The name Ho-Chunk comes from the word Hochungra, meaning "People of the Big Voice" or "People of the Sacred Language.". Historically, the Ho-Chunk people respect the natural world and believe that when nature is viewed as only property it no longer has rights or value.

The Ho-Chunk people were forcibly relocated several times by the US federal government in the 19th century. In the 1870s, a majority of the tribe returned to their homelands in Wisconsin. Under the Homestead Act, some tribal members gained title to 40-acre (16 ha) parcels of land.

The Ho-Chunk tribe has been severely affected by the unregulated effects of frac sand mining. Other activities such as Bakken oil transport, high capacity wells and industrial agriculture, urbanisation, industrialisation, encroachment, lack of land rights and other similar issues have been affecting this minority tribe. Various projects are been planned on their sacred land which will disturb their cultural practises thus endangering their ethnic and cultural identities.

As a move towards protecting their lands and their ownership to the scared land, the Ho-Chunk Nation in Wisconsin is the first tribal nation in the United States to advance an amendment to their tribal constitution to recognize the rights of nature. In September 2016, the Ho-Chunk General Council (nineteen hundred members)voted overwhelmingly in support of the proposed amendment.

The preamble to the proposed Ho-Chunk constitution amendment reads:

Whereas, in the tradition of the Nation's relationship with Mother Earth, from which we came and upon which we depend… we recognize that to protect Mother Earth, we must place the highest protections on nature, through the recognition of rights in the Nation's highest law, our Constitution…

 Tribal members Bill and William Greendeer of the Ho-Chunk Nation explained that this amendment is important as it will help the community to protect the land, keep water, air and environment healthy by having a larger say in what activities happen in our communities.

“The Ho-Chunk Nation has always respected the earth, says William, but we were made to adopt a constitution based on roman law that makes humans more important than everything else by passing this resolution we are acknowledging how important nature is. We are just one part of Mother Earth, not the center of it.”

The amendment establishes: Ecosystems and natural communities within the Ho-Chunk territory possess an inherent, fundamental and inalienable right to exist and thrive. Further it prohibits frac sand mining, fossil fuel extraction, and genetic engineering as violations of the Rights of Nature.

Juliee de la Terre, adjunct professor at Viterbo University  stated that “The Rights of Nature” is more than an legal instrument it is an international movement meant to acknowledge that all natural systems need to be preserved in order for our planet to remain habitable.”

In 2010, a new environmental concern of hydraulic fracking to extract gas and oil in the massive mining of sand frac emerged in Ho Chunk territory. Though, fracking did not directly affect Wisconsin, but it became the number one produce of frac sand. In 3 years, 84 sand frac mines were started, shipping 130,000 tons of sand a day. The mining of silica sand created health concerns about silica dust, heavy traffic rush, gashes left in the land, and contamination of surface and groundwater.

Near Tomah, sacred ceremony grounds are now surrounded by four frac sand mines which interrupts ancient cultural practices with blowing silica dust,twenty four hour light pollution and truck traffic essentially turning the area into an industrial zone.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, which has authorized the destruction of 26 acres of wetlands with 60 permits for industrial sand operations since 2008, according to a recent Milwaukee Journal Sentinel report.

In 1988, the Ho-Chunk Nation filed a timely claim for transfer of the Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP), which was to be declared surplus under federal regulations. As part of their former traditional territory, the property holds historical, archeological, sacred and cultural resources important to their people. It is a 1500-acre parcel in Sauk County, Wisconsin. In 1998 the Secretary of the Interior had issued a letter to claim the land on behalf of the Ho-Chunk but, in 2011, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) refused to accept the property. It said it was unwilling to spend monies to conduct the environmental assessment.

The Ho-Chunk are continuing to pursue the case, as they note that, between 1998 and 2011, the Army spent millions of dollars in environmental assessment and cleanup to prepare the property for transfer. In 2012 the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) passed a resolution in support of the Ho-Chunk and encouraging the BIA as a policy matter to accept surplus lands as trust lands on behalf of tribes.

Please note that the conflict start date is listed as 1800 in reference to the forced relocations of the Ho Chunk throughout the 19th century.