At the confluence of Turtle Creek and the Rock River, from about 1822-1832, there was a very large Ho-Chunk settlement called Ke-Chunk (Kečąk) or Turtle Village.  You can learn more about Ke-Chunk (pronounced kay-chunk) Village and the Ho-Chunk people in the links below.

Land Acknowledgement

A land acknowledgment is a powerful way of showing respect and honoring the Indigenous Peoples of the land on which we work and live. Acknowledgment is a way of resisting the erasure of Indigenous histories and working towards honoring and inviting the truth. Nature At The Confluence board members voted on our own land acknowledgement on October 14, 2021. 

Nature At The Confluence Land Acknowledgement

Nature At The Confluence acknowledges that we occupy ancestral Ho-Chunk land, where their people lived at Ke-chunk-nee-shun-nuk-ra, or Turtle village, until an 1832 treaty forced them to cede this territory. For decades federal and state governments repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin and Illinois. Through our programs we seek to educate visitors about the Ho-Chunk’s legacy of resilience, and honor their ancestors that cherished this land.


Websites

The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hoocąągra or Winnebago, are a Siouan-speaking Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois. Today, Ho-Chunk people are enrolled in two federally recognized tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.  – From Wikipedia

Books

  • Pioneer Beloit – 1830-1839, Arthur L. Luebke, 1985 – Available at Nature At The Confluence and Beloit Historical Society.
  • Four Seasons of Corn: A Winnebago Tradition, 1996 by Sally Hunter
  • People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1942, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2011

Videos

Historical Papers and Other Resources

Click on image below to download a PDF of this interpretive sign.