Patty Loew:
We begin with the end of a journey for a Madison landmark. We first told you about the Native American effigy tree last January. Carved from a tree trunk it marks the spot of ancient effigy mounds. This week "In Wisconsin's" Andy Soth shows you what happens when time and weather have taken their toll on a beloved neighborhood icon.

Andy Soth:
On a warm fall day there is a gathering at Madison's Hudson Park, a spot where people have gathered together for a long, long time.

Man:
1,000 years ago folks like yourselves came together to meet new friends, you might meet a spouse and celebrate life. Is it neat that 1,000 years later we're standing here doing the same thing.

Andy Soth:
The park is known for its thousand year old effigy mounds and now for the effigy tree carved in 1991 by Harry Whitehorse.

Harry Whitehorse:
I started chiseling on April 10th on the figures. I incorporated the mounds into it, so that goes back to ancient times. My mother always called the people that did the mounds the Ancients.

Man:
We're the people of panthers, bears and birds.

Jay Toth:
As far as this particular site and my other sites, this is a religious burial site and many other things but also a way to solidify the community.

Andy Soth:
Today the community unites to honor that spirit by celebrating the effigy tree. It had become a revered part of the neighborhood.

Man:
The bear cubs down here wrapped around the mother's legs. This is the thunderbird here, right? Isn't that neat?

Harry Whitehorse:
People, when they look at it, like one woman came up and asked, “When you took the bark off, I was watching you take the bark off. I didn't know all the figures were underneath that bark.”

Child:
Here is a bear.

Harry Whitehorse:
There is a bear, a cub bear that is eye level with the smaller kids and they like that part of it.

Andy Soth:
But the wooden sculpture couldn't survive the elements.

Pat Tully:
The original piece was beautiful but it started to deteriorate quickly because it was a tree that had died and it was kind of hard to watch that deterioration and we tried to stem the tide a little and do repairs but it looked pretty rough after a while.

Andy Soth:
That led the neighborhood and Whitehorse to seek a lasting replacement.

Karin Wolf:
He wished for it to be bronzed and put here, and then the neighborhood generously agreed that that was the best solution and raised the funds.

Andy Soth:
The effigy tree was removed from the site, restored and prepped for casting. Pieces were recreated in wax that was then replaced with molten bronze. Once cooled, the pieces were re-assembled into a new effigy tree.

Man:
I guess we can’t call it the effigy tree anymore, ‘cause there isn’t any wood remaining. We have to call it its proper title and that is Let the Great Spirits Soar, and we are doing that today.

Andy Soth:
As the sculpture soared into place over the summer it was a spellbinding moment for some.

Pat Tully:
I totally had chills. You envision it and then you see the pictures and know what the drawings are but on this incredibly hot, muggy day it felt funny to get chills but I very much had chills as I saw the piece and saw Harry and remembered being in this spot 20 years ago. It was an amazing experience to see it back.

Andy Soth:
On this fall day at the rededication the neighborhood and Ho-Chunk celebrate the same way they did 20 years ago.

Man:
These songs, these words, the drums, all these were in existence long before the square houses ever came near this place.

Andy Soth:
The sculpture doesn't only honor the mound builders of ancient times but also those who called this place their home in more recent history.

Karin Wolf:
This land until the 30s, much of it was used by Ho-Chunk people that were camping here.

Man:
He was telling us today that when they were boys with their mother and father they would camp here. And he said, “If we started playing too hard we would fall off that cliff and end up in the water.”

Andy Soth:
It's moments like that this work will honor long after the memories fade away.

Jay Toth:
It is way to reach across the past and touch your ancestors and at the same time look ahead to the future.

Harry Whitehorse:
I would like to present a model of this effigy tree to the Ho-Chunk nation. It's heavy.

Man:
Members of the community have a closeness. We're connected.

Woman:
I thank him on behalf of the Ho-Chunk nation.

Harry Whitehorse:
Thank you very much.

Man:
Thank you.

Patty Loew:
It's called Let the Great Spirits Soar. It is built to last 5,000 years. For more information go to our website at wpt.org and click on "In Wisconsin." We have posted more of the dedication ceremony and a closer look at how it was cast into bronze.