Laurie Hovell McMillin grew up in Trempealeau, along the Mississippi River, went away to faraway places like Tibet and India, and then returned to study and write about a clash of cultures over history in, "Buried Indians: Digging Up the Past in a Midwestern Town."

Trempealeau is best known among most visitors for the Trempealeau Hotel, home of the famous walnut burger and some great music, Trempealeau Mountain and Perrot State Park.

But, for many archaeologists, it is a "mecca" of history, and for some Native Americans, a holy place.

Burial mounds -- some conical, a few effigy and a large Hopewell mound known as Nicholls Mound -- are rather plentiful in the area. Many have been excavated for remains. Some have been preserved.

McMillin, who is an associate professor of rhetoric, composition and religion at Oberlin College in Ohio, concentrated on differing cultural views and political disputes over some platform mounds, built by Native Americans who remain unknown.

Some believe descendants of the same people who built Aztalan and Cahokia near St. Louis built the mounds. The Ho-Chunks, who do lay claim to some of the other burial mounds, do not believe their ancestors built them. Some of the residents of Trempealeau believe they were built or at least enhanced by bulldozers well after the Native Americans were gone.

"Part of the problem is that nobody has really come forth to claim them as theirs," said McMillin in a recent interview. "The land also has a couple owners in a church and the village, so that has complicated things."

McMillin, who went to school at nearby Galesville with a nickname of the Redmen, was vaguely aware of the platform mounds, became more aware of some of the other mounds while growing up and confronted the racism she saw in her hometown.

"Many residents were somewhat aware mounds were in the area, and somewhat proud of the history in the area, but looked at it as something in the past," McMillin said. "Indians just disappeared into the forest in their minds and had little to do with contemporary life."

Shaped by cultures

In her book, McMillin illustrates how all the differing individuals involved in the debates over the platform mounds had world views that were shaped by their own experiences and sub-cultures.

Longtime farmers know of the rich history of farming and white settlers in the area. Norwegians were proud of their ancestors who settled nearby. Ho-Chunks knew of their ties to the area, but had little interest in the actual debate over "ownership" of the platform mounds.

McMillin said she gained interest and appreciation for the mounds and cultural differences in her hometown after going away to study in Tibet and India.

"It was almost as if I had to go away, escape to another part of the world, in able to come back and really see what was in the place where I had grown up," she said. Throughout the book, McMillin interweaves stories from her childhood, about family and friends, which illustrate varying mindsets and biases.

Her writing does an overall good job of not being too judgmental of people who opposed preservation of the platform mounds, or had no interest at all.