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Maintaining Burial Grounds
In 1985, a new law was passed protecting the rights of Native American burial grounds. “A burial site, under the law, refers to any place where human remains are buried and includes marked and unmarked cemeteries…” Up until this point, many Native American remains were put on show in museums and being mishandled in many other ways. The new law, NAGPRA, has encouraged participation between Native American and American governments with its attempt to return Native American burial remains to their proper place.

Due to lack of empathy and knowledge, the effigy mounds today in Madison are not the same as when they were built. In fact, it is difficult to tell where they located due to urban expansion. Wisconsin state law has done a decent job of protecting the mounds, but much of their original geography has been lost. The law only gives the effigy mounds a five-foot buffer zone, and more buildings keep going up. The natural landscape is slowly being destroyed. More aggressive enforcement and broader buffer zones need to be put in place. The Lakeshore Nature Preserve Committee is committed to “…safeguard[ing] beloved cultural landscapes,”

Bettering Relations
Native Americans have used this word to describe the Madison Area for thousands of years, and the Ho-chunk Nation passed a resolution on May 22, 2012 permitting the usage of the name for a new Residence Hall at University of Wisconsin-Madison. The Division of University Housing worked with the Ho-Chunk Nation to decide upon a name for the new Residence Hall. A symbol of the ongoing cooperative relationship between University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Ho-Chunk Nation, Dejope Hall contains beautiful imagery of the mounds and lakes in the areas.
 * Dejope: Four Lakes in the Ho-Chunk language.

The Fire Circle represents all 11 Native American nations in Wisconsin with a bronze plaque of each nation’s seal. Images of the four campus effigy mounds; Observatory Hill, Willow Drive, Picnic Point and Eagle Heights; are embedded into the first floor. Additionally, an acrylic depiction of Lake Mendota is located in the conference room, and another art piece of glass and metal depicting the Four Lakes is located in the East Hall.