UW-Madison Collaboration: Cultural Resources Management

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About the Collaboration and Project

In the spring of 2021, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies partnered with the Ho-Chunk Nation and the Village of Waunakee through UniverCity Alliance. Undergraduate Students in their Environmental Studies Capstone Class worked in collaboration with Ho-Chunk Nation and Waunakee to recommend guidelines and protocols for Ho-Chunk Nation cultural resource management in the Village of Waunakee green spaces. The goal of this collaboration is to highlight the Ho-Chunk Nation and its culture’s presence in the Village of Waunakee by encouraging revitalization and protection of Ho-Chunk Nation cultural resources and traditional cultural properties.

Products Created from the Cultural Resources Management Project


Cultural Resources Management Plan: This product was a protocol for green space management in the Village of Waunakee. The goal of this plan was to help Waunakee better understand the necessary maintenance needed to properly and respectfully preserve Ho-Chunk Nation cultural resources and sacred traditional cultural properties (TCPs). 

Informational Tri-Fold: The trifold product is a general overview of the cultural resources management project that informs the Village of Waunakee community and leadership about the collaboration with Ho-Chunk Nation, Waunakee, and UW-Madison Nelson Institute. The tri-fold contains pictures of the maps that the team created, information about green space maintenance, the importance of the preservation of Ho-Chunk Nation cultural resources, and history of the Ho-Chunk Nation. This tri-fold will be can be found at Village Hall, Waunakee Village Center and Waunakee Area Chamber of Commerce for anyone that is interested. You can also view this document by clicking the link above. 

Map: Hoocak in Teejop - A map designed to show the types of sites that were likely found in Ho-Chunk Villages and where those spaces correlate with the land types in Waunakee today. 

ArcGIS Mapping Tutorial (Coming 2023): Using ArcGIS online mapping offers an option to engage village staff and /or community members in learning about Ho-Chunk TCP’s, greenspaces, prairies, waterways. 

Guiding Project Principles

  1. Acknowledge that the continued survival and existence of Ho-Chunk people throughout eras of removals, grants the First Nation sovereignty in their ancestral territories.
  2. Acknowledge the history of Ho-Chunk Nation by creating educational and interactive products for non-Tribal publics to engage with.
  3. Acknowledge the importance of the use of language: center indigenous voices, terminology, and ways of understanding the world. Traditional Cultural Properties (Indigenous terminology) vs Archeological Site (westernized terminology)
  4. Enhance community members’ education about Ho-Chunk Nation’s relationship to the Waunakee area.
  5. Create opportunities for all Waunakee community members to connect to the lands and waters they are on.
  6. Enhance existing practices for environmental and cultural stewardship and greenspace preservation.
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