Land Acknowledgement
James Reeb UU Congregation occupies unceded ancestral Ho-Chunk land, a place their nation has called Teejop 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.
We respect the inherent sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the eleven other First Nations of Wisconsin.
We seek to honor the history and spirit of this land and its people by contributing to causes and projects important to modern day people of the First Nations, and by avoiding the colonization of spiritual practices of people of the First Nations.
We are also figuring out how to begin the work of reparations.
For more information about our shared history and the importance of land acknowledgement check out these resources:
Land Acknowledgment
About Land Acknowledgment – Native Governance Center
Beyond Land Acknowledgment: A Guide – Native Governance Center
Wisconsin Faith Voices – Land Acknowledgement Resources
Local and State History
Local History article from Madison365/Channel3000 (2015)
American Indians in Wisconsin: History (From Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services)
UW-Madison Land Acknowledgement Plaque (2019)
“This Land is Their Land” 2019 article from Isthmus
A History of Madison – Morgridge Center for Public Service – .pdf
Native American Mounds in Dane County – WisconsinFirstNations.org – .pdf