On Saturday, May 3rd, the Friends of Powers Bluff will host a Spring Gathering & Homecoming at Skunk Hill in Arpin, Wisconsin. From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. there will be activities celebrating Skunk Hill’s traditional and historical importance.
Participants and visitors will see new signage separating Skunk Hill from the main Powers Bluff County Park. These signs feature historic photos and native language interpretations from the Prairie Band Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, Forest Band Potawatomi, and Ojibwe Nations.
Event organizers Fred and Germaine Pigeon hope the event will bring tribal leadership from several nations to discuss the 80 acres of sacred land that have been set aside for tribal jurisdiction in conjunction with the county.
The Spring Gathering & Homecoming includes presentations from artisans and historians. Speakers will cover a variety of topics, including traditional beadwork, medicinal plants found at Skunk Hill, firsthand accounts of fighting for the preservation of the land, and more. The event offers a variety of traditional foods such as fry bread and Indian tacos. A local food truck will serve additional food. View the complete menu here.
Transportation shuttles will operate continuously between the parking area and Skunk Hill. An on-site wellness center and ambulance services will be available throughout the event to ensure the comfort and safety of all participants.
History of Skunk Hill
Present day Powers Bluff County Park was originally home to the Potawatomi, Ho Chunk, Ojibwe, and Menominee people. In the 1800s, US assimilation efforts of native tribes were expanding. The Religious Crimes Code of 1883 forbade Indigenous people from practicing their traditions and religions. This policy would remain in effect until the American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978.
During this time of persecution, the Potawatomi, Ho Chunk, Ojibwe, and Menominee tribes found freedom on a bluff they called Tah-qua-kik or Skunk Hill. According to Prairie Band Potawatomi’s Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Tara Mitchell, “At Skunk Hill, they lived freely, practiced their religion, and sent their children to local schools. These tribes still consider this hill a sacred place. For years, they gathered here to hold ceremonies, collect medicinal plants, make maple sugar, and bury their loved ones.”
In the 1930s the town of Arpin seized the land for “unpaid taxes.” Germaine Pigeon explained, “It didn’t come out until 3 years later that the natives had an agreement with the government. Their land should have been held in trust and not taxable.”
However, by that time the inhabitants of Skunk Hill had been chased out by locals. Their homes were looted and burned. Skunk Hill was under the control of the Wisconsin Government and would eventually be turned into Powers Bluff County Park
Fight for Preservation
In the early 2000s, county officials wanted to expand Powers Bluff County Park for increased recreational activities and logging. The expansion would require significant deforestation and land upheaval.
Through the efforts of voices like Fred and Germaine Pigeon, tribal members from across the country showed up to protest the move. Despite repeated pushbacks, dismissal, and disrespect, efforts to protect the land would persevere.
Germaine recalls, “The Prairie Band Potawatomi played a really big part in saving it. They sent Rey Kitchikumme, Steve Ortiz and Roy Ogden to champion the delay.” During county hearings, she says, “Rey kept coming up with ways to delay the tree cut. The county board would do all of their huff and bluff and mean remarks. He’d just stand there really calm, wait for them to finish talking and then he’d say something like, ‘So, could we see your environmental impact study?’ and of course they hadn’t done one.”
Because of their dedicated advocacy, Wood County eventually conceded 80 acres of land including and surrounding Skunk Hill to be under tribal governance. Fred and Germaine Pigeon continue to give lectures on the history of Skunk Hill where, at the conclusion of their talks, they ask locals to return items originally belonging to the people of Skunk Hill. To this day they have repatriated countless artifacts to families and tribes.
Shawn Walker, Chief Executive of Lone Guardian LLC. and guest speaker at the Spring Gathering & Homecoming, works in tandem with Fred and Germaine to document and publish their findings. An education corner of Lone Guardian LLC’s website is currently under development. It will host thousands of photos and videos documenting the challenges faced at Skunk Hill. For updates, please visit: https://theloneguardian.org/cultural-support
A Personal Narrative
The following is a narrative account from Fred Pidgeon, one of the lead advocates of Skunk Hill’s preservation during the 2000 fight. In it, he explains the difficult path to the land’s conservation and his personal connection to the land’s history. He hopes that by sharing his story, others will see the importance of protecting Skunk Hill. “That hill needs to hear the healing drums again. I thank Creator for that butterfly that brought our attention to the flower we were looking for.”
My Skunk Hill Story
By Fred Pigeon
When I was seven years old, my grandfather, Jim White Pigeon brought me to Skunk Hill. It was a special trip, just he and I. We walked a path into the lush forest. He found a fallen tree and sat on it. There he gently held both my hands as he prayed in the Potawatomi language. When he was sure he had my attention, he spoke.
