Ho-Chunk Nation Agriculture: Past, Present and Future

media release: Celebrate Native American Heritage Month by joining this very special lunch webinar with Hinu Smith, the first-ever Executive Director of the Ho-Chunk Department of Agriculture.

Ho-Chunk oral tradition indicates the people have always been here, on traditional lands that span Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois - dating back through multiple ice ages. Hinu will give a brief history of the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin and the traditional ecological knowlege that informed their agricultural methods and food ways. She'll talk about the origin of the newly-formed Ho-Chunk Department of Agriculture, with a mission to build a resilient food system based on traditional crops locally grown by a new generation of Ho-Chunk producers. We'll learn about the Department's plans to kick off a farmer training program in 2025 and how the general public might be able to experience some of the exciting crops and varieties being cultivated at the Nation's Whirling Thunder Ranch in Tomah and other tribal lands throughout the state.

Smith is a former Ho-Chunk legislator with a professional background in public health whose guiding principle then was to create legislation that improved tribal outcomes and protected the environment. Her commitment to renewing Ho-Chunk agriculture and food ways is based on a desire to improve tribal members' health outcomes through fresh, local, healthy, regeneratively grown, and culturally relevant food. Much of the food grown at Whirling Thunder goes into Tribal Elder Food Boxes.

As women committed to conservation and stewarding land, how can we further develop this mission with a deeper understanding of Native American history on this land?   How can we collaboratively do this with respect, love and an open mind alongside a growing awareness of the wounding and traumatic actions of the past?  What roles can we play individually and as a community to together move forward and create healing change?  How can we more proactively use the roles we have --- farmers, business owners, mothers, spouses/partners, local community leaders and more -- to spark connection to and respect for the inspiring Indigenous story in Wisconsin? 

This will be a safe space to learn, to ask questions and to process in community.    We hope you will leave with a richer perspective on Wisconsin's complicated history and a hunger to experience some of the delicious and nutritious Indigenous food varieties being cultivated, shared, and celebrated in our state today.

Session details:

* No past experience or requirements! 

* All women - all those who identify as such - are welcome to attend. 

* This is intentionally a safe and informal space. Zoom-bombing kids and pets are always appreciated.

*It's a Lunch Zoom - feel free to show up on screen with food in front of you.

About Wisconsin Women in Conservation

Wisconsin Women in Conservation (WiWiC) is a state-wide collaborative effort led by the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute in partnership with Wisconsin Farmers Union, Renewing the Countryside and Marbleseed (formerly MOSES).  A five-year multi-faceted project funded by the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), WiWiC brings together Wisconsin's women landowners, farmers, farm workers, urban growers, and conservation professionals to connect and share about conservation practices, resources, and funding opportunities.