Our ancestors built thousands of burial mounds and earthworks around Teejop, where we have lived since time immemorial. Although many of these sacred sites have been destroyed, we are the caretakers of those that remain.

Carved out of white oak, Greeting the Land allows the public to interact respectfully with the mounds around Teejop. Although the mounds represented are not to scale, this piece can help us understand their general locations and shape. Because they are burial sites, it’s important for the public to refrain from walking on the mounds. Please keep a watchful eye for the subtle mounds that surround us, as they may not be marked.

I would like to dedicate my first public wood sculpture to my father, Harry Whitehorse, whose legacies an Indigenous artist and craftsperson has inspired me immensely. His sculpture, Let the Great Spirits Soar (Effigy Tree), is located a short distance up the hill on Lakeland and Maple Avenue. Made from storm-damaged hackberry tree and later cast in bronze, the sculpture honors our ancestors as a tribute to the effigy mound builders.