“This place has been sacred to our Anishnabik since time before beginning. Someday you will be the one to fight to save it.”
Grandpa was killed in a car collision a short while later. If he had more to teach, he never got to speak the words.
I forgot about it until December 1999. I was attending a PBPN business meeting at another member’s home. A phone ringing interrupted the proceedings.
The caller told us there was a tiny ad in the local paper soliciting bids for a tree cut on Skunk Hill. My heart jumped.
“No! There’s so much to lose that place is sacred. Those trees do not deserve to become so many board feet of Ash, Maple, Chestnut, and Butternut. Logging will absolutely destroy the cultural features hidden and protected by the forest.”
That night my grandfather visited me in a vision. He repeated his request.
“This is what Misho meant.” I decided to do what I could.
I spoke with my wife about how to move forward. She suggested we attend the next Park and Forestry meeting to gather the facts and talk to them about changing their direction.
At that first meeting we were treated disrespectfully and not allowed to talk. When they set the date for their next meeting, I began planning. I needed to make sure the elders and the brave men had an interest in saving the hill. We put out the word that all should attend that meeting to voice their concerns.
The day of the meeting the county officials thought they could shut us out by selecting a tiny seven-person meeting room. Left in the hallway were 200 plus natives voicing their opinion.
One of the men went to find a bigger area. He found seven people using the auditorium. He explained our needs. They agreed to swap rooms. The auditorium seats 200. The crowd was becoming agitated. The committee wisely decided to switch their meeting to the larger space. It was filled to standing room only.
One by one, elders rose to speak. Each petitioned the committee to abandon the project. There were representatives from many nations who gave testimony to their past experiences on B’Pwa Kik. There were local citizens who also cherished their moments on the hill.
The committee was entrenched there would be a cut of the hill. The county needed money.
It was then Rey Kitchikumme stood. He asked the committee if he could see their Environmental Impact Study. The county admitted there wasn’t one. The project was delayed until after the study could be completed.
That would be the first of many tense meetings with the Park and Forestry people. Steve Ortiz, Rey Kitchikumme and Roy Ogden came together to stand by my side.
I won’t bore you with the details of every meeting but there are a few that stood out. We were asked by the elders to avoid mentioning burials. So, we searched local libraries and found references to an endangered species plant, the Goblin Fern.
At the next meeting after the Environmental Study, Rey asked the committee for a copy of any plant studies conducted in the park. He cited the historical information we had gathered from local libraries. The committee admitted they hadn’t given any thought to plant life. Rey contracted with the University of Stevens Point to do a plant study for the PBPN. The botany students used the experience as part of their education. They were instructed to look everywhere.
The Park and Forestry committee then commissioned their own plant study. They told the students where not to look. The plants collected specifically for the PBPN are in the Botany department of UWSP. They are in a fireproof cabinet owned by PBPN. Included in the collection is a sketch of the nearly extinct Goblin Fern. Skunk Hill is the only place this tiny plant can be found in the world. It still survives there today. The County chose to use their commissioned version of the plant study which did not include the Goblin Fern.
The Friends of Powers Bluff group circulated a petition among the locals. There were more than the required signatures demanding the Park and Forestry Committee abandon the cut. We were now seven months into the journey. The committee began to hold their meetings in the small shelters attached to various Wood County parks including Powers Bluff, “Skunk Hill.”
July 4, 2002, Rey stood before them. We had arranged for a local television news crew to record our presentation of the petition. The entire time a maintenance member circled the meeting venue on a very loud riding lawnmower. Rey patiently spoke over the noise. The meeting ended in an impasse. The TV crew left without any footage and the cut got tabled until the next meeting.
Strange things began to happen to my wife and me. There were death threat phone calls from other natives. Animal control received repeated calls to complain that we were raising rabbits. They shut us down and threatened a $10,000.00 per day fine if we continued to operate our show rabbit business. We lost one third of our yearly income.
One morning our van wouldn’t start. Our mechanic told us we were lucky. The van was set to blow up if it had started. We discovered our phones were tapped, verified by a dumb move on our part. We mentioned blowing up the military tower on “Skunk Hill”. We found ourselves under surveillance and put on the terrorism watchlist. We had proof we were being tapped. It followed that our emails were being intercepted. That’s how they always seemed to know what we were planning next.
After that meeting, a group of natives trying to garner favor with Wood County officials, went public with what the county wanted to hear. “There is no cultural significance to Skunk Hill, go ahead and cut.” They even supplied sledding tubes saying if there were burials, our ancestors enjoyed the kids flying down the hill over their graves. The county’s attention was diverted to other issues and the cut was delayed indefinitely.
