TENNEY

PARK

Our values of love and respect are interwoven in every aspect of our culture.

Sisters Interwoven
 Christopher Sweet (Hoocąk / White Earth Ojibwe)

Sisters Interwoven is a 3-piece sculpture inspired by the Legend of the Three Sisters: corn, beans, and squash, a self-sustaining Indigenous companion planting method. These crops are planted together to lift, nurture and support one another. The learning location of Tenney Park was chosen for this installation to showcase the relationship of all living beings – humanity, plants, animals, land and water – and their interdependence on one another. Sisters Interwoven humanizes each sister as a visualization to remind us to treat all living things like our relatives.

This piece is dedicated to uplifting our sisters and life givers. It encompasses our values of love and respect and how those values are interwoven into our culture. These values are shared within our culture through oral traditions like storytelling, songs and teachings that shape our cultural identity and preserve historical knowledge.

Read Christopher’s Welcome to Sisters Interwoven

Christopher Sweet is a contemporary Native American multi-disciplinary artist whose creative journey is deeply shaped by his heritage as an enrolled member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and as a descendant of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe of Minnesota. Growing up in Wisconsin and now living in the Wisconsin Dells area, Sweet’s art is profoundly influenced by the distinct languages, locations, and traditions of these two tribal nations.

More on Christopher Sweet

Tenney Park

Ho-Chunk people have always lived at Teejop. It’s one large village site. Including right here at Tenney Park. Much of what you see today was built only a little more than 100 years ago. Before that, though, there were wetlands with a large village alongside. Called “chee-nunk” in some historic documents (ciinąk just means “village” in the Ho-Chunk language), families enjoyed their time together here, harvested wild rice along the lakeshore, and cared for their raised corn beds on the isthmus. 

Resources

Reflection

  • Who do you love and respect?

  • How do you show love and respect for them?

  • How does love and respect extend across generations?

  • How do you practice love and respect this place?

  • How is love and respect interwoven into your culture?

View map of the art installation location

Parking is located along the N Thornton Ave / Yahara River off of Sherman Ave. Walk from Parking across bridge to inner island of park.