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Dr. Margaret Planner

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On April 27, 2000, Harry Whitehorse presented his ideas for a statue to be carved from a white oak tree that once stood on the Thoreau Elementary School playground in Madison, Wisconsin. The large old oak tree rot and had to be cut down because of its close proximity to the school building and playground. The sculpture that Mr. Whitehorse is creating will honor the Ho-Chunk People and will be used as a teaching tool for all Thoreau students and staff.

Long before the original school was built, the Ho-Chunk Nation used this site and surrounding area as a summer village. Some of the Ho-Chunk people that lived in this area fished in the nearby lakes. The yet unnamed sculpture will help record a history for these people.

The wood sculpture will be in the round (being able to be seen from all sides) and is approximately three feet in diameter and eleven feet high. At the top of the sculpture will be a large Thunderbird. A Thunderbird is an important symbol to the Ho-Chunk people and is Thoreau School's mascot. Also represented in the sculpture are a Ho-Chunk man and woman, a bear, and eagle feather staff, a child in a cradle board, a young boy grasping a string of fish, and a girl holding a basket filled with corn, beans, and squash. Images of a Ho-Chunk drum group and wild life native to the Madison area will be carved in high relief around the circular base of the sculpture. A sculpture has relief if an area is raised or sticking out and is meant to be seen from only one side.

Thoreau school is excited about the sculpture and other learning activities connected with the Ho-Chunk.