An Abstract View of Ho-Chunk History
Prepared by the Ho-Chunk Nation Department of Heritage Preservation:
Division of Cultural Resources
Ho-Chunk or "The People"
Ho Chunk: People of the Sacred Language
The Ho Chunk People have remained and continue to remain
one of the strongest indigenous Nations in the United States.
This is because the Elders of the Nation are honored and
their teachings have upheld throughout history.
Ho Chunk Elders say that history begins with the creation
of all things on earth. They say that Ho Chunk means "People
of the Big Voice," or "People of the Sacred Language."
Ho Chunks have always occupied lands in Wisconsin, Iowa,
Illinois, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota. They have
hunted, fished, and gathered plants to provide their food
source. The land was sacred because through it the Creator
provided all their needs: Food, Clothing, Lodging and the
means for their culture to thrive in its existence.
The Ho Chunk people respected the land and took care to
harvest from the land only what they needed and never with
greed. They were a benevolent people. The people numbered
in the thousands. The Clan Chiefs watched over their people
and performed their clan duties with reverence and diligence,
teaching their offspring to do the same.
Every member of the Nation has his or her place within
the clan system and within the Nation. There was never any
identity crisis in the old days, because children were reared
in a very strict society with rigid guidelines and duties
to perform on a daily basis. The People were rich with culture
and pride to perform their duties well.
As Caretakers of the land, they moved as the food source
did, and during seasons providing the plant life abundant
to this region. Villages moved to conserve the area's resources.
Eventually some of the Chiefs took their people south along
the Mississippi and migrated to warmer climates. Thus we
have some southern tribes that speak dialects of the Ho
Chunk Language (e.g., Otoe, Ponca, and Iowa).
Everyday Life
The men hunted while the women gathered. The food staples
consisted of corn, squash, green plants, roots, berries,
making maple syrup and maple candy, venison, fresh fish,
and small game. After harvest, the food storage process
consisted of drying foods naturally for the long winters.
Women tanned hides, wove mats from the strong grasses near
the waters' edge, made clothing, and taught the younger
women. The grandmothers and grandfathers played an important
part in the instruction and rearing of children.
The Dagas, or Uncles, were the disciplinarians within a
family unit. There was no need for a mother or father to
raise their voices, for the practice was to train the children
to have such respect for a Daga. Then the chlildren lived
in fear of the punishment (usually work, or a pail of water
thrown on the head) from their Daga that they were well-mannered
and productive children.
The Ho Chunk people are credited as being the mound builders
within the region. The large effigy and conical mounds are
found in southern Wisconsin and along the Mississippi and
Ohio Rivers, these were solely the long inhabited areas
of the pre-Columbian Ho Chunk people. These effigy mounds
appear in the shapes of animals and birds, and many contain
burials. It is important to note that all of these mounds
were built with primitive equipment and by hand. They are
so symmetrically accurate that it is amazing to view them
today with the assistance of a compass.
The Ho Chunk were successful farmers due to their "raised
garden" beds, where they grew specialized garden plants
for sustenance. This successful gardening would later be
an attribute, as in later times the United States government
have 40-acre plots to each family encouraging them to farm.
Ho Chunk men were gifted in the art of silversmith and
creating copper jewelry. They were able to design jewelry
and body decorations for both men and women. This jewelry,
particularly earrings showed the wealth of the individual.
From 1634 to 1963
Three Hundred Twenty Eight Years of Feast or Famine
Land Occupations and Cessions
Ho Chunk occupied lands not only in Wisconsin, but in Iowa,
South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Illinois. History
tells us that the Ho Chunk held title to more that ten million
acres of the finest land in America.
Before 1634, the HoChunk people enjoyed abundant hunting,
gathering, and gardening. From the Red Banks near Lake Winnebago
to the waters of the Mississippi and south along the Fox,
Wisconsin, and Rock Rivers, the "People" lived
and thrived, practicing their cultural ways. . . the ways
of their grandfathers. Then they met the French trader Jean
Nicolet and the missionary Marquette near the Red Banks
in 1634. They traded with the French, and that supplemented
their sustenance, and provided tools, guns, iron pots and
pans and other European goods. This way of life continued
for over 150 years, until the settlers began reaching Wisconsin.
Winnebago was a name given by the Sauk and Fox, who called
the people Ouinepegi, or People of the Stinky Waters. The
Ho Chunk traveled and lived extensively along the Fox, Mississippi,
and Wisconsin Rivers where fishing and edible vegetation
was bountiful, the shores fertile for gardens, and the waterways
convenient for travel. This name was heard as Winnebago
by the government agents, and was the name the United States
government took for the Ho Chunk people. This remained the
official name of the Nation until the Constitution Reform
in 1993, when the Ho Chunk reclaimed their original name.
