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Door County Community Foundation

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Belgian Heritage Center

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Belgian Heritage Center Fund

www.belgianheritagecenter.org
(920) 825-7319

Starting in the 1850s, groups of Belgians left the economic hardship of their homeland and ventured to northeast Wisconsin for better opportunities. Here, they faced the hardships of creating a new home in a harsh woodland. The Belgian Heritage Center aims to share the legacy of those more than 15,000 immigrants and their descendants who greatly influenced the culture of rural Door, Kewaunee, and Brown Counties with a farming landscape and customs which included the Walloon language, unique architecture, ethnic Belgian foods, and more.

Located in the heart of a rural district that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Belgian Heritage Center offers programs, festivals, events, tours, traditional and interactive exhibits, as well as a resource for genealogical and historical research. Oral history videos preserve stories in English and Walloon from Belgian descendants who have kept the language alive in Northeastern Wisconsin for more than 150 years.

Friends of Whitefish Dunes DDC Challenge Fund

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Native Americans inhabited the area that is now Whitefish Dunes State Park for centuries before Europeans arrived. Archaeological excavation in the park has revealed a succession of different native cultures.

The friends of Whitefish Dunes State Park would like to create an outdoor educational exhibit representing the Oneota culture (900–1600 A.D.).  Split Rock Studios, a renowned museum design group, has produced a potential design on how the exhibit might be constructed. The Friends are collaborating with a Ho Chunk tribal representative to get their input into this design.

The potential structures in the exhibit will be constructed out of durable manufactured materials that withstand the harsh elements near Lake Michigan. Park visitors will be able to walk through the structures to learn about the daily activities and culture of these First Peoples. A campfire ring may be incorporated for Pow Wows by Native American groups. 

Please help us reach our $50,000 goal for this project that will portray our rich Native heritage.

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