Events
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Events |
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During the summer of 2008 the Friends of Aztalan and many volunteers planted a Native American garden at Aztalan State ParK. The garden is named in memory of Tom Davies, the late Aztalan park ranger and staunch supporter of the park. Tom was a vital member of the Friends organization right up to his death during the spring of 2008. The Tom Davies Memorial Garden will be annually supported by the Friends. If you are interested in helping with the 2009 garden, please contact Jude at hartwickj@mail.fortschools.org or 920-568-0626. The Friends thank Amy Rosebrough for her assistance in the planning of the garden. |
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Aztalan Days, first Sunday of every July, celebrates the Native American and Pioneer heritages of the township of Aztalan. Flint knappers, including Dick Grybrush, demonstrate flint knapping and specialists in the history of Aztalan State Park, the site of ancient Aztalan, give tours of the site. Demonstrations of pioneer crafts include quilting, tatting, porcelain doll making, and weaving. A barbed wire collection is a perennial exhibit at Aztalan Days. The old school is opened for public viewing. The homemade pies for sale bring people back year after year! |
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Each September the Friends of Aztalan organize an Artifact Identification Show. People come out of the hillsides and their closets with display cases, shoeboxes, and baggies of unearthed "treasures". There are state archeologists on hand to identify the artifacts, log where they had been discovered, and generally marvel at what they were shown. Some years a skilled flint knapper demonstrates how the beautiful triple notched arrowheads, a style for which Aztalan is known, were made. The day is wonderful, fascinating, and exciting! |
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The Friends of Aztalan sponsor an annual field trip for those interested in the Midwest's Native American mound builders. |
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Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site: In 2006 the Friends sponsored a bus trip to Cahokia in the St. Louis area. Cahokia is the largest of the Mississippian sites. By A.D. 1100 the Mississippian society was so large and complex some archeologists have referred to the culture as a Native American empire, the first state or nation in North America. Aztalan was the northern most city of the Mississippian society. |
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Monks Mound at Cahokia National Monument, St Louis |
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Stockade at Cahokia. |
Cahokia Plaza looking down from Monks Mound. |
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Effigy Mounds National Monument: In 2008 the Friends sponsored a bus trip to Effigy Mounds, a 2,526 acre National Monument which protects 206 Native American mounds. The monument is situated on a bluff overlooking a picturesque section along the "Great River Road" of the Mississippi River - a National Scenic Byway. The stops along the way included the Twin Lizard Effigy Mound Group and some surviving Eagle township mounds near Muscoda. The Twin Lizzard group is an intact mound group on the Wisconsin River recently acquired by the DNR to protect it. Archaeologist Dr. Robert Salzer of the Gottschall Cave paintings fame met us to talk about his research of the site. The mounds in the Eagle Township are remnants of the most extensive and specular effigy mound concentration in Wisconsin. Some of those mounds are protected at the Ho-Chunk ranch where we were guided by Ho-Chunk archaeologist Jay Toth. |
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Mounds atop a bluff in Eagle Township, Wisconsin. |
A Bear Mound at Effigy Mounds National Monument in Harper's Ferry, Iowa. |
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Burial mounds at Sny Magill National Monument in Iowa. |
Overlooking the Mississippi from a bluff of the Effigy Mounds National Monument. |
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