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Winnebago dance 1.jpg
Total population
(7000 (1990)[1])
Regions with significant populations
United States (Wisconsin, Nebraska and Iowa)
English, Hocąk
Medicine Lodge, Native American Church, Agnostics, Atheists and Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Iowa, Omaha, Otoe, Missouri, Arikara, Absaroke, Ponca, Osage, Kansa, Quapaw

The Hoocąągra, sometimes called "Ho-Chunk" or Wisconsin Winnebago, are a Siouan Native American group native to the present-day states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and parts of Iowa and Illinois. They are in the process of redefining all the lands that were taken from them with a traditional territory map.

There are two separate federally recognized tribal governments, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. According to Gordon Thunder (Wakanja)[who?], the Hoocąągra have been systematically removed from their homelands, with other tribes now occupying many of those places. The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, which at one time consisted primarily of tribal members spread over 13 counties of Wisconsin, have a traditional territorial claim in an area encompassed by a line from Green Bay to Minneapolis to St. Louis to Chicago. Some in the federal and state governments have undermined the Hoocąągra land claims, however, repatriation activities document where many villages once stood. The Hoocąągra Waaziijahaaci were never assigned a reservation and now have tribal or nation members who live in 43 of the 50 states in America. They also have tribal members in Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, the Middle East, Germany.

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska live on a federal reservation in Nebraska. While related, the two tribes are distinct federally recognized sovereign nations and peoples, each having its own constitutionally formed government, and completely separate governing and business interests.

Since the late 20th century, both tribal councils have authorized the development of casinos to generate revenue to support economic development, infrastructure, health care and education. The Ho-Chunk Nation is working on language restoration and has developed a Hoocąąk-language app for the iPhone. Since 1988, it has pursued a claim to the Badger Army Ammunition Plant as traditional territory; the area has since been declared surplus, but the Ho-Chunk have struggled with changes in policy at the Department of the Interior. The department supported the Ho-Chunk claim in 1998, but in 2011 refused to accept the property on their behalf.[citation needed]

In 1994, to build on its revenues from casinos, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska created an economic development corporation; this has since grown and has received awards as a model of entrepreneurial small business. With a number of subsidiaries, it employs more than 1400 people. It has also contributed to housing construction on the reservation. Like more than 60% of federally recognized tribes, the Winnebago Tribe has legalized alcohol sales on the reservation to secure revenues that previously went to the state in retail taxes.

The Ho-Chunk was the dominant tribe in its territory in the 16th century, with a population estimated at several thousand. Their traditions hold that they have always lived in the area. Ethnologists have speculated that, like some other Siouan peoples, the Ho-Chunk originated along the East Coast and migrated west in ancient times. Perrot[who?] wrote that the names given to them by neighboring Algonquian peoples may have referred to their origin near a salt water sea.



The Hoocąągra are a matrilineal indigenous tribe who speak a Siouan language, which they believe to be given to them by their creator, Waxopini Xete (the Great Spirit). The Hoocąągra were also called various names by other tribes, often inspired by their fierceness in battle. At one point, they were even called "Stinkards" due to living by water sources with large algae blooms, including Green Bay and Lake Winnebago. The term "Winnebago" is a term used by the Potawatomi, pronounced as "Winnipego." Their native name is Ho-Chąąnk (or Hoocąạk), meaning "sacred voice". They usually refer to themselves as Hoocąąk-waazija-haa-chi meaning "sacred voice people of the Pines". There are 13 recorded removals of the Hoocąągra on file in Washington, D.C. Several times, the people returned to their homelands after they were stolen through faulty treaty processes. The Hoocąągra now have a constitution that reinforces their sovereign abilities to negotiate with the U.S. Government.

The Jesuit Relations of 1659-1660 said:



Nicholas Perrot was an early 20th-century historian who believed that the Algonquian terms referred to salt-water seas, as these have a distinctive aroma compared with fresh-water lakes.[3] An early Jesuit record says that the name refers to the origin of Le Puans near the salt water seas to the north.[4] Algonquins also called the Winnebago, "the people of the sea." (A Native people who lived on the shores of Hudson Bay were called by the same name.)


In recent studies, ethnologists have concluded that the Hoocąągra, like the other Siouan-speaking peoples, originated on the east coast of North America and gradually migrated west. Recently, several Hoocąąk elders have claimed that they originated in the Midwest and that they predated the last ice age. The early 20th-century researcher H.R. Holand claimed they originated in Mexico, where they had contact with the Spanish and gained a knowledge of horses. David Lee contends the Hoocąąk were once akin to the Olmec there. His evidence derived from a culture based on corn growing, civilization type, and mound building. This followed the receding ice age. However, Holand cites the records of Jonathan Carver, who lived with the Hoocąągra in 1766–1768.[5] But, contact with the Spanish could have occurred along the Gulf of Mexico or the south Atlantic coast, where other Hoocąąk type tribes originated and lived for centuries. Others suggested that the Hoocąągra originated near saltwater, to explain how mid-western tribes had a knowledge of the Pacific Ocean, which they described as being located where the earth ends and the sun sets into the sea. Generally the Hoocąągra claim that their people have always lived in what is now the north central United States.[6] Linguistic and ethnographic studies have generated other deep histories of the various American Indian peoples.


Winnebago family (1852).






The warriors were said to be lost on Lake Michigan after they had repulsed the first attack by invading the Potawatomi from what is now Door County, Wisconsin.[8] Another says the number was 600.[9] Another claim is that the 500 were lost in a storm on Lake Winnebago during a failed campaign against the Meskwaki,[10] while yet another says it was in a battle against the Sauk.[11]

Even with such a serious loss of warriors, the historian R. David Edmunds notes that it was not enough to cause the near elimination of an entire people. He suggests two additional causes.[12] The Winnebago apparently suffered from a widespread disease, perhaps an epidemic of one of the European infectious diseases. They had no immunity to the new diseases and suffered high rates of fatalities. Ho-Chunk accounts said the victims turned yellow, which is not a trait of smallpox, however.[7] Historians have rated disease as the major reason for the losses in all American Indian populations.

Edmunds notes as a third cause of losses the following historic account: that many of the Ho-Chunk's traditional enemies, the Illiniwek, came to help the tribe at their time of suffering and famine, aggravated by the loss of their hunters. The Winnebago reportedly attacked the Illiniwek and ate the dead. Enraged, additional Illiniwek warriors retaliated and killed nearly all the Winnebago.[12]




Traditional culture[edit]



Women of Ho-Chunk society were responsible for growