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Acknowledgment of Wisconsin’s First Nations Peoples and Lands

Above: “Current Tribal Lands Map” from WISCONSINFIRSTNATIONS.ORG.

As a resident of the state of Wisconsin, I live, work, and find restoration on the colonized homelands of several First Nations, including the Menominee, Ho-Chunk, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi peoples. These Nations were the original human inhabitants of the place that we today call Wisconsin. They each have relationships with the land, waters, and plant and animal beings of this region stretching back to time out of mind. While the achievements of the United States (established in 1776) are frequently extolled, it often goes unacknowledged that this nation was created from land that it seized through a combination of intimidation, deception, and force. Such was the case here in Wisconsin.

Thus, in support of historical accuracy and out of respect for these peoples, I believe it is necessary and important for me as a historian, teacher, and citizen to acknowledge Wisconsin’s First Nations peoples and lands. I share and reflect here on some aspects of Wisconsin history that I believe are important for all Wisconsinites to know and consider but that are often neglected.

After Wisconsin was established as a territory in 1836, its official seal depicted white settlement moving in from the East as a Native person exits to the West. The seal prominently features the Latin phrase “CIVILITAS SUCCESSITT BARBARUM,” which translates as “CIVILIZATION SUCCEEDS BARBARISM,” with “succeeds” here carrying the sense of following and replacing. The image and the slogan both convey clearly the ambition of white settler colonists to expel First Nations people from Wisconsin and replace them with a white population and new regimes of land control. Although this vision of colonization was not fully realized, the United States systematically expropriated the vast majority of the Indigenous peoples’ lands over the following few decades.

Illustrated seal of the Wisconsin Territory from 1836 depicts white settlement replacing Native people and includes a Latin phrase that translates "civilization follows barbarism."
Seal of the Territory of Wisconsin (c. 1838)

The Green Bay area, which is the site of my home and my employer, the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, is located within the colonized homelands of the Menominee Nation and the Ho-Chunk Nation. The Menominee were forced to cede most of their homelands, and their nation exists today only because they fought for restoration after the U.S. government terminated the tribe. The Ho-Chunk were repeatedly expulsed from their homelands and have tribal lands in Wisconsin today only because of their incredible resilience and persistence.

On the west side of Green Bay, the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin has treaty lands that were unfairly taken away from them through the Dawes Allotment Act and other schemes. All told, the Oneida lost about 95% of their reservation lands by the late twentieth century, when funds generated through tribal gaming operations gave them resources to start buying back land. In addition to the Oneida people, who came to Wisconsin from New York state, there are other First Nations in Wisconsin—including the Stockbridge-Munsee Mohicans and the Brothertown Indian Nation—who came here seeking refuge as they were pushed out of their eastern homelands. They placed their trust in the U.S. government, which, unfortunately, repeatedly betrayed the tribes’ confidence, as it did in so many similar cases.*

As a settler whose European ancestors migrated to North America between the early seventeenth and the late nineteenth centuries (primarily from Germany, England, and France), I have benefited from the dispossession of Native people. Some of my ancestors, for example, had access to cheap land as a result of the federal policy of expulsing First Nations from eastern territories. I cannot undo this history, but I am committed to interrogating and interrupting the systemic injustices of colonization and contributing to a more just future for First Nations people through my actions as a teacher, scholar, and citizen.

There are many ways for Americans of settler heritage to ally with First Nations people, including: learning about the histories and cultures of the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island and advocating for accurate and authentic instruction in schools; advocating for the sovereignty of tribal nations and respect for treaty rights; opposing the appropriation of Native culture and the harmful stereotyping of Native people though the use of Indian mascots; helping protect tribal lands from exploitation and protecting access to sacred sites; and contributing to organizations such as the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and the Native Organizers Alliance (NOA), both of which are Native-led organizations that advocate for tribal communities and their sovereignty. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, and the Great Lakes region, there are many opportunities to support tribal enterprises and organizations. The Safe Shelter in Oneida, Wisconsin, accepts monetary and in-kind donations and offers volunteer opportunities, as does the Wise Women Gathering Place on the west side of Green Bay. Wisconsin Conservation Voices has a project called Wisconsin Native Vote that promotes voting among Native Americans in Wisconsin and employs Native advocates.

I express gratitude for the many First Nations elders, colleagues, students, and friends from whom I have learned so much; for the advocacy that First Nations people have done on behalf of their communities and the larger community of life; and for the resilience of First Nations people across Turtle Island. The teachings that First Nations elders have generously shared have affected me deeply.**

David J. Voelker

Present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin

Updated January 10, 2024.

* For more information about the history referenced here, I highly recommend Patty Loew’s, Indian Nations of Wisconsin, 2nd edition (2019) and The Ways: Stories on Culture & Language from Native Communities around the Central Great Lakes at theways.org. For additional information about land acknowledgments, see this resource page that I co-created with Dr. Crystal Lepscier for a Feb. 2022 Lifelong Learning Institute course at UWGB. Dr. Lepscier and I also shared a resource page on “Federal Indian Policy and First Nations Identity: From Boarding Schools to Cultural Revival” for a May 2023 Lifelong Learning Institute course.

** In the acknowledgments to my November 30, 2020, lecture, “Beyond Sustainability: Imagining an Ecological Future,” I acknowledge many First Nations elders, colleagues, and friends by name.

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