We meet in Teejop (Day-JOPE), on the homelands of the Ho-Chunk and Winnebago (Win-uh-BAY-go) people. Following the forced cession of this land in 1832, the Ho-Chunk were driven from this land to Iowa, then to Minnesota, then to South Dakota, then to Nebraska, where the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska exists today as a sovereign nation. Throughout this continual forced removal, some Ho-Chunk people demonstrated resilience against colonialism by returning to Wisconsin and, over time, purchasing back land that once had belonged to them. These lands form today’s sovereign Ho-Chunk Nation.
Our proximity to the Ho-Chunk and other tribal burial mounds, including the 38 mounds on the university’s campus itself, serves as a pointed reminder that we are occupying someone else’s cemetery. We encourage MATC attendees to explore the history and significance of these sacred sites. We further affirm the sovereignty of the 7,849 Ho-Chunk citizens living in Wisconsin and throughout the world, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, and the other 11 tribes whose home is Wisconsin.
To learn more, please visit: UW-Madison's Land Acknowledgement