The monthly meetings continued, and my wife and I were barred from attending. We were approached by a sweet little old lady. She wanted to help. We gave her our video camera and tapes. She attended the meetings arriving early to set up the camera without calling attention to it. She quietly recorded every meeting. Her tapes allowed us to attend the meetings without causing contention.
After this we stayed in the background until it became apparent, we needed to push the burials angle. The officials challenged us to prove they were there.
We were led to books about marker trees. Many marker trees were revealed to us through the photos in the book. They all had a large scarlet X painted on them. We went back to the county with that information.
They laughed at us saying, “Those are buck rubs”. 150 identically manipulated trees said otherwise to us.
Art Shegonee brought a professor of Environmental Engineering to us. Jim Scherz was a former military map maker. We assisted him as he made very detailed maps of the cultural evidence on Skunk Hill. For two years he lived out of his van on the hill. He found many star and constellation formations and celestial alignments in the rocks. He taught us the difference between a burial and a tree tip. Jim entrusted the copyrights for his research to me. I am to share it as needed.
The County called in Wisconsin State Archaeologist Bob Birmingham to refute our claims. Bob gave an opinion that backed the County. The ground was less than six feet deep proving burials of the European type were not possible in most areas of the park. He knew nothing of native mortuary customs which did not need even one foot depth to inter their loved one.
Throughout this process we were careful not to reveal any specific locations. If they wanted to know anything they had to work with us. The County stood firm in Bob’s professional proclamation and tabled the cut for further study. We had managed to delay the cut again. The County’s pressing need for immediate cash had passed. They adjusted their plan to include developing the park with campsites. We stood fast and remained watchful.
We were approached by Jeff and Marcia Lindow local historians and unofficial archaeologists. Hearing about our experiences, they offered help. They knew of a native woman who had highly trained dogs that could locate lost burial sites.
When we told them about the wiretapping etc., Jeff grinned wide and said “I live in a different county. They won’t think of tapping me.”
Using Jeff’s email, we contacted Sandi Anderson Cherokee Blue Holly Clan. The FBI and CIA had her busy finding disappeared probable murder victims for them. She was hesitant to get involved given the local politics.
I sent an email to her gatekeeper. “I am the Great-Great Grandson of Blackhawk and Red Bird Ho Chunk Nation. We asked her to come to prove there were no burials on the hill.”
Sandi immediately replied. “Brother, Spirits have shown me I must help you. I owe you a debt of gratitude. Your Great-Great Grandfather Red Bird saved my Great-Great Grandmother from the soldiers. He saved 120 people by hiding them in a cave behind the Yawahoo waterfall. I am here today because of his bravery. I will help you.”
We devised a code Jeff could use to relay information to our tapped email. He worked with the dog teams coordinating the date for the “Training Session”. Jeff sent me an email detailing a birthday party. There would be seven parents (dog handlers) and fourteen children (dogs). They were bringing 1,500 Party Favors (survey flags). We did not ask the county for permission.
The team included a nationally renowned forensic anthropologist, Julie Saul. She was to ensure that any remains found would be verified as human remains and immediately reinterred. They stayed overnight with Jeff and had no knowledge of the park.
Just after sunrise the next day we met them at the park. We prayed with the crew and their dogs. The ancestors were thanked for the guidance and protection they had given us thus far. We humbly asked them to forgive any accidental disturbance. If they brought it to our attention, we would fix it right away.
Four steps onto the roadway, Sandi’s dog Eagle made an indication that he was on top of a burial under the pavement.
Sandi looked at me and said, “Brother here we go. I cannot tell you there are no burials. Eagle is in control, enjoy the ride.”
The dog teams worked until they ran out of party favors (survey flags). The locations found by the training teams were marked with survey flags and GPS locations recorded on computers. The teams picked up the survey flags leaving the park just the way they found it.
That night word had gotten around about our activity on Skunk Hill. Bob Birmingham made a complaint about us claiming we had desecrated graves. (Yes, the very ones he said didn’t exist.) We were to be arrested by the sheriff. Our lawyer called Madison officials and convinced them the move was not in their best interest. They dropped the charges.
We can overlay a map of the dog search on top of Jim Scherz’s maps. The burial locations match. They cover nearly 100 percent of Skunk Hill.
The County abandoned the cut. The dissenters walked on. They were replaced by younger men who had attended school and maintained friendships with Native people from the hill. Ridicule was replaced by respect. They approached me and asked for guidance.
Anger would be a justifiable response to all the things they tried to do against my wife and I. White Pigeon was a bringer of peace. He taught that the anger projected towards those who cannot hear our pain is misplaced energy. We have chosen to forgive the unforgivable and move forward under Creator’s guidance.