A restored prairie graces the former farm fields of the Mąą Pįį Preserve in Northwest Illinois.
“It is good to come to this land and hear drums again,” said Jon Greendeer, President of the Ho-Chunk Nation. Greendeer was referring to the late September “Green Corn Dance” led by members of the Ho-Chunk nation at the Mąą Pįį Preserve in Northwest Illinois.
Mąą Pįį, or “Good Earth,” is a 361-acre refuge located two miles southwest of Galena. Owned by the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation (JDCF) and co-managed with the Ho-Chunk and Sac and Fox, the property attests to two strands of local and regional history. The refuge preserves the 1885 John Hess farmhouse and the Hess pioneer legacy dating to 1855. But it simultaneously pays tribute to the deep Native American past embodied by dozens of 1,000-year-old burial mounds. The Ho-Chunk Nation is generally recognized as direct descendants of the Driftless Area mound builders, and the Sac and Fox (Sauk & Meskwaki) resided in the region until the aftermath of the Black Hawk War in 1832, when they were forcibly removed.
The Green Corn Dance brought together the cultural descendants of the pioneer past with descendants of the indigenous inhabitants of the land. The festive day included guided field trips to the mounds, a naming ceremony for the refuge, and the Green Corn Dance itself. About 120 invited attendees participated: members of the Ho-Chunk and Sac and Fox nations, JDCF staff and membership community, and several neighbors of the Preserve.
In addition to habitat preservation on its seven public preserves and two partner preserves, the JDCF mission also includes preservation of cultural and historical artifacts on those same lands. These efforts, according to JDCF Director Steve Barg, were particularly guided by former Board President Nancy Winter and local archeologist, Phillip Millhouse, PhD, in the early 2000’s. In 2010, JDCF invited former Ho-Chunk President, Chloris Lowe, Jr., to visit some of the Foundation’s preserved effigy mounds. Since then, says Barg, Lowe has donated thousands of hours helping JDCF establish a strong relationship with the Ho-Chunk, Sac and Fox of Oklahoma, Ioway, Osage, Potawatomie and other tribal nations with heritage traceable to this region.
In the early afternoon, JDCF staff loaded interested participants into pickup trucks and UTVs to transport them through the re-established prairie to the edge of the woods where the mounds-trail begins. The walking trail leads another quarter-mile past Woodland-Period burial mounds that stretch through the forest to an overlook of the Galena and Mississippi Rivers.
The union of water, sky, and earth in this location made this a sacred place proper for the burial mounds, according to the Ho-Chunk tradition. JDCF staff continue to work with indigenous leaders as to the proper upkeep of the mounds. Future plans include carefully removing trees from the mounds themselves to keep their roots from damaging the burial sites, and shifting the walking path to a slight remove so the trail doesn’t impinge on the sacred mound structures.
Walking the trail alongside the mounds serves a spiritual purpose. “Our ancestors are still alive in this earth. They are on their second journey,” said Bill Quackenbush, Ho-Chunk Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. “When we pass by their burial mounds, we are not talking about them, we’re talking with them.”
Although the preserve became a JDCF property in 2011, it just now took on the name of Mąą Pįį Preserve with a ceremony on the day of the Green Corn Dance. The naming marked a solidification of JDCF / Ho-Chunk collaboration.
Clayton Winneshiek, Traditional Chief of the Ho-Chunk Nation, explained, “This was once our land to roam free. There were no boundaries. Who knows how many Green Corn dances were along the Mississippi?” But he added, collaboration with JDCF and the naming of the refuge as Mąą Pįį marks a new era. “This is something I’ve never seen before, the way the JDCF has recognized our nation.”
Bill Quackenbush noted somberly that the Indian Removal Act of 1830 had forcibly removed Ho-Chunk ancestors from their homelands. They were loaded onto steamboats and passed beneath these ancestral burial mounds on the river bluffs. “That must have been heartbreaking,” he said. “When steamboats would pull over to the shore to refuel with wood, we would be burying our dead.”
But, Quackenbush echoed, “We’ve encountered nothing but acceptance from the JDCF.”
Former Board President Nancy Winter, who had helped JDCF acquire the property, then spoke of the importance of acknowledging what had been done to indigenous peoples. “My Euro-American ancestors lived in this area at the time of Galena’s booming, glorious days, which was also the period of regional Indian removal. We need to acknowledge that,” she said.
