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Buried Indians: Digging Up the Past in a Midwestern Town
A powerful narrative about the shared past connecting a Midwestern town
In Buried Indians, Laurie Hovell McMillin presents the struggle of her hometown, Trempealeau, Wisconsin, to determine whether platform mounds atop Trempealeau Mountain constitute authentic Indian mounds. This dispute, as McMillin subtly demonstrates, reveals much about the attitude and interaction–past and present–between the white and Indian inhabitants of this Midwestern town.
McMillin's account, rich in detail and sensitive to current political issues of American Indian interactions with the dominant European American culture, locates two opposing views: one that denies a Native American presence outright and one that asserts its long history and ruthless destruction. The highly reflective oral histories McMillin includes turn Buried Indians into an accessible, readable portrait of a uniquely American culture clash and a dramatic narrative grounded in people's genuine perceptions of what the platform mounds mean.
"A very interesting and well-written book about what happens in a small river community when its sense of identity is challenged by its ancient Indian past."—Robert Birmingham, coauthor of Indian Mounds of Wisconsin
"In this evocative book–at once history, investigative journalism, and richly textured memoir–Laurie McMillin renarrates the good stories good people tell themselves about the past and present of their homes."—Philip Deloria, author of Playing Indian
"Laurie McMillin's account of unrecognized racism in a small Wisconsin village is wonderful and insightful yet painful." —Chloris Lowe Jr., former president of the Ho-Chunk Nation
In Buried Indians, Laurie Hovell McMillin presents the struggle of her hometown, Trempealeau, Wisconsin, to determine whether platform mounds atop Trempealeau Mountain constitute authentic Indian mounds. This dispute, as McMillin subtly demonstrates, reveals much about the attitude and interaction–past and present–between the white and Indian inhabitants of this Midwestern town.
McMillin's account, rich in detail and sensitive to current political issues of American Indian interactions with the dominant European American culture, locates two opposing views: one that denies a Native American presence outright and one that asserts its long history and ruthless destruction. The highly reflective oral histories McMillin includes turn Buried Indians into an accessible, readable portrait of a uniquely American culture clash and a dramatic narrative grounded in people's genuine perceptions of what the platform mounds mean.
"A very interesting and well-written book about what happens in a small river community when its sense of identity is challenged by its ancient Indian past."—Robert Birmingham, coauthor of Indian Mounds of Wisconsin
"In this evocative book–at once history, investigative journalism, and richly textured memoir–Laurie McMillin renarrates the good stories good people tell themselves about the past and present of their homes."—Philip Deloria, author of Playing Indian
"Laurie McMillin's account of unrecognized racism in a small Wisconsin village is wonderful and insightful yet painful." —Chloris Lowe Jr., former president of the Ho-Chunk Nation
283 pages, Paperback
First published March 3, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
January 25, 2009
I had read many good reviews of this book and was excited to discover the secrets of the mounds. However, 5 pages into it I was put off. I thought the author had a chip on her shoulder, I didn't like her writing style at all and found myself skipping and skimming through the whole book. She let her attitude of "I'm educated and you're not" get in the way of what could have been a gripping story of our region's natural history. What a waste of money.
May 28, 2019
Coming from the Midwest and also a history major, I was excited to read this. However, this book didn't do it for me.
I could never figure out what the author wanted the conclusion to be for the reader. Should I feel bad? Should I be mad? Is she trying to make the white residents of the town into bad people? Exonerate their feelings? I don't know...
I could never figure out what the author wanted the conclusion to be for the reader. Should I feel bad? Should I be mad? Is she trying to make the white residents of the town into bad people? Exonerate their feelings? I don't know...
August 24, 2014
This took a little time for me to read but it was very helpful as I struggle with the treatment of Native Americans in past history. The author has had similar struggles to understand, and shares her experiences in a small town in Wisconsin not that far from where I live.
December 14, 2007
An interesting variety of opinions revealed in Trempealeau, Wisconsin when the author investigates the platform mounds.
December 3, 2022
Book was focused more on why white Americans do not value Indian monuments. Very interesting.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews