Indigenous Wisconsin | Wisconsin Historical Society

Indigenous Wisconsin

Celebrate BIG History Indigenous Wisconsin

Celebrate Indigenous Histories and the First Nations in Wisconsin

Explore and learn about the histories, cultures, and contemporary statuses of the Native Nations and Indigenous people who call Wisconsin home.

Browse featured resources from the Wisconsin Historical Society and our partners, including high quality educational material for teachers, as well as books written by and about Native people from the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.

Upcoming Wisconsin Historical Society Events

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    Passages Exhibit

    Ojibwe migration to the place where the food grows on water

    Madeline Island Museum | La Pointe, WI

    Travel to the ancestral homeland of the Lake Superior Anishinaabe and discover passages through time and place that have long identified Madeline Island as a powerful hub of connection, travel, culture and history.

    Learn More
    The 500-year-old dugout canoe

    Wisconsin Historical Society Resources

    Wisconsin Historical Society Press Books on Native History and Culture

    Book by

    Patty Loew

    (Bad River Ojibwe)

    Teaching Materials

    Native People of Wisconsin: Revised and Expanded Edition

    Book by

    Patty Loew

    (Bad River Ojibwe)

    Teaching Materials
    Picture of A History in Indigenous Voices

    Book by

    Carol Cornelius

    (Oneida/Stockbridge Munsee and Montauk, Turtle Clan)

    Picture of The Story of Act 31: How Native History Came to Wisconsin Classrooms

    Book by

    JP Leary

    (Cherokee & Delaware)

    People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879–1942

    Book by

    • Tom Jones (Ho-Chunk)
    • Michael Schmudlach
    • Matthew Daniel Mason
    • Amy Lonetree (Ho-Chunk)
    • George A. Greendeer (Ho-Chunk)
    Seventh Generation Earth Ethics: Native Voices of Wisconsin

    Book by

    Patty Loew

    (Bad River Ojibwe)

    Picture of Survival Food

    Book by

    Thomas Pecore Weso

    (Menominee)

    Picture of Good Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir

    Book by

    Thomas Pecore Weso

    (Menominee)

    Picture of Little Hawk and the Lone Wolf: A Memoir

    Book by

    Raymond Kaquatosh

    (Menominee)

    Rebel Poet

    Book by

    Louis V. Clark 'Two Shoes'

    (Oneida)

    Teaching Materials

    Rebel Poet

    Book by

    Louis V. Clark 'Two Shoes'

    (Oneida)

    Picture of all the coloring books by Cassie

    Ojibwe Coloring Book Series by

    Cassie Brown

    (Keweenaw Bay Ojibwe)

    Wisconsin Indians (Revised and Expanded)

    Book by

    Nancy Oestreich Lurie

    Mountain Wolf Woman: A Ho-Chunk Girlhood

    Book by

    Diane Holliday

    Electa Quinney: Stockbridge Teacher

    Book by

    Karyn Saemann

    Picture of The Bingo Queens of Oneida: How Two Moms Started Tribal Gaming in Wisconsin

    Book by

    Mike Hoeft

    Aztalan: Northern Outpost of the Mississippian Indians

    Book by

    Robert A. Birmingham & Lynne G Goldstein

    Skunk Hill: A Native Ceremonial Community in Wisconsin

    Book by

    Robert A. Birmingham

    Hidden Thunder: Rock Art of the Upper Midwest

    Book by

    Geri Schrab & Robert Boszhardt

     

    Browse All Books

    The first glimpse of this canoe from 1,200 years ago, still wet from the lake a beautiful deep brown wood almost looking blue in spots.

    The Mendota Canoes

    Connecting Past & Present

    The Wisconsin Historical Society, in partnership with Wisconsin's Native Nations, is preserving a pair of historic dugout canoes recovered from Lake Mendota. Testing revealed the first canoe is 1,200 years old and the second 3,000 years old.

    Learn More

    Ojibwe Storytelling Series

    Winter is storytelling season

    Free Virtual Storytelling

    In Ojibwe culture, winter is storytelling season. The Wisconsin Historical Society celebrates by featuring Ojibwe storytellers in a virtual series launched in early 2022. 

    View the Recordings Online
    Ojibwe Storytelling Series. Michael Laughing Fox Charette of Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Edith Leoso a Bad River Tribal Member. Biskakone 'Greg' Johnson of Lac du Flambeau of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. Leon 'Ozaawaagosh' C. Valliere of Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

    Native Nations of Wisconsin

    Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    Seal of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

    BADRIVER-NSN.GOV

    Constitution

    History

    Newsletter Drum Beats

    Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    Seal of the Lac Courte Orielles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    LCO-NSN.GOV

    Constitution

    History

    News LCO News | WOJB 88.9 FM

    Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    Seal of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    LDFTRIBE.COM

    About

    Constitution

    News

    Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    Seal of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    REDCLIFF-NSN.GOV

    About

    Constitution

    Newsletter Miisaninawiind

    Sokaogon Chippewa Community

    Seal of the Sokaogon Chippewa Community

    SOKAOGONCHIPPEWA.COM

    History

    Constitution

    Newsletter Min-Wadjimowin

    St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin

    Seal of the St. Croix Chippewa Community

    STCCIW.COM

    About

    Constitution

    News The Vision

    Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians

    Seal of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians

    MOHICAN-NSN.GOV

    Constitution

    History

    News Mohican News

    Tribal Centers & Cultural Museums

    Cultural Center, Library, & Museum

    Forest County Potawatomi

    George W. Brown Jr. Ojibwe Museum & Cultural Center

    Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    Ho-Chunk Nation Museum and Cultural Center

    Ho-Chunk Nation

    LCO Tribal Museum & Visitor Center
    Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    Menominee Cultural Museum

    Menominee Nation

    Moka’aangiizisiban Tribal Museum
    Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

    Oneida Nation Museum

    Oneida Nation

    Resources for Teachers & Administrators

    Fact Sheet for American Indian Studies in Wisconsin (via WI DPI)

    State Statutes for American Indian Studies in Wisconsin (via WI DPI)

    Act 31 & Indigenous Education (via UW School of Education)

    Markers, Monuments, and Meaning - Wisconsin's Built Environment

    Learn about the role of monumental art in Wisconsin and investigate the current controversy over historical monuments and markers with panelists Aaron Bird Bear (Mandan, Hidatsa, Dine) and Kacie Lucchini Butcher.

    Moderated by Christian Øverland, the Ruth and Hartley Barker Director and CEO of the Wisconsin Historical Society, and Dr. Robert Smith, professor of history and director of Marquette University’s Center for Urban Research, Teaching, and Outreach.

    September 30, 2020

    Highlighted Resources from our Partners

    Walter Bresette

    Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe)

    Walter led rallies in the 1980s and 1990s to educate others on how the rights the Ojibwe retained in 1800s treaties with the United States still hold true today.

    From the Wisconsin Biographies series

    Chief Oshkosh

    Menominee

    Chief Oshkosh faced difficult choices as he led his people through trying times. He spoke out for the health of his people and the conservation of their forest.

    From the Wisconsin Biographies series
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    Explore Wisconsin's History

    You can find out more about our history in these pages focusing on other monthly celebrations!