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Touch History
June, 2011
Emma Big Bear Statue Dedication . . . .
Save the Date: July 16, 2011


Ho-Chunk songs and a drum big enough to accommodate five performers
will beckon visitors to the Mississippi River Sculpture Park in Prairie du Chien,
Wisconsin, on July 16, when the statue of Emma Big Bear is dedicated.
"Without a drum, you have no music," says lead singer, Lance
Blackdeer.. The group will sing a variety of songs including an honor song to
thank the sculpture park board for "taking the time to see the project to fruition,
and for having a feeling toward Emma Big Bear and our people," Blackdeer says.
One or two of the songs will have verses alternating between the Ho-Chunk language and English.
These are social dance songs with a double beat. At a powwow, women ask men to dance to these songs
that Blackdeer calls "easy listening to" music.
Emma Big Bear was a very well-known Ho-Chunk woman who lived in Marquette, Iowa, across the
Mississippi from Prairie du Chien. She earned her keep with traditional crafts, particularly basket weaving.
Stories about her life, from relatives and others who remember her, will add to the entertainment at
the dedication ceremony. There will also be an opportunity to record stories, and to show off Emma's
baskets.
The program is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday, July 16, in the Sculpture Park on St. Feriole
Island,, with the Ho-Chunk drum circle providing music as people enter.


SCULPTOR'S CORNER


I was asked to write about my experience of
getting to know Emma Big Bear as I was working
on her portrait. That experience is nearly impossible
to put into words, because it was an intuitive sense
that I felt while I was modeling her face.
The deepset eyes and wrinkles that come
with a long life seemed to express her life struggles
and triumphs and tragedies. Her expression
suggests to me concentration, and patience overlying
deep life experiences.
I also have learned about some of her
history. She was married twice, lost a child, and still
chose her own life of independence and survival,
making baskets and beaded jewelry by her beloved
big river.
I can only imagine her feelings and
perceptions about the world-changing events that
happened during her long life. She lived to be 99
years old (1869 - 1968) during the time of transition
from a tribal existence through the European contact
period and into our modern-day community life.
There is much to learn about this remarkable iconic
woman.
Florence Bird
Hidden Treasures . . . .
Historic Island Trees
Florence Bird wondered who had walked on the land at the confluence of the Mississippi and
Wisconsin Rivers and she developed the idea of sculptures in a park to tell their stories. On St. Feriole Island
in Prairie du Chien, a new project with a similar theme, Trees with a History, uses the entire island to recall
visitors to the area.
Prairie du Chien has always had famous people visit, live and work in the area. Trees with a
History matches each one with a tree that is his favorite, that he has written about or that he has become
involved with somewhere.
The first tree planted was a Canadian Hemlock for Joyce Kilmer, the poet who wrote, "I think that I
shall never see a poem lovely as a tree". Mr. Kilmer was a friend to a priest at Campion Boys School in the
early 1900's. He came to Prairie du Chien many times to visit the school and his friend.
In May of 2011, a Sugar Maple tree from Ben Logan's Seldom Seen Farm was dug up, then planted
at the front of St. Feriole Island Gardens. Mr. Logan wrote The Land Remembers, a book about growing up
in the early 1900's on a rural farm.
A Red Cedar tree will be planted for John Muir. He loved the tree so much that he requested its
boughs be buried with him. Mr. Muir lived in Prairie du Chien for a few years before heading westward and
establishing Yosemite National Park in California.
Pine trees dug at Aldo Leopold's "Shack" in Baraboo, Wisconsin, will make a small forest on the
island. Leopold visited Prairie du Chien often to work on conserving area prairies.
Jack Foley Horkheimer, who had family in Prairie du Chien, was a Campion graduate. He was on
PBS for over 35 years as creator, writer, and star of "Star Hustler/Star Gazer," seen every Saturday Night.
He will be getting a Star Magnolia.
Henry David Thoreau came to Prairie du Chien in 1861 by boat and stayed overnight. After a
month, he made the return trip, again spending a night in town. In an earlier journal entry, he had written,
"May I ever be in as good spirits as a willow! How tenacious of life! How soon it gets over its hurts!" A
willow will be planted to recall his visit.
Two male Ginkgo Trees growing in the sculpture park are noteworthy. They are referred to as
"living fossils," because they also show up in prehistoric fossils.
The Common Red Cedar Tree shades The Voyageur asleep in the park. The cedar tree seemed an
obvious choice when our major donor asked to have the statue located under a tree. After the statue was in
place, research indicated that the cedar tree was valuable to voyageurs: the cones were used for medicine
and the wood became staves in the canoes.
Stroll around St. Feriole Island after you visit the sculpture park, and see how many of these trees
you can find.
for more information, contact Cathie Nelson at pdcnellie@centurytel.net

Emma Big Bear's Last House

























Early in the 21st
century, the winery at Marquette, IA was being developed.
The dark brown building behind the flagpole is the former home of Emma Big Bear.

Emma Big Bear lived most of her adult life in and around her ancient ancestral home in McGregor
and Marquette and northeast Iowa.
Departed almost 43 years, but not forgotten, she lives on in our hearts and minds and at a tiny
museum at her former home that honors her heritage and contributions to the river towns up and down the
Mississippi River in northeast Iowa.
Visitors to the winery often come with stories about meeting her, or about how relatives met her.
Sometimes they bring baskets to show to the winery's owners.
Come and sit a spell on the front porch where Emma Big Bear last sat and wove her Ho-Chunk
baskets and made beaded jewelry for tourists.
Rogeta Halverson

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