Today we celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day!
First, we take this day to acknowledge the Indigenous people of Wisconsin, the past, current, and future stewards of this land we stand on. The Wisconsin Water Library at the University of Wisconsin–Madison occupies ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop (day-JOPE) since time immemorial. The place we now call Wisconsin is the ancestral land of many Native nations who call this place home, and we are honored to be a place of stories, memory, and living tradition for all.
Today, Wisconsin is home to twelve Native nations and indigenous people are an inextricable part of Wisconsin’s past and present, and yet, they are missing from our history and from the way we care for our earth. Wisconsin Sea Grant and the library acknowledge the crucial work we must do so that all approaches to water science and environmental stweardship are incorporated.
The Wisconsin Water Library is taking deliberate steps to expand its holdings of materials related to traditional knowledge and water. We acknowledge our collection is incomplete so please email Anne Moser with your suggestions (akmoser@aqua.wisc.edu).
Some of our favorites are:
- An indigenous peoples’ history of the United States for young people by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz ; adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese
- Dibaajimowinan : Anishinaabe stories of culture and respect edited by H. James St. Arnold, Wesley Ballinger, Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission.
- Fry bread : a Native American family story by Kevin Maillard
- Growing up Ojibwe by the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission, Joshua Whitebird, Joshua M., illustrator
- Braiding sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Dibaginjigaadeg Anishinaabe Ezhitwaad : a tribal climate adaptation menu by the Great Lakes Indian Fish & Wildlife Commission
- Talking sky : Ojibwe constellations as a reflection of life on the land by Carl Gawboy
- Honor the earth powwow : songs of the Great Lakes Indians
 |
| Map of Wisconsin First Nations — Treaty lands in 1800 and present-day tribal lands. This map is an adaptation of the Native Nations Map from The Ways. |
 Ceded Territories, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission https://www.glifwc.org/ |
To learn more about American Indians in Wisconsin, check out https://wisconsinfirstnations.org/