Outside Madison’s Wingra School on a sunny fall afternoon in September, Ho-Chunk artist and horticulturist Lightning New Rider was busy measuring canvas and preparing twine.
He was there to help the students refurbish the school’s ciiporoke, a Ho-Chunk structure made with bent tree saplings tied together to make a frame and often covered with natural materials like birch tree bark or woven mats — or, in this case, canvas.
“These houses are used for sleeping at night, storing harvest goods like plants, food, squash, corn,” New Rider said. “They did ceremonies every season to honor grandmother Earth and certain spirits like the four directions.”…