When Ho-Chunk elder Ritchie Brown started traveling around Wisconsin to see effigy mounds decades ago, he couldn’t have been in a better place.

“Wisconsin is unique in that we’re about the only place in the country that has effigy mounds,” Brown said in a recent interview on WPR’s “Wisconsin Today.”

Effigy mounds are constructions of raised earth built by Indigenous peoples of the region likely between A.D. 750 and 1200. While some of these mounds are burial sites, others serve ceremonial purposes.

Mounds can have linear or organic shapes, but what makes effigy mounds unique is that they often take the form of different animals or spiritual entities. 

“I’ve seen fox mounds, otter mounds, eagle mounds, bear mounds,” Brown said. “You name it, they’re out there.”

Brown took an interest in the mounds in the late 1980s after visiting the farm of the late Frank Shadewald in Muscoda. Shadewald had asked for help identifying unique shapes of raised earth he’d found on his property, and Brown came to investigate as a manager at the Ho-Chunk Department of Natural Resources.

“When I first started surveying these and looking at all these mounds, I was really interested and fascinated,” Brown said. “But I didn’t know half the story then.”

Since then, Brown has spent decades traveling all over Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and even Canada to identify, survey and mark the mounds, which hold special significance to the Ho-Chunk Nation and other tribes.

And as often as he could, he took his son, Casey, along for the ride.

“I’ve been following (my dad) around since I was a little kid,” Casey said. “Other kids used to say, ‘Yeah, I played baseball with my dad or built things,’ but what we were doing was very different.”

Casey admits he didn’t fully appreciate the significance of the mounds when he was younger.

“I knew that it was important and that we were tromping around the woods for some reason,” he said. “As I’ve grown older, the mounds mean different things to me.”

After clinching a Midwest Regional Emmy last year, Casey is now working on a documentary film about the mounds and his father’s work. 

Rather than focusing on the archaeology of the mounds, he wants to bring an Indigenous perspective to the project. For Casey, that means moving through the seasons because of how the visual experience and cultural meaning of the mounds changes throughout the year.

“A lot of these sites are aligned with different times,” the elder Brown explains. “And the interesting part about that is the stories that go with them.”

The father-son duo indeed have many stories to share, from traveling to the mounds with Ho-Chunk traditional court leaders on a casino bus to being at a mound site during a particularly spectacular sunset.

“The majesty of the mounds is hard to transfer just by a picture or even a film or video,” Casey said.

Despite that, he hopes the documentary will bring some of the experience to viewers and educate people about what went into creating these earthworks, as he calls them.

Ritchie and Casey’s latest work has taken them back to Muscoda, where they recently marked two mounds, including a rare and culturally significant ghost eagle that spans around 700 feet.

This moment has been a long time in the making.

“(My dad) has been waiting decades to mark these mounds,” Casey wrote in a Facebook post. 

It can take a long time to do this survey work because the mounds are often found on the private property of non-Native farmers and landowners. Some of these landowners are very willing to work with the Browns and their team, but in other cases, it can be challenging to get direct access to the mounds for marking them or even filming them.

Casey says the work is about building relationships. Some of the farming families have been there for generations.

“They have their own stories now,” he said. “And those are just as important.”

For both Casey and his father, they see themselves as caretakers of the mounds, to preserve their history and legacy for current and future generations.

“We’re Bear Clan, so we take care of the Earth,” Casey explained.

“I want to be able to share this stuff with the younger generation,” the elder Brown said. “They need something to hang on to just to guide them through everything that’s going on today.”

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. (WMTV) – The Del-Bar supper club is a staple for many families in Wisconsin. While completely based around tradition, everyone needs and upgrades here and there. The 80-year-old supper club is doing just that.

Recently, The Del-bar had major expansions done to their parking lot, lobby bar, lounge area, dining room and more. All these upgrades were done to ensure the best possible customer experience.

“We are excited to have more space for our customers to really enjoy the supper club experience and a big part of that is arriving well before your reservation to enjoy a cocktail and maybe an appetizer before you are seated for dinner,” said Anne Stoken, co-owner of The Del-Bar.

The new expansion of 1,000 square-feet began in November of 2023. In December 2023, they opened a second bar area to help with the rush of pre-dinner cocktails and happy hour. “We have a large demand for our Happy Hour from 4:30-6 p.m. and often times had to turn people away because the bar was full,” said co-owner Amy Wimmer. “The new lobby bar has been a welcome and refreshing addition so far for our customers.” From landscaping outside to newly a designed lobby indoors, Del-bar has it all.

The supper club will celebrate 81 years of operating as fully family owned, on June 1.

Copyright 2024 WMTV. All rights reserved.

MENOMONEE FALLS, Wis. – Memorial Day weekend is a time set aside to honor those who died serving in the U.S. Armed Forces, but it’s also a chance to help service members as they transition into civilian life. 

Guitars for Vets helps veterans do just that through music. 

In the music room of his Menomonee Falls home, Jesse Tyler Frewerd sings a song he not only wrote, but a story he lived. He was a senior at Pulaski High School near Green Bay in 2001 when the Twin Towers were brought down and America was suddenly at war. He knew his life would change, too.

SIGN UP TODAY: Get daily headlines, breaking news emails from FOX6 News

“I just remember watching it on TV and just, in shock like everyone,” he said. “Eventually, it led me to the Army.”

Frewerd returned home from a tour in Iraq physically OK, but there were some way-too-close calls. 

“Having an IED go off right under the Humvee we were in,” he said. “Very lucky that we all made it through that.”

So how does war change a person?

“I would say war changes a person because you can see the best in people but you also the worst side of it,” said Frewerd. “That’s what Guitar’s for Vets does, like help vets transition back in a healthy way.”

FREE DOWNLOAD: Get breaking news alerts in the FOX6 News app for iOS or Android.

Guitars for Vets is a non-profit organization with Milwaukee roots. It puts guitars in the hands of veterans and teaches them not only how to play, but to use music as a way to cope with the memories of what those of us who haven’t served can’t even imagine. 

“It helped me primarily with community, just having other like-minded veterans to jam with,” Frewerd said.

“The men and women I come across and tell them about Guitars for Vets, I refer to that as a new mission,” he continued. “It gives purpose, fulfillment – it’s a new mission in life.”

Frewerd is an alumnus of the program and now an ambassador. He played a little music before the war, but Guitars for Vets helped to expand his playing skills and connected him to another veteran group that teaches songwriting.

He came back from war to a new baby, a breakup and the death of his dad.

“It was a lot, and it took its toll on me, and I really didn’t know what to make of it,” Frewerd said. “Luckily, due to family support and my now wife, just getting me out of this little hole I’d dug for myself. It’s good to be on the other side of things.”

Frewerd’s day job has him helping veterans transition back to civilian life. His own story strikes a chord with those who’ve lived a similar tune.

“It’s a snapshot. It’s when I was at a bleak moment, but I think now just speaking to that there is hope,” he said. “If I can get through it, there’s hope for other veterans.”

Rock 4 Vets in New Berlin will raise money for Guitars for Vets on Thursday night, May 23. Held at the New Berlin West High School Performing Arts Center, doors open at 6:30 p.m. and tickets are $20. The lineup includes Willy Porter, Rob Anthony, The Whiskeybells, and KB and the Dungarees.