined the past, present and future of the Ho-Chunk Nation and the challenges. Mr. Quakenbush drew the comparison of the forced removals (first to Northeast Iowa, then northwest Minnesota, then Blue Earth, Minnesota, and then South Dakota) and its similarities to the Cherokee Nation’s forced removal (the current polite anthropological term is “clearance”) to Oklahoma and terrible human suffering and loss of life. Bill’s insightful remarks on their history, and the cultural and economic impacts of casinos on the Ho-Chunk Nation, were very well received by the 85 attendees from many towns throughout Northeast Iowa.

In his remarks on the Indian Sub-agency of the 1840s, located 1½ miles Northeast of St. Lucas, Al Becker, the well-known local historian from Fort Atkinson, outlined the ill-formed and implemented program of the Federal Government to dramatically change the culture of the

Winnebago Tribe (now Ho-Chunk Nation) from woodland hunter- gathers to European style farming. This failed social engineering project and the demand for more land by increasing numbers of European settlers, led to quick removal of the Winnebago Tribe to the wilderness in northern Minnesota.

William Burke of Lansing focused his remarks on the movement of persons across the north Iowa landscape and why certain courses of travel were chosen, mostly related to the landscape character. Much of this movement was trade related, from the Native Americans, to the U S military, to the settlers, to industrial development. Bill’s remarks come from his 2000 book on The Upper Mississippi Valley: How the Landscape Shaped our Heritage.

As Cultural Preservation Officer at Effigy Mounds, Albert LeBeau, of the Lakota Nation of South Dakota, presented on the cultural and religious elements of Native Americans in our large cultural environment. Albert, an expert on mounds and rock art, noted their presence through the Northeast Iowa Region area.

Leading off the afternoon session, Vera Wiest of Fort Atkinson, told John Blong family stories about their encounters with the Winnebago Tribal members summer encampment in the 1920 and 1930s along the Turkey River about 2 miles East of St. Lucas. Vera recalled her mother’s affection for them and always offering food and a helping hand.

Adrian Kuennen, moved the audience with his touching and riveting stories of Joe Kuennen, his father, and Joe’s recollections of the Winnebago Tribal summer encampments in the 1920s and 1930s along the Turkey River near their farm. The Winnebago visits in the 1940s and 1950s were more focused on collecting herbal plants for medicinal purposes and for quietly honoring the graves of their ancestors. In walking those lands today, John strongly senses the spiritual presence of others.

Elaine Burke of Lisbon, Iowa, told the story of finding a Spanish silver coin in the 1950s on the Schaufenbuel farm south of Waucoma near the Turkey River. A historic Indian trail had crossed their farm and may account for the coin’s presence in their garden. Other similar Spanish coins have been found near Fort Atkinson and farmland near to Goddard trading post.

The Vagts family of West Union and Ossian surprised the participants with their dramatic displays of prehistoric arrow points found over the years. The extensive collection was discovered on family farmland.

Jerry Mishak of New Hampton displayed several Indian and early trade weapons and demonstrated the use of black powder muskets. Gerald Johnson, a local historian from New Hampton, shared informally on his knowledge of prehistoric mounds and sites in Chickasaw County.

The final speaker of the day, Terry Landsgaard of West Union, shared with the audience his impressive knowledge of the life of Emma Big Bear and her basketry skills. Terry dramatically highlighted the defining features of Winnebago baskets, and especially those of Emma Big Bear.

Regarding the workshop, Terry said, “I believe that this workshop on Native American presence in Northeast Iowa was very well attended. The diversity of speakers and their various topics gave us a good blend of styles of presentation and materials covered”.

The moderator of the Workshop, Clair Blong, was very pleased with the audience’s keen interest in the wealth of information presented by the speakers on the historical and contemporary encounters of Europeans with the Ho-Chunk and Lakota Nations.

Clair stated “The audience was deeply honored by the presence and participation of the representatives of the Ho-Chunk and Lakota Nations. We intend to plan another workshop with our Ho-Chunk and Lakota colleagues for later next year. Meanwhile the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin Cultural Resources staff offered to advise the German American Museum on ways to improve its Native American exhibition.”

Jeanette Dietzenbach of Decorah, a founding member of the St. Lucas Historical Society, stated that the workshop speakers helped her place a lot of bits of historical information into coherent patterns. Jeanette felt that William Quackenbush of the Ho-Chunk Nation and Albert LeBeau of the Lakota Nation revealed the spiritual side of their lives. She especially liked their emphasis on protecting the remains of their ancestors and their blending of the Christian values of humility and respect for others with their love of the goodness of Mother Earth.

Teresas Lenius of Fayette, found the workshop very helpful in giving context to research work on Whirling Thunder and his people who camped just outside Fayette. Tereasa feels we need more of these workshops to explore and understand the past of the area.