Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark County, Wis.)

November 28, 2007, Page 2

Transcribed by: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon

Highground’s Native American Tribute flags

Growing in number, and spirit of healing 

A total of 13 flags of tribes from across America stand ready to fly above the Native American Tribute at The Highground.  Each day, a flag from a different tribe takes its place alongside the United States flag at the monument located at the veterans’ memorial park west of Neillsville.

There will be many more of those tribal flags to come, if Mitch Parrish, a Native American veteran now living in New Lisbon, Wis., has anything to say about it.  And he has.

In the mission of getting flags for the monument from as many of the approximately 500 federally-recognized tribes as he can, the 67-year-old Parrish has been making phone calls to Native American tribal representatives across the United States.  “I’ve made calls from Maine to Oregon,” he said during a recent telephone interview.

Parrish has received positive responses from the many tribal officials who have heard of The Highground and its own mission of healing and education.  For those who have not, he gives them the address of The Highground’s website (www.thehighground.org) so they can see veterans’ memorial park and the Native American Tribute for themselves.  “They look at it, and say that it really looks nice,” he said.

A veteran of the Vietnam War, Parrish was first inspired to embark on his mission when he visited The Highground last June with other members of a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) group from the VA hospital in Tomah.

“I had a lot of feeling for the monument from the beginning,” Parrish said.

The Highground had been flying the flag of the Ho-Chunk Nation, of Wisconsin, since the monument was dedicated on Veterans Day of 2006.

“This is a national tribute.  What about the other tribes?” Parrish recalls asking The Highground’s manager, Kirk Rodman.  When Rodman asked him if he would be willing to help bring more tribal flags to the tribute, he remembers feeling very honored, he said.

Parrish’s honor has grown in the months since.  “It’s an honor to talk to the people of different tribes,” he said.

But the spirit of his efforts goes beyond Native Americans, Parrish said.  It’s a spirit of unity and purpose that includes veterans, both men and women, of all backgrounds.  “It’s for all people,” he said.

He had to go, Parrish said, politely ending the interview.  “I have more phone calls to make,” he explained.