A new garden honoring Ho-Chunk history, culture and connection to the La Crosse area was dedicated July 30 at Riverside International Friendship Gardens in Riverside Park.

     More than three years in the making, the Ho-Chunk Garden was developed through collaboration between the Ho-Chunk Nation, Riverside International Friendship Gardens and community partners.

     The space features native plants, Ho-Chunk clan benches, trail marker tree sculptures and a bronze sculpture of Ho-Chunk healer Betsy Thunder.

     The garden sits along waterways that have been home to Ho-Chunk people for generations. During the dedication, Ho-Chunk Chief Clayton Winneshiek reflected on that history.

     “Ho-Chunk people lived along this river here for a long time,” Winneshiek said. “And we had different settlements around here that used to be our home at one time.”

     Although the landscape and communities surrounding the rivers have changed, the dedication marked a continued Ho-Chunk presence in an area connected to the Nation’s history.

     “No matter what the Ho-Chunk have been through, no matter how many times we've been removed,” Ho-Chunk Nation President Jon Greendeer said, pointing to the Nation’s continued existence and revitalization of its language as a reflection of the resiliency of previous generations.

     That connection between past and future is reflected in the garden’s centerpiece, a bronze sculpture of Betsy Thunder, a Ho-Chunk woman and healer who cared for Native people and settlers in the region during the 1800s.

     Greendeer said Thunder represents more than one individual, recognizing the generations of Ho-Chunk women who have sustained their communities and cultural ways of life.

     “She represents the amount of women leaders in our communities that often go unrecognized, for their strength, their resiliency,” Greendeer said.

     The garden also marks a change in how Native people are represented at Riverside Park.

     La Crosse Mayor Shaundel Washington-Spivey recalled years of conversations with Native students and community members about a former Native American statue in the park that many felt did not appropriately represent Indigenous people.

     “Whenever you remove something, you have to make sure you replace it, right?” Washington-Spivey said. “And you have to make sure you replace it with the right thing.”

     Rather than deciding what that replacement should look like, Riverside International Friendship Gardens worked with the Ho-Chunk Nation to develop the new space.

     Washington-Spivey called that approach an opportunity “to honor our Indigenous people” while acknowledging the history and wrongdoings experienced by Native people in the area.

     “Because while we're honoring the Ho-Chunk people, this is also the community coming together,” Washington-Spivey said. “Look around you. This is a beautiful sight to see.”

     Along with the Betsy Thunder sculpture, the garden includes native, drought-resistant plants, many valued by Ho-Chunk people for their healing properties, as well as quaking aspen, cedar and dogwood trees. Sculptures of traditional trail marker trees and flagstone benches bearing Ho-Chunk clan insignias are also incorporated throughout the space.

     The project was supported by the Ho-Chunk Nation, the City of La Crosse and numerous community organizations and donors.