Thank you to the stewards of these lands and waters that came before us. Milwaukee and Wisconsin is or has been home to people from the sovereign nations of:

Oma͞eqnomenew-ahkew (Menominee) | Bodwéwadmi (Potawatomi) | Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Dakota/Lakota)  | Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo) | Hoocąk (Ho-Chunk) | Myaamia (Miami) | peewaareewa (Peoria) | Ojibwe (Chippewa) | Onyota'a:ka (Oneida) | Odawa (Ottawa) | Meskwaki (Fox) | Muh-he-ka-neew (Mohican) | oθaakiiwaki (Sauk) | and more.

Today, 7,000+ Milwaukeeans identify as Native, the largest concentration of Native people in Wisconsin. We recognize that the ancestors of the peoples of these nations preceded and survived European Colonialism, enduring racist and xenophobic policies aimed at cultural genocide and cultural erasure, like re-education at boarding schools, destruction of sacred sites, land seizures, and forced relocation. We acknowledge this traumatic history, the effects of which can still be seen today in the form of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women, adverse health outcomes for native peoples, and the cycle of intergenerational poverty resulting from dispossession of their land and thus the resources on it.

We attempt to further dismantle white supremacy by educating ourselves about the sovereign nations whose land we are on, by reading work by native scholars and writers, and by donating to native causes and supporting native-owned businesses. We invite everyone to do likewise.