WPR Interview: Why Is There A ‘Wau’ In So Many Wisconsin Place Names?

Wisconsin Public Radio’s Tim Peterson conducted an interview on the native origins of some Wisconsin place names with UW-Madison Professors Monica Macaulay (Language Sciences) and Brian McInnes (Civil Society and Community Studies Department, School of Human Ecology). This was part of WPR’s WHYsconsin project, which focuses on questions about our state generated by listeners.

Tim writes: “The answer turned out to be more complex and rich than many might have thought. A pair of University of Wisconsin-Madison professors shared some helpful ways to think about these place names and talked about the value of indigenous languages today.”

The WPR page highlights some excerpts from the interview. You’ll need to click the listen button at the top to hear the entire interview.