This blog, written by Sunshine Thomas-Bear, applies the Ten Stages of Genocide framework to Ho-Chunk history and present-day realities. It examines how genocide can operate not only through violence, but through policy, paperwork, division, and time, while also reminding us that healing, restoration, and cultural continuance are processes we can actively choose.

Before colonization, Ho-Chunk life was rooted in balance and shared responsibility, with women at the center of family and community. Patriarchy was imposed, not traditional. Today, restoring women’s voices is part of decolonization, not rewriting our ways, but returning to them.