Ho-Chunk Nation Flag Raising Ceremony

The Ho-Chunk Nation flag will fly on the UW–Madison campus Oct. 10-17, in recognition of Indigenous Peoples Day on October 10. 

A brief program will begin at 9 a.m. in front of Bascom Hall. It will include remarks by representatives from Wunk Sheek, UW-Madison's indigenous student organization. The Mad Town Singers student drummers will provide a flag song.

The event is open to the public.

During the Fall 2022 semester, UW–Madison is flying the Ho-Chunk Nation flag for more than six weeks, including one week in September, a week in honor of Indigenous Peoples Day in October and the entirety of National Native American Heritage month in November.

The flying of the Ho-Chunk flag at the beginning of our academic year highlights our foundational relationship with the Ho-Chunk people. It is also a reminder of our ongoing commitment through the university’s Our Shared Future initiative to educate the campus community about Ho-Chunk culture, First Nations history, and to recognize the land as the ancestral home of the Ho-Chunk, who have stewarded this land since time immemorial.

Flag raisings are part of contemporary Ho-Chunk culture. Members of the Ho-Chunk Nation regularly host flag-raising ceremonies with local governments and educational institutions to share their culture, honor veterans, and to strengthen ties across communities. In November 2021, UW–Madison raised the Ho-Chunk Nation flag for the first time.