In 1836, the Ho Chunk were removed from the choice land
of southern Wisconsin to make room for the miners that were
fast taking over the land. The area was also in demand for
the lush farmland of the various river valleys. This land
was taken from the Ho Chunk for a pittance, and the people
were forcibly removed to northeastern Iowa. Within ten years
they were moved to the northern Minnesota territory. Here
they served the United States government by being a buffer
between the warring Lakota/Dakota and Ojibwe. Unfortunately,
the Ho Chunk had to endure attacks from both tribes. By
this time they were imploring the United States government
to move them to better land near the Mississippi. Due to
white resistance, the Ho Chunk were moved further west.
By 1859, their reservation was reduced from 18 square miles
to 9 square miles. In 1863, the Ho Chunk were again moved,
this time to a desolate reservation in South Dakota, a land
so different from the lush forests and hunting grounds they
were familiar with in Wisconsin.
Through various treaties, eventually all of the Wisconsin
homeland was ceded, as the Ho Chunk were removed to various
scattered parcels of land. Throughout eleven removals, the
Ho Chunk continued to return to Wisconsin. Finally, the
United States government allowed the Ho Chunk to exchange
their South Dakota reservation for lands near the more friendly
Omahas of Nebraska, who willingly released part of their
reservation so that the Ho Chunks could become their neighbors.
The Nation split, with part of the tribe returning to Wisconsin,
and part moving to the reservation in Nebraska. Those tribal
members who stayed in Nebraska on the reservation are today
known as the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
The Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Edward P. Smith, in
his report of Indian Affairs, expressed much frustration
in trying to "civilize" the "Winnebagoes"
and keep them on the Nebraska reservation. The Ho Chunk
people longed for their lush gardens of Wisconsin, the lands
where their grandfathers and grandmothers worked, lived,
and were buried. This was home to them. The people continued
to return to Wisconsin, and in the winter of 1873, many
Ho Chunk people were removed to the Nebraska reservation
from Wisconsin, traveling in cattle cars on trains. This
was a horrific experience for the people, as many elders,
women and children suffered and died.
Once it was apparent that part of the Nation was determined
to stay in Wisconsin and refused to move to the Nebraska
reservation, families were given 40-acre homestead plots,
and encouraged to farm and assimilate. (Please see Treaty
History) Both the Wisconsin and Nebraska Ho Chunk (Winnebago)
were engaged in efforts to produce crops from the land.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs Commissioner encouraged farming
and assisted by providing farm equipment and incentives
such as a (minimal) salary. White foremen were hired to
help teach the people to operate the equipment. At the same
time, the United States government was busy building Indian
schools to teach sewing and industrial arts to the tribal
children. It was important for the United States government
to assimilate the tribal people, or in the words of the
Indian Commissioner "civilize the people," as
soon as possible.
Organizing as a Government
The growing of crops was not the first joint venture between
the Wisconsin Ho Chunk and Nebraska Winnebago. In 1949,
both bands of Ho Chunk (Winnebago) agreed to file a common
claim before the Indian Claims Committee to seek payment
on the millions of acres of ceded land. In Wisconsin, a
group assembled themselves as the Wisconsin Winnebago Business
Committee. The Great Lakes Area Field Office of the Bureau
of Indian Affairs (BIA) in Ashland, Wisconsin records the
following individuals as the first elected officers: Nathaniel
Decorah of Mauston (Chair), Reverand Mitchell Whiterabbit
of Indian Mission, Black River Falls (Secretary), and Ulysses
White of Wisconsin Rapids (Treasurer). Further membership
included: Gilbert Lowe (Mirrillan), Albert Lowe (Tomah),
Floyd WhiteEagle (Wisconsin Dells), Robert Blackdeer (Onalaska),
George Whitewing Sr. (Wittenberg), and James Smoke (Tomah).
By 1961, the Wisconsin Winnebago Business Committee was
investigating organizing itself under the 1934 Indian Reorganization
Act. The first Wisconsin Winnebago Tribal Constitution was
drafted and redrafted during 1962. This organization was
lead by the elected members along with an individual by
the name of Angelo LaMere, who spent many hours on the road
gathering Ho Chunk elders together to form the new government.
A census was taken that year by the Superintendent of the
BIA, with the assistance of the secretary, determined that
there were 494 eligible to vote in the first election under
the reorganization. The Constitution and Bylaws of the Wisconsin
Winnebago Tribe were ratified by the tribe on January 19,
1963, approved by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs on
February 11, 1963, approved by by the Assistant Secretary
of the Interior on March 19, 1963, along with the approval
of the Great Lakes Agency of the BIA. Once the referendum
was passed to reorganize, the first election of officers
was conducted in June, 1963. From there, began the hard
work to determine the needs of the people.
