The sixth annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Sauk County will be held in downtown Baraboo this afternoon and tonight and will feature a variety of activities in different locations.
Beginning at 1 p.m. on the courthouse lawn, a number of Indigenous artists and vendor booths will be set up along with a booth offering samples of Ho-Chunk cuisine. Ho-Chunk singers and dancers will bring the music, words, movement, and vibrant regalia of their culture to the Square at 2 pm. Nearby at the Al. Ringling Theatre, 11 short documentaries created by Discover Wisconsin covering a variety of Ho-Chunk topics will be shown including an Emmy award-winning video on artist Truman Lowe.
The dedication and unveiling ceremony for a new interpretive panel on the Square will begin at 4 p.m. telling the story of the Ho-Chunk removal period from 1840-1874 when federal, state, and territorial governments tried to move all Ho-Chunk from east of the Mississippi River. The determination of many Ho-Chunk to remain on their ancestral homeland is the reason that the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin exists today. 
A special showing of the new documentary film Bad River will be held at the Al. Ringling Theatre in downtown Baraboo at 7 p.m. tonight. The film tells the story of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewas and their ongoing fight for sovereignty amidst the struggle to protect natural resources.
The first Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Sauk County was held in 2019. Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Sauk County is supported by the Ho-Chunk Nation, Sauk County, an the Sauk County Historical Society.
All of today’s events are free and open to the public. For more information, click here.
