Ho-Chunk paddled from Green Bay to Milwaukee in dugout canoe to highlight tribal history
Along the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan on June 5, members of the Ho-Chunk Nation could be seen paddling in a traditional handmade, dugout canoe.
The paddle event marked the end of a four-day journey that took them from Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay in Door County along ancestral Indigenous waterways. Along the way, members of the tribe honored their ancestors at Milwaukee's Lake Park, home to one of the last remaining Indigenous mounds in the city. The journey is part of a broader effort to raise awareness of the tribe's historic presence in the area.
'All of this land used to be ours at one time,' said Clayton Winneshiek, traditional chief of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
Tribal members invited local officials, academics and anyone who wanted to join them in the canoe and learn about their cultural ties to the land and water.
'The dugout canoe journey is more than a trip – it's a cultural reclamation,' said Ho-Chunk Nation President Jon Greendeer in a statement on Facebook. 'As we paddle these waters we carry the stories of our ancestors, reconnect with the land and lake, and invite others to learn with us.'
In 2018, Dane County gifted the Ho-Chunk Nation a large cottonwood trunk. Ho-Chunk youth then carved the canoe out of the single piece of wood, much like the ones their ancestors made thousands of years ago. In recent years, at least 10 of these ancient canoes have been discovered in Lake Mendota in Madison.
More: Archeologists find at least 8 more canoes on bottom of Lake Mendota, one 4,500 years old
The annual canoe journey started in 2022 with a voyage from the four lakes in Madison then south to Beloit. Overall, the long paddle trips serve as an excellent tool to educate the public, according to William Quackenbush, the Ho-Chunk Nation's tribal historic preservation officer, who leads the journeys.
While in Milwaukee on June 5 members of the Ho-Chunk canoe journey visited Indigenous ancestors buried in Lake Park to bring attention to preservation efforts of an ancient Indigenous burial mound in the park. The ancient mound is one of the last in the city.
The mound is about 40 feet in diameter and two feet high overlooking Lake Michigan near Lake Drive and Locust Street. It was built by Indigenous people during what archaeologists call the Middle Woodland Culture between 300 B.C. and A.D. 400. Milwaukee once held thousands of these ancient Indigenous mounds, but nearly all of them were destroyed by development during the past 150 years.
An identifying plaque was placed on top of the mound in 1910, but that was recently removed because it encouraged people to walk on it to read it. Tribal members are working with county and city park officials to figure out the best way to keep the mound, which is located near a softball field, protected.
'We (Ho-Chunk) don't have the jurisdiction to protect the mound,' Quackenbush said. 'The city, county and historical society have the jurisdiction. We want to hold them to task to do it.'
More: Milwaukee's last ancient Indigenous mound has a problem
Quackenbush and the Ho-Chunk Nation have been leading efforts to protect and preserve the remaining ancient Indigenous mounds in Wisconsin from destructive development and other threats.
Academics debate who actually built the mounds and which tribe's ancestors are buried in them. But Quackenbush said his people do not doubt it is their ancestors who built and who are buried in the mounds as "ancestrally, we have deep roots to this location."
Quackenbush said other tribes, such as the Potawatomi, have passed through the Milwaukee area and claimed it for a time in its thousands of years of Indigenous history, but the Ho-Chunk were among the first people here.
He said the Ho-Chunk Nation does not try to deny any tribe the right to claim the Milwaukee area as their ancestral home, as well.
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Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@gannett.com or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ho-Chunk paddled from Green Bay to Milwaukee in dugout canoe
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Ho-Chunk paddled from Green Bay to Milwaukee in dugout canoe to highlight tribal history
Along the Milwaukee River and Lake Michigan on June 5, members of the Ho-Chunk Nation could be seen paddling in a traditional handmade, dugout canoe. The paddle event marked the end of a four-day journey that took them from Green Bay and Sturgeon Bay in Door County along ancestral Indigenous waterways. Along the way, members of the tribe honored their ancestors at Milwaukee's Lake Park, home to one of the last remaining Indigenous mounds in the city. The journey is part of a broader effort to raise awareness of the tribe's historic presence in the area. 'All of this land used to be ours at one time,' said Clayton Winneshiek, traditional chief of the Ho-Chunk Nation. Tribal members invited local officials, academics and anyone who wanted to join them in the canoe and learn about their cultural ties to the land and water. 'The dugout canoe journey is more than a trip – it's a cultural reclamation,' said Ho-Chunk Nation President Jon Greendeer in a statement on Facebook. 'As we paddle these waters we carry the stories of our ancestors, reconnect with the land and lake, and invite others to learn with us.' In 2018, Dane County gifted the Ho-Chunk Nation a large cottonwood trunk. Ho-Chunk youth then carved the canoe out of the single piece of wood, much like the ones their ancestors made thousands of years ago. In recent years, at least 10 of these ancient canoes have been discovered in Lake Mendota in Madison. More: Archeologists find at least 8 more canoes on bottom of Lake Mendota, one 4,500 years old The annual canoe journey started in 2022 with a voyage from the four lakes in Madison then south to Beloit. Overall, the long paddle trips serve as an excellent tool to educate the public, according to William Quackenbush, the Ho-Chunk Nation's tribal historic preservation officer, who leads the journeys. While in Milwaukee on June 5 members of the Ho-Chunk canoe journey visited Indigenous ancestors buried in Lake Park to bring attention to preservation efforts of an ancient Indigenous burial mound in the park. The ancient mound is one of the last in the city. The mound is about 40 feet in diameter and two feet high overlooking Lake Michigan near Lake Drive and Locust Street. It was built by Indigenous people during what archaeologists call the Middle Woodland Culture between 300 B.C. and A.D. 400. Milwaukee once held thousands of these ancient Indigenous mounds, but nearly all of them were destroyed by development during the past 150 years. An identifying plaque was placed on top of the mound in 1910, but that was recently removed because it encouraged people to walk on it to read it. Tribal members are working with county and city park officials to figure out the best way to keep the mound, which is located near a softball field, protected. 'We (Ho-Chunk) don't have the jurisdiction to protect the mound,' Quackenbush said. 'The city, county and historical society have the jurisdiction. We want to hold them to task to do it.' More: Milwaukee's last ancient Indigenous mound has a problem Quackenbush and the Ho-Chunk Nation have been leading efforts to protect and preserve the remaining ancient Indigenous mounds in Wisconsin from destructive development and other threats. Academics debate who actually built the mounds and which tribe's ancestors are buried in them. But Quackenbush said his people do not doubt it is their ancestors who built and who are buried in the mounds as "ancestrally, we have deep roots to this location." Quackenbush said other tribes, such as the Potawatomi, have passed through the Milwaukee area and claimed it for a time in its thousands of years of Indigenous history, but the Ho-Chunk were among the first people here. He said the Ho-Chunk Nation does not try to deny any tribe the right to claim the Milwaukee area as their ancestral home, as well. Sign up for the First Nations Wisconsin newsletter Click here to get all of our Indigenous news coverage right in your inbox Frank Vaisvilas is a former Report for America corps member who covers Native American issues in Wisconsin based at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Contact him at fvaisvilas@ or 815-260-2262. Follow him on Twitter at @vaisvilas_frank. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ho-Chunk paddled from Green Bay to Milwaukee in dugout canoe
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