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Museum outlines Lakeshore Park interpretive signage; archaeological finds and tribal sensitivities limit imagery
Summary
Museum staff proposed five interpretive signs for Lakeshore Park covering Menominee and Ho-Chunk ancestral lands, archaeological excavations, glacial history, golf-course history and working waterways. Staff said many finds are fragmentary and images tied to burials require tribal permissions under federal law.
Emily Rock, assistant museum director and chief curator, presented a five-sign interpretive plan for Lakeshore Park on Jan. 12 that would cover Menominee and Ho-Chunk ancestral lands, results of archaeological excavations, glacial landscape history, Lakeshore Municipal Golf Course history and the area’s logging and waterways industry.
"What is now Lakeshore Park had long been the home of the native people of Wisconsin...The ancestors of the Menominee and Ho Chunk lived in a village on the banks of Lake Butte Amore at least 2,500 years ago," Rock read from proposed sign copy, and she said the site was identified as a village and burial site by University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Cultural Resource Management during 2018 excavation work.
Board members asked whether images of recovered artifacts could be included on signs. Rock and Anna Knizso said much of the material is fragmentary and, because burials were found, federal laws require sensitivity: the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) constrain what may be displayed without consultation and permission from tribal nations.
"We would just need to make sure that was compliant, or get permission from the tribal nations to share those images," Knizso said. Museum staff said they steward the collection and can show representative reference images or comparable artifacts from other collections when direct images from the site are inappropriate or protected.
Rock described sample sign topics and images—historic photos of Menominee family life, 2018 excavation photos, a map showing the Laurentide ice sheet’s influence on local landforms, and museum objects such as "float copper" used historically for tools.
Board members suggested adding more names to the golf-course sign to broaden historical recognition; Rock said the signs are intentionally short (about 200 words each) and that additional golf-course history could be covered later or in museum displays.
The presentation generated no formal action; staff said they will refine imagery and text, consider budget for an additional sign if warranted, and pursue tribal consultation and legal compliance when selecting images.
