Mounds as Symbols

When reading the "Indian Mounds of Wisconsin", and more specifically, the EFFIGY mounds, I began to notice how the mounds played an integral part of the Native Americans lives. The mounds themselves are an actual physical symbols that possibly represent the Native Americans belief in higher spiritual power and/or afterlife. One important thing to note in regards to the effigy mounds creating conceptions of a general of existence is that the mounds were built in order to bring the community together. While reading I noticed that activities such as hunting, gathering, etc. were necessary to for group survival. The text also states that the mounds (or ceremonies that took place in/around/near the mounds) also involved the community aspect. By having the mounds be an intricate part of the community aspect of the tribes, this suggests that the thought of afterlife and a higher power would also be an intricate part. These symbols that could possibly represent things of higher realms by Native Paleolithic people suggest that the entire community respected theses mounds. Although researchers are fairly certain that the mounds are of ceremonial purposes, there is always room for speculation. As I am beginning to realize in this course, the evidence found for the paleolithic people is always up for debate. Rarely is there solid evidence. However, that being said, a lot of the evidence in "Indian Mounds of Wisconsin" have strong suggestions that these facts are indeed facts. It is always good to examine what we have been given as people of present to hypothesize what occured in our past.