8 Jenni Schiavone’s canoe trip was one part of a larger effort to raise interest and environmental awareness with regards to the Fox River, in both Wisconsin and Illinois. Sponsored by the environmental group Friends of the Fox River, “It’s Our Fox River Day” is an annual event that combines conservation efforts along the complete course of the river with a celebration of the centrality of the river for life in the region. In 2022, more than 2,000 people participated in fifty-one events along the Fox. Abbreviated IOFRD and pronounced “I Offered,” this day “originated as a 200-mile cleanup to symbolize the need for a unified approach to protect and restore a watershed,” but has grown into something more— “an opportunity for residents to be able to say, ‘I offered’ thanks to my Fox River.”6 The following collection is the historical equivalent of IOFRD, providing historical context for ten millennia or more of human history at the same time promoting an appreciation for the entire watershed. This book is the collaboration of twenty-two talented and diverse scholars, who use rigorous scholarship of the past to explain the present while offering hope for the future—it’s our Fox River history. 6 Friends of the Fox River, “Thank You for making It’s Our Fox River Day a great success!,” https://friendsofthefoxriver.org/its-our-fox-river-day-2/, accessed November 11, 2022.
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