Wisconsin 101

Wild Rice and Wetland Conservation

Wild rice grows only in the Great Lakes Region in shallow and calm waters. It requires specific conditions, nutrient-rich muddy soil and stable water levels, in order to properly grow to maturity, to produce the seeds able to be harvested. Damaging the…

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November 17, 2024

Agriculture / Indigenous Wisconsin / Broad History / Ricing Sticks / Odanah / Lac du Flambeau / Ashland County / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Region 1 - North West / Nature & Environment / Region 2 - North East / Vilas County

Ricing (Manoominikewin)

Wild rice was depicted in an Ojibwe prophecy before there was even a name for the grain. When the Ojibwe people began to migrate west, they were prophesied to settle where food grows on water. The westward migration was in part because…

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November 16, 2024

Odanah / Agriculture / Indigenous Wisconsin / Broad History / Ricing Sticks / Lac du Flambeau / New Object Histories / Ashland County / Food & Cooking / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Region 1 - North West / Region 2 - North East / Vilas County

OBJECT HISTORY: Ricing Sticks (Bawa’iganaakoog)

Bawa’iganaakoog, threshers, or knockers, are all words used to refer to the sticks used for the harvesting of wild rice. Wild rice holds extreme cultural importance to Ojibwe culture for several reasons beyond basic sustenance; not only can it be dried and…

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November 16, 2024

Ellison Bay / Fish Boil Kettle / New Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Object Histories / Door County / 1945-1965 / Region 5 - Center East / Transportation & Tourism

OBJECT HISTORY: Fish Boil Kettle

This fish boil kettle from the Wisconsin Historical Museum collection, was donated by the Viking Grill in 2010. The two handled baskets sit inside a cauldron which was originally manufactured as a drum for a washing machine. Door County may be the…

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April 10, 2024

Beetown / New Object Histories / Home Furnishings / Grant County / Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Everyday Life / Pleasant Ridge / 1900-1918 / Region 6 - South West

OBJECT HISTORY: Sanitary Metal Kitchen Cabinet

Kitchens form a central part of the American experience. The Sanitary Metal Kitchen Cabinet, also known as the Mound City Kitchen Safe (circa 1906), fits into the history of American cookery, American kitchens, and American consumerism. Originally owned by members of the…

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January 23, 2024

Industry / Agriculture / Shawano / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Manufacturing & Trade / Politics & Government / Region 2 - North East / Shawano County / 1918-1945 / National Guard Nightstick

The Consolidated Badger Cooperative and the Shawano Milk Strike of May 1933

In the aftermath of the 1929 Wall Street Market Crash and the subsequent Great Depression, Wisconsin farmers struggled to meet the costs of production associated with dairy commodities. As a tool to improve their standard of living, some of Wisconsin’s farmers turned…

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June 27, 2023