"In the 1850’s Da-coo-dah said he could read the effigy mounds like a white man reads a book. In this thoughtful and well-researched book Dr. Maier presents an interpretive model to show that the effigy mounds can be considered a system of animal symbols that communicate aspects of the worldviews of many Tribal Nations. Effigy mounds have a broad range of meanings from graves and clan markers, to celestial markers that map out major trade routes, to a description of the path to the spirit world. This important text will help one broaden their perspective and understand how the effigies integrate the natural, cultural and spiritual worlds."
James E. Scherz
Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
Survey Specialist
"As a reader, I found myself drawn into the work in a way I hadn’t expected. There’s something profoundly rooted and honest in the way you’ve approached the subject. The interpretations you offer are not only intellectually rigorous and logically framed but they’re also remarkably human: grounded in lived experience, faith, and awareness of the worlds our ancestors occupied. It reveals not just knowledge, but wisdom. The way this scholarly argument folds into storytelling and personal connection to knowledge is accessible and often without losing its depth. You’ve taken incredibly complex and often controversial historical terrain, and rendered it coherent, relatable, and thought-provoking. As a cultural landscape, what stands out most is how thoroughly the effigy mounds tell their story with dignity and voice. The narrative arc shows not just the content but the care and thoroughness behind it. As a scholar, author, and observer I sense an engaging fullness being born here. It’s not effortless, but as a unified system of symbols, that cohesion is striking and moves the boundaries of what interpretive anthropology can be. It’s passionate without being defensive, measured without being detached, assuring without patronizing, and I found myself drawn again to absorb its insights and the framing it lends throughout. All in all, the book is shaping into something not just informative, but deeply purposeful."
Hazel Grace
Head of Content, Parker Publishers
"In the 1850’s the elder Da-coo-dah said he could read the effigy mounds like a White Man reads a book. Dr. Maier’s work has helped show that what Da-coo-dah said about encoded knowledge is true. In this book, Dr. Maier presents an interpretative model that helps reveal the knowledge encoded in the Lascaux Cave."
James P. Scherz
Professor Emeritus, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
"Dear Gary, Congratulations on your impressive book…..The amount of detailed work that went into the book is impressive. Of course I have seen your impressive articles in the JTP and am delighted you pulled them and more together for your book. I’m happy that my work on The World of Shamanism was helpful for yours. All best wishes Roger."
Roger Walsh
Professor of Psychiatry, Philosophy and Anthropology, University of California at Irvine
"Great book. Fast delivery."
Beth
"A beautifully written account of Gary’s investigation into the meaning and purpose of the earthen effigy mounds of the Midwest.
While respecting and collaborating with the natives (where possible), Gary unfurls the profound meaning of the effigy mounds. His open-mindedness and wholistic approach is refreshing, bringing together:
As Gary pulls from this wide range of knowledge, the effigy mounds to come alive and speak with multi-layered meaning, becoming (as he calls them) “earth writing”, stories expressed on the landscape.
One sentiment that really touched me, was Gary’s hope that one day the Native American people will be telling these stories, and that what he’s investigated is just a preamble to what the Ho Chunk and related tribes would be able to provide, with their rich oral traditions and understanding of their own past. I share Gary’s hope. In this crazy world, we need stories from the earth."
Julian
"Gary Maier has written a thriller of the best kind: the mystery is ever out in front of his every sentence and the mystery he faces is that of himself as well as that of the Indian mounds. He excavates himself as unravels the mystery of the bodies and their burial. The book is a page-turner. The expertise he brings to it is fascinating."
Joseph Wiesenfarth
University of Wisconsin-Madison
"What Gary Maier shows us in these courageous pages is that imagination, in the end, may very well be the best tool we humans can employ in our attempts to unlock the secrets of our prehistoric past."
Jean Feraca
Wisconsin Public Radio
"This man, void of the Ho-Chunk tongue, seems impressive in his detailed expression of the sweat lodge and the function of the mounds in relation to stars, man, beast, and the ultimate end."
Tom Hopinkah
Ho-Chunk Elder