As part of the ceremony, two Ho-Chunk legislators presented Winter with a colorful Pendleton blanket in recognition of her efforts to build new relationships with the indigenous peoples of the southern Driftless region. As they placed it on her shoulders, Jon Greendeer joked, “It will be cold tonight. You might need to wear it!”
In return, Steve Barg presented a pair of oak saplings, one to be planted on Ho-Chunk grounds and its twin on the Mąą Pįį Preserve.
After a meal of traditional meats cooked over an open fire and contemporary potluck foods, attention turned to the Green Corn Dance itself. So-named as an early harvest feast when the stalks might still retain a hint of green, the dance was common among the Ho-Chunk. The dance, which could go on for days, called harvesters in from the fields and hunters from the woods and plains, and told stories from the ancestral past, appropriate for the Ho-Chunk, whose name means “People of the Gifted Voice.”
As the dance got underway, Jon Greendeer explained that the Green Corn Dance had been forbidden in the era of the 19th Century boarding schools and had dropped out of the Ho-Chunk tradition. Greendeer researched the traditional dance in Library of Congress records and then sought permission of Ho-Chunk elders to resurrect it. In the past few years, Green Corn Dances have been held throughout the Midwest.
As the evening darkened, thirteen Ho-Chunk drummers sat in the center of a circle, beating out rhythms of ancestral songs and chanting their stories. A bonfire leapt off to the side, keeping attendees warm. A traditionally-dressed man and woman initiated the dance, and Greendeer soon invited both indigenous and non-indigenous attendees to join in by following in their footsteps
The dancers moved in clockwise fashion around the drummers. The sideways steps accompanying the forward motion mimicked the movement of tribal women who would roll corn beneath their feet to remove kernels from the cobs, Greendeer explained.
“The closer you get to the drums, the closer you are to the earth,” Greendeer encouraged. Before long, the procession of dancers was so numerous that the beginning of the line followed closely upon the end.
The image seemed symbolic. For the indigenous and non-indigenous participants, a circle of unity had been achieved, for this day at least. But the pioneer descendants were still learning the dance.
-------------------------------------------------------
[The Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation protects and preserves seven properties along with two partner-properties in Northwest Illinois. Most are open to the public. The Mąą Pįį Preserve, however, is only open to the public on special occasions.]
October 2025
Mąą Pįį, or “Good Earth,” is a 361-acre refuge located two miles southwest of Galena. Owned by the Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation (JDCF) and co-managed with the Ho-Chunk and Sac and Fox, the property attests to two strands of local and regional history. The refuge preserves the 1885 John Hess farmhouse and the Hess pioneer legacy dating to 1855. But it simultaneously pays tribute to the deep Native American past embodied by dozens of 1,000-year-old burial mounds. The Ho-Chunk Nation is generally recognized as direct descendants of the Driftless Area mound builders, and the Sac and Fox (Sauk & Meskwaki) resided in the region until the aftermath of the Black Hawk War in 1832, when they were forcibly removed.
The Green Corn Dance brought together the cultural descendants of the pioneer past with descendants of the indigenous inhabitants of the land. The festive day included guided field trips to the mounds, a naming ceremony for the refuge, and the Green Corn Dance itself. About 120 invited attendees participated: members of the Ho-Chunk and Sac and Fox nations, JDCF staff and membership community, and several neighbors of the Preserve.
In addition to habitat preservation on its seven public preserves and two partner preserves, the JDCF mission also includes preservation of cultural and historical artifacts on those same lands. These efforts, according to JDCF Director Steve Barg, were particularly guided by former Board President Nancy Winter and local archeologist, Phillip Millhouse, PhD, in the early 2000’s. In 2010, JDCF invited former Ho-Chunk President, Chloris Lowe, Jr., to visit some of the Foundation’s preserved effigy mounds. Since then, says Barg, Lowe has donated thousands of hours helping JDCF establish a strong relationship with the Ho-Chunk, Sac and Fox of Oklahoma, Ioway, Osage, Potawatomie and other tribal nations with heritage traceable to this region.
In the early afternoon, JDCF staff loaded interested participants into pickup trucks and UTVs to transport them through the re-established prairie to the edge of the woods where the mounds-trail begins. The walking trail leads another quarter-mile past Woodland-Period burial mounds that stretch through the forest to an overlook of the Galena and Mississippi Rivers.
The union of water, sky, and earth in this location made this a sacred place proper for the burial mounds, according to the Ho-Chunk tradition. JDCF staff continue to work with indigenous leaders as to the proper upkeep of the mounds. Future plans include carefully removing trees from the mounds themselves to keep their roots from damaging the burial sites, and shifting the walking path to a slight remove so the trail doesn’t impinge on the sacred mound structures.
Walking the trail alongside the mounds serves a spiritual purpose. “Our ancestors are still alive in this earth. They are on their second journey,” said Bill Quackenbush, Ho-Chunk Tribal Historic Preservation Officer. “When we pass by their burial mounds, we are not talking about them, we’re talking with them.”
Although the preserve became a JDCF property in 2011, it just now took on the name of Mąą Pįį Preserve with a ceremony on the day of the Green Corn Dance. The naming marked a solidification of JDCF / Ho-Chunk collaboration.
Clayton Winneshiek, Traditional Chief of the Ho-Chunk Nation, explained, “This was once our land to roam free. There were no boundaries. Who knows how many Green Corn dances were along the Mississippi?” But he added, collaboration with JDCF and the naming of the refuge as Mąą Pįį marks a new era. “This is something I’ve never seen before, the way the JDCF has recognized our nation.”
Bill Quackenbush noted somberly that the Indian Removal Act of 1830 had forcibly removed Ho-Chunk ancestors from their homelands. They were loaded onto steamboats and passed beneath these ancestral burial mounds on the river bluffs. “That must have been heartbreaking,” he said. “When steamboats would pull over to the shore to refuel with wood, we would be burying our dead.”
But, Quackenbush echoed, “We’ve encountered nothing but acceptance from the JDCF.”
Former Board President Nancy Winter, who had helped JDCF acquire the property, then spoke of the importance of acknowledging what had been done to indigenous peoples. “My Euro-American ancestors lived in this area at the time of Galena’s booming, glorious days, which was also the period of regional Indian removal. We need to acknowledge that,” she said.
As part of the ceremony, two Ho-Chunk legislators presented Winter with a colorful Pendleton blanket in recognition of her efforts to build new relationships with the indigenous peoples of the southern Driftless region. As they placed it on her shoulders, Jon Greendeer joked, “It will be cold tonight. You might need to wear it!”
In return, Steve Barg presented a pair of oak saplings, one to be planted on Ho-Chunk grounds and its twin on the Mąą Pįį Preserve.
After a meal of traditional meats cooked over an open fire and contemporary potluck foods, attention turned to the Green Corn Dance itself. So-named as an early harvest feast when the stalks might still retain a hint of green, the dance was common among the Ho-Chunk. The dance, which could go on for days, called harvesters in from the fields and hunters from the woods and plains, and told stories from the ancestral past, appropriate for the Ho-Chunk, whose name means “People of the Gifted Voice.”
As the dance got underway, Jon Greendeer explained that the Green Corn Dance had been forbidden in the era of the 19th Century boarding schools and had dropped out of the Ho-Chunk tradition. Greendeer researched the traditional dance in Library of Congress records and then sought permission of Ho-Chunk elders to resurrect it. In the past few years, Green Corn Dances have been held throughout the Midwest.
As the evening darkened, thirteen Ho-Chunk drummers sat in the center of a circle, beating out rhythms of ancestral songs and chanting their stories. A bonfire leapt off to the side, keeping attendees warm. A traditionally-dressed man and woman initiated the dance, and Greendeer soon invited both indigenous and non-indigenous attendees to join in by following in their footsteps
The dancers moved in clockwise fashion around the drummers. The sideways steps accompanying the forward motion mimicked the movement of tribal women who would roll corn beneath their feet to remove kernels from the cobs, Greendeer explained.
“The closer you get to the drums, the closer you are to the earth,” Greendeer encouraged. Before long, the procession of dancers was so numerous that the beginning of the line followed closely upon the end.
The image seemed symbolic. For the indigenous and non-indigenous participants, a circle of unity had been achieved, for this day at least. But the pioneer descendants were still learning the dance.
-------------------------------------------------------
[The Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation protects and preserves seven properties along with two partner-properties in Northwest Illinois. Most are open to the public. The Mąą Pįį Preserve, however, is only open to the public on special occasions.]
October 2025
Traditional meats are prepared over an open fire at the Mąą Pįį Preserve.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous celebrants join in on the Green Corn Dance.
The 1855 John Hess farmhouse will serve as the Preserve’s Center for Science and Culture.
Ho-Chunk Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Bill Quackenbush (left), Jo Daviess Conservation Foundation Director Steve Barg (center), and Ho-Chunk Nation President Jon Greendeer (right) celebrate the naming of the Mąą Pįį Preserve.