DIXON – If you’ve been through the intersection of Brinton and Fellows in Dixon you may have spotted a blast from the past.
Alan Harrison has been reconstructing a wigwam, the likes Native Americans would have used in the area. Willow branches and time have turned the already busy corner into a curiosity as passersby look, stop and shout questions out of their open windows.
“I just like to educate people,” said Harrison, a Faith Christian math teacher when he’s not reassembling symbols of the past.
Harrison has had an interest in Native American culture since he was a kid.
“I was fascinated by their culture. So I started to learn how they lived and their skills like flint napping and bow and arrow building.” His immersion into learning this culture has granted him invites to museums, school and scout groups to share his knowledge. “I’m not the best arrow head maker ever but definitely the best on the block,” Harrison said with a laugh.
I was fascinated by their culture. So I started to learn how they lived and their skills like flint napping and bow and arrow building.”
— Alan Harrison
The 22-foot-long wigwam or longhouse is made of willow branches and and tethered together with bark and screws. The hardware is needed since the structure will travel via a trailer. Split telephone poles anchor it together. Grass mats and canvas cover the whole thing whereas bark would have been used in the original designs.
“There is one spot I covered with bark for authenticity,” Harrison said. Two bark covered doors swing up for access to the inside that has one large hide covered sleeping area at one end and lots of sitting or sleeping space running on either side of the longhouse.
Wife Dawn and Alan will unveil the wigwam in the next few weeks at Galesburg’s Heritage Days and after that to rendezvous and other historical gatherings.