Land Acknowledgement

I ask that you join me in acknowledging that we reside here on the shores of Waaksikhomik (wunk-shick-HOME-ick-la, or Lake Mendota), within the sacred homeland of the Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk) people, a place they call Teejop (day-JOPE, or Four Lakes). And as the reach of Madison extends to the far corners of our state, I also respectfully recognize the inherent sovereignty of the 12 First Nations of Wisconsin which are:

  1. Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa

  2. Brotherown Indian Nation

  3. Forest County Potawatomi Community

  4. Ho-Chunk Nation

  5. Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

  6. Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians

  7. Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin

  8. Oneida Nation of Wisconsin

  9. Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Community

  10. Sokaogon Chippewa Community

  11. St. Croix Chippewa Community

  12. Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians

Our current community could not have been established or sustained were it not for state and federally sponsored settler colonialism that dispossessed and displaced American Indian nations and communities across our state.  We must now confront the outcomes of unjust land treaties and the harm caused by our past complicity with policies of cultural and physical genocide as we seek reconciliation with Indigenous nations and communities of Wisconsin.

With a spirit of humility and openness, I pledge to do the hard work of reflection and truth-telling so that we can move toward transformative healing.