The Ho-Chunk people have a long history in Wisconsin — one strongly associated with dispossession, destruction and lack of recognition.
In response, recent efforts have been made throughout the state to acknowledge the Ho-Chunk Nation, a people who have always been and are still very much present in the region.
While many sacred features of the land were lost in the process of previous urbanization, new developments — like the planned expansion at Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison — aim to honor, versus destroy, the Ho-Chunk Nation.
However, while the plans were announced a year ago, ground has yet to be broken and the expansion continues to hit stalls in receiving government approval.
Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison’s expansion seeks to provide the space for Ho-Chunk people to tell their own story with their own voice in order to create a better understanding of their people among those who attend the facility, explained the executive manager and Ho-Chunk Nation member, Dan Brown.
Ho-Chunk Nation’s long — often erased — history in W.I.
Ho-Chunk people have resided in the Dejope area — which is comprised of the four lakes surrounding Madison — for over 15,000 years.
This region features the single most effigy burial mounds in the country — monuments constructed in burial ceremonies or to honor a specific clan’s representative animal — according to Brown. But since the colonization of the Dejope area, many of these burials have been destroyed due to agricultural and urban development.
Along with the destruction of physical sites, European settlers tried to remove Ho-Chunk culture by persecuting them for speaking their language or practicing their religion.
Through numerous removal acts, the Ho-Chunk people were scattered across Wisconsin and remain so today. The Ho-Chunk Nation resides across several portions of land held under reservation status, not a single Wisconsin reservation, according to the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin.
Despite these challenges, the Ho-Chunk people are still here.
“We have suffered forced removals and even with those we continued to return to this land,” Brown said.
Holdups in honoring Ho-Chunk Nation
The Ho-Chunk Nation continues to contribute to the state economy through both tourism and gaming at six enterprises throughout Wisconsin.
In February 2019, the Madison location announced a major expansion, emphasizing they would use this opportunity to turn greater focus toward Ho-Chunk people.
The 40-acre expansion will include a conference and entertainment center, a hotel, as well as a 30,000 square foot museum and cultural center, which will be an evolving window into the history and culture of Ho-Chunk people.
“It’s not a sad story — it is reality,” Brown said. “It's also a triumphant story as we are still here.”
Yet, Brown explained that in the year since announcing their plans, they’ve been approved by the city common council but have reached a sticking point with Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation regarding access to the land.
WisDOT claims the high volume of traffic the expansion would draw would create an issue at the highway exit nearest to the casino.
Brown and other members of Ho-Chunk Gaming have been working closely with WisDOT and believe they have found a solution.
“Wisconsin Department of Transportation is looking at a potential groundbreaking in 2022, and the funding for this project is becoming more of a reality,” Brown said.
Despite holdups, Missy Tracy, head of municipal relations at Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison, said progress has been made toward the project.
“We are seeing a lot of advancement as we progress toward prepping this site for development,” she said.
Brown added throughout the process support from the community has remained strong.
“We are very thankful for the openness of the local community and the local community leaders,” he said.
Attempts for broader recognition
The efforts to acknowledge Ho-Chunk history have not been isolated to Ho-Chunk Gaming — there have been additional community attempts for heritage recognition throughout the city.
By organizing programming, UW-Madison has tried to honor the Dejope region, as well as the forced removals of the Ho-Chunk Nation through signs around campus.
“The campus signage is being created with input and guidance from the Ho-Chunk Nation. Ho-Chunk Nation collaboration is essential in communicating the Ho-Chunk worldview,” Aaron Bird Bear said in an email.
Bird Bear added that, as UW-Madison’s first director of tribal relations, fostering strong ties between the university and the 12 first nations in Wisconsin is important to him.
Most recently, the university introduced a new heritage marker to be moved from building to building in order to educate as many members of the campus community as possible.
These efforts have also included collaboration with UW-Madison’s Indigenous People’s student organization, Wunk Sheek.
“The more that the UW is communicating with native students the better our relations will be with the UW and the community,” said Wunk Sheek Co-President Michael Williams.
While Williams shared that connection between native students and the university has increased, he added that there is still room for improvement.
The Ho-Chunk Nation’s community center collaborates with these efforts and leads their own events for the Madison community, like sharing Ho-Chunk heritage through Ho-Chunk storytellers at public libraries.
Brown hopes Ho-Chunk Gaming’s expansion can impact the community both on and off its land.
“The whole thing is to instill a sense of pride in the people who originally inhabited this land,” he said.
