By Tom Ganser
Correspondent
The spring Fairhaven Lecture Series at Fairhaven Senior Services in Whitewater explores historic and contemporary stories, issues and customs from the country’s indigenous peoples.
The series is entitled “Native America: People and Places, Past and Present.” Collin Price, a 2006 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater who also played on the Warhawk football team, kicked off the series on Feb. 5 with a talk entitled, “Ho-Chunk Nation: Building Relationships and Strong Communities Throughout Wisconsin.”
On Feb. 12, Rossi Ivanova, an assistant professor of Languages and Literature specializing in Native American culture and literature at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, provided timely insights into “Manifest Destiny,” a belief widely held yet sometimes contested in the United States during the 19th century that its settlers were destined to expand across North America.
Building community relationships
Price, who is a member of the Ho-Chunk tribe and the Public Relations Officer in the Office of the President for the Ho-Chunk Nation, told his audience that “Ho-Chunk” can be translated as “People of the Big Voice,” and that his ability to speak out formally on behalf of the Ho-Chunk Nation is “a huge honor and responsibility.”
There are about 7,500 tribal members, most living in Wisconsin in different communities.
“This is our home,” Price said. “Our origin story is in Green Bay. That is where our people started.”
According to Price, more than 80 percent of the nation’s 3,500 employees are not Native American. Most of the employees work in the hospitality (gaming/casinos) industry, along with about 1,000 in government services, including health care professionals and police officers.
Price said it is important for the Ho-Chunk Nation to build relationships with communities.
“It’s important for us to meet people, to engage in communities, and to help build relationships to help people understand who we are and what we’re trying to do together,” Price said. “We can’t do everything by ourselves. We need partners and allies, friends and neighbors.”
Price stressed education as an important dimension of his work, noting, “Part of what people understand about Ho-Chunk or even Native Americans, is based on information that didn’t come from Native Americans.”
For more on the Fairhaven Lecture Series, pick up a copy of the Feb. 22 Whitewater Register.
