Ho-Chunk Flag to Fly Outside the City-County Building
August 12, 2024
County Board Supervisor Rick Rose, (608) 616-9365
County Board
The Ho-Chunk flag will soon hang in perpetuity below the US flag outside the City-County Building in downtown Madison. The City-County Liaison committee, which is comprised of county and city elected officials and staff, voted on August 1 to change operational rules of the building paving the way for the flag to hang.
In March of this year, the Dane County Board approved a resolution to hang the Ho-Chunk flag pending City-County Liaison Committee approval.
The resolution by the County recognized that it “conducts daily operations on land now known and recognized as Dane County, Wisconsin. This land is also the ancestral, traditional, and contemporary land of the Ho-Chunk, Sauk, and Kickapoo nations, where Indigenous people and cultures flourished and established sustainable ways of living based on cooperation among neighbors and respect for the land and for all living creatures.”
Rick Rose, County Board Supervisor from District 16, introduced the resolution and said, “our Board acknowledges its gratitude to the native people of this hemisphere and this region on behalf of all Dane County residents, in recognition of their care for this land, their cultures and ways of being, and their continuing vibrancy and contributions to our civic life. This has been a long time coming.”
Rose indicated he felt this way as well when he introduced legislation aptly approved by the Board and signed by then County Executive Joe Parisi, which included an ordinance amendment codifying Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an official county holiday. Indigenous Peoples’ Day is the second Monday in the month of October.
According to a February 5 Dane County news release, “Dane County (joined) a small handful of counties throughout the country that recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day as an official paid holiday”. The accompanying piece of that legislation was a resolution celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day. The resolution indicated, “that the County Board encourages employees to use the proposed holiday to celebrate and recognize indigenous people and work to make the planet a more welcoming place.”
Rose said he is currently working with the Ho-Chunk Nation on plans for the official flag raising. “I’m sure the indigenous student groups from UW Madison will be a big part of the ceremony as they were a big part of helping me shape these inclusive measures. To all, I’m grateful.”
Along with the go-ahead for the Ho-Chunk flag to hang, the City-County Liaison Committee also approved as part of the building rule changes, the hanging of the following flags:
The Tibetan Flag, March 10
The Transgender Pride Flag, March 31
The Progress Flag, June 1
The Juneteenth Flag, June 19
The German Flag, October 1