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Historical Essay

Effigy Mounds Culture

A People and Their Structures
Learn how the Effigy Mounds communities that transformed Native American life
Historical Essay

First Peoples

The History of Paleo-Indians in Wisconsin
Learn about the Paleo-Indians who first inhabited the Wisconsin territory and the archaeological excavations that have revealed their culture.
Historical Essay

The Iroquois Wars

New Tribes Brought to Wisconsin by French Commerce
Learn how contact with Europeans, the fur trade and warfare among their tribes drove many Indians to the Wisconsin territory in the 17th century.
Historical Essay

Mississippi Culture and Aztalan

The Genesis of Modern Wisconsin
Discovery the history of the Woodland and Middle Mississippean Indian cultures and their relationship to modern Wisconsin.
Historical Essay

Colonialism and Indian Life in Wisconsin

How Native Life was Transformed
Discover how white contact disrupted and transformed Indian life in Wisconsin in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Historical Essay

The French Fur Trade in Wisconsin

When the Beaver was King
Discover how beavers transformed Wisconsin's economy in the 1650s for the next two centuries.
Historical Essay

Early U.S. Settlement

Military Outposts in Wisconsin
Read how American forts were established and settlement increased in Wisconsin after the War of 1812.
Historical Essay

Treaty Councils, from Prairie du Chien to Madeline Island

How the Natives Lost Their Land
Learn about the many treaties between the United States government and native tribes.
Historical Essay

Wisconsin's Early Schools

How the University was Began
Discover how the lack of educational opportunities in Wisconsin helped create the University of Wisconsin.
Historical Essay

Americanization and the Bennett Law

Assimilation
Discover how the government tried to assimilate Germans and Indians into their culture.
Historical Essay

American Indians in Modern Wisconsin

The Changing Status of the Native Americans
Read about Wisconsin's Indian tribes and their changing legal status throughout the 20th century.

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