Our Shared Future
On June 18, 2019, leaders of the Ho-Chunk Nation and UW-Madison dedicated the Our Shared Future heritage marker. The marker recognizes campus land as the ancestral home of the Ho-Chunk, acknowledging their forced removal and honoring their history of resistance and resilience.
The Our Shared Future heritage marker reads in full:
The University of Wisconsin–Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial.
In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory.
Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin.
This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation.
Today, UW–Madison respects the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the eleven other First Nations of Wisconsin.