Vandal desecrates fire circle honoring Native Americans at UW-Madison's Dejope Hall

UW-Madison's Dejope Residence Hall features a fire ring with stones that honor Wisconsin's 11 Native American tribes.
M.P. KING — State Journal

A bigoted message was painted on a fire circle honoring Native American tribes outside UW-Madison's Dejope Residence Hall, a university official said. The graffiti was painted Monday using red spray paint, and was immediately removed, University Housing director Jeff Novak said in a statement to students.

UW-Madison police spokesman Marc Lovicott said the graffiti read "Columbus rules 1492."

Monday was a federal holiday celebrating Christopher Columbus, who was the first European to be credited with coming to the Western hemisphere. Some people choose to instead mark the day by celebrating indigenous people whose ways of life were drastically altered by the colonialism that followed Europeans' arrival in the Americas.

The fire pit outside Dejope Hall, whose name is based on a Ho-Chunk word for "four lakes," is ringed by stones bearing bronze plaques honoring each of the state's 11 tribes.

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I'm speechless.