The University of Wisconsin-Platteville will host its sixth annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day Lecture, “Hocąk: Language is Our Culture,” presented by Andrew W. Thundercloud. The event will take place on Wednesday, Oct. 13 from 6-7:30 p.m. in Nohr Gallery, Ullsvik Hall and is open to the public.
Thundercloud was born and raised in Tomah, Wisconsin. He attended UW-Madison and served in the U.S. Navy, with his last tour of duty in Vietnam as a corpsman with the U.S. Marine Corps. As an elder of the Ho-Chunk Nation, he later became involved with the Ho-Chunk Language Program as a teacher and curriculum developer.
The UW-Platteville Indigenous Peoples’ Day Lecture Committee, under the direction of Angela Miller, assistant chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, invited Thundercloud. Other campus partners include the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and the Departments of Campus Climate, History and Environmental Science and Conservation. Dr. Eugene Tesdahl, associate professor of history at UW-Platteville, and a specialist in early American, Native American and women’s history, started the Indigenous Peoples’ Day lectures in 2015.
“We launched this series in an effort to welcome more Native American voices to the university and enhance the way Indigenous histories are taught at UW-Platteville,” said Tesdahl. “In 2015, not every person on campus had heard of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Today, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin recognize this important holiday. Come learn from Andrew W. Thundercloud this October and help us empower Indigenous people at UW-Platteville all year round.”