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Peace Treaties

The Ho-Chunk signed a total of six treaties with the United States. The first three were efforts to create peace with the United States and neighboring tribes. In 1816, the first treaty between the United States and the Ho-Chunk was signed to end hostilities heightened by the War of 1812 in which the two nations were on opposing sides. After the war, the Ho-Chunk and other Midwestern tribes began to fight among themselves, with war parties avenging past wrongs and fighting to secure new hunting territories.

Gathering wild foods was an important part of the seasonal round, both to supplement hunting and fishing, and to expand the diet of those tribes that raised corn, beans, and squash.

All through summer and fall, the women and children gathered wild fruit, berries, and nuts. The women fastened birchbark buckets (makuks) to bands around their waists and filled them with wild foods they gathered.

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Donations to the Permanent Collections are accepted when they meet a number of critieria including fitting the Museum’s mission and collecting goals for each department. The Museum only accepts gifts without restrictions and abides by all appropriate state, federal, and international laws concerning materials offered for donation.

Enter the Rainforest and you are immediately enveloped by a mountain of biological diversity.

A vivid audio background with the chatter of monkeys, parrots, and other wildlife sets the stage as you gaze at huge transparent cubes filled with scores of colorful butterflies, beetles, toucans, macaws, tree frogs, jaguars, and an incredible variety of tropical plants.

Origin Story

In the beginning, Earthmaker sat in space and there was nothing around him. He became conscious and realized there was nothing there. He wondered what he should do, and he began to cry. Tears flowed from his eyes and fell down below him. He looked down and saw something bright: it was his tears which had fallen and formed the oceans, lakes, and streams. Earthmaker thought some more. He realized that if he thought of something, it would simply appear. He thought of light and it became light.

Great Lakes Indian tribes depended on the forests for raw materials for their homes and they built a variety of dwellings depending on the season.

The most common was the dome-shaped wigwam, which served from late fall through spring. With the exception of the Iroquois, all Woodland tribes from New England to the Mississippi River built this style of structure.