Highlights Archives
Respecting Tradition, Embracing the Future
November is National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, a time to recognize the contributions made by American Indians to the establishment and growth of the United States. Home to 11 federally recognized tribes (the Brothertown Tribe has yet to receive federal recognition), Wisconsin's Indian peoples have persevered in many traditional ways of life while adapting to the values and economy of modern America.
For 12,000 years Wisconsin history and Indian history were one and the same. Long before Jean Nicolet stepped ashore at Green Bay in 1634, Native Americans were mining, milling, trading and tilling the land west of Lake Michigan. Only when white explorers wrote the first accounts of Wisconsin less than 400 years ago did Native Americans become just one part of Wisconsin history.
Since then, Wisconsin tribes have fought to maintain their sovereignty and self-determination in the face of efforts to remove them, assimilate them, allot their lands, and terminate their tribal status. Despite suffering under these disastrous policies, Wisconsin Indians have come to the aid of the U.S. in all of its military conflicts from the Civil War through today's war in Iraq. In the last generation, the legal status of tribes has been more clearly defined, their treaty rights protected, and their economic base boosted by tourism and gaming. Tribal schools and colleges not only educate young people but also help to preserve the history, beliefs, lifeways and languages of their ancestors.
What began in the early 20th century as an effort to gain a day of recognition, has grown into a month-long celebration of American Indian culture. You can learn more about our Indian heritage from Wisconsin Historical Society Press authors Nancy Oestreich Lurie and Patty Loew, whose books chronicle the history of Indians living in Wisconsin.
You can see more than 1,000 pictures of American Indians at our online collection, Wisconsin Historical Images. You can also discover Wisconsin's Indian heritage online at Turning Points in Wisconsin History, where we present more than 100 original documents by and about Native Americans under topics such as the Iroquois wars of the 17th century, the fur trade era, the Black Hawk War, treaty councils, Americanization, and Wisconsin Indians in the 20th century.
:: Posted November 14, 2005
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