1700s-1800s: Changes for Native Peoples of Wisconsin

Description

Join the Portage County Historical Society for an informative and thought-provoking program as part of our America250 lecture series. This talk describes the experiences of Wisconsin’s native peoples during the era of the American Revolution. While colonists rebelled on the Atlantic coast, Ho Chunks, Menominees, Ojibwes, and Potawatomis confronted new challenges and opportunities in the western Great Lakes region. These nations forged new diplomatic and commercial alliances, diversified their economies, protected and expanded their homelands, and endured a brutal smallpox epidemic. Wisconsin’s native peoples experienced their own revolution decades before they confronted the newborn United States.

Registration is recommended. A $5 donation at the door is appreciated.

Join us for this important America250 program that centers Indigenous perspectives and deepens our understanding of Wisconsin’s past.

About the presenter: Rob Harper has taught history at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point since 2008. He teaches courses about early American history, Native American history, American women’s history, historical research methods, and historical memory. He also coordinates UWSP’s certificate program in Native American and Indigenous Studies. His first book, Unsettling the West, offers a new interpretation of the history of the Ohio Valley during the Revolutionary War. Professor Harper is currently researching the history of native communities in central Wisconsin in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries