Potawatomi at Tah-qua-kik, including some Chippewa, Ho-Chunk, Kickapoo, and later Menominee. The 1910 census tallied 100 Indians in 21 households in Arpin township led by a Ho-Chunk man named White Pigeon and a Potawatomi named John Nuwi. In spring the people made maple sugar, to use and for trade. They supported themselves by hunting, gathering, gardening, trapping, working at local farms, and selling crafts. The dance rings at that time did not have spruce trees growing on them. Instead, a wood rail circled each. These dances were held several times a year, drawing hundreds of visitors from around Wisconsin and as far as Kansas, some riding the train into Arpin. Some visitors were from other tribes and some were non-Indian neighbors. Ceremonies ran for several days, with traditional costumes, drumming, dancing, and speaking. There was a thanksgiving dance in May, a religion or thanksgiving dance in July, and a harvest dance in late summer/early fall. A Medicine Lodge dance was held at various times. As years passed, some of the homes at Tah-qua-kik became more like those of neighbors in nearby Arpin - log cabins and frame houses. Some families cooked on iron stoves, lit their homes with kerosene lanterns, and ate from ceramic dishes. By 1930, the population had declined and the village center at the top of the hill was abandoned. In 1936 the town of Arpin gave the land at the top of the bluff to Wood County, which developed it as a park. The ski runs on the north side of the bluff opened in 1948 and the warming house in 1950. In 1999 the county planned to expand the ski hill, but Indians objected that it would mean cutting grave marker trees and disturbing burials. A compromise was reached in 2003 and little has changed since then. Powers Bluff County Park Powers Bluff County Park was established in 1936 from land given to the county. The park offers inner-tubing and downhill skiing with tows and a warming house on weekends, and cross-country skiing during the winter season. Seventy acres to the east of the park is a state Natural Area called Powers Bluff Maple Woods. The park occupies an area across the top of the bluff. Parts of the bluff outside the park are privately owned, used for homes and farming. References Further reading "Powers Bluff Native American Pictures," State Historical Society of Wisconsin, accession