"Gambling may be what comes to mind when considering a visit to American Indian reservations. And casinos do play a key role, generating money for schools, health clinics, day care and other social services. But there is so much more to see among Wisconsin's first people.

Last summer my wife, Pat, and I set out on a six-day trip to Wisconsin, which boasts 11 sovereign tribal nations, to visit museums, cultural centers and powwows. Further, by talking to tribal members, we learned about their culture, traditions and history.

Of the 11 tribal nations, encompassing more than 500,000 acres of forests, lakes and wild-rice beds, we visited parts of six. Along the way, we often stayed in tribe-owned hotels near casinos, though we don't gamble.

The Oneida

We left Chicago on a Monday, following Interstate Highway 94 to Milwaukee, then Interstate Highway 43 farther north. Our first stop was the Oneida Nation Museum in De Pere, about eight miles west of Green Bay. The museum welcomes visitors from several countries, so brochures explain the tribe's "creation" story in French, German, Spanish, Japanese and English."

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Wisconsin's first people open their doors (The Chicago Tribune 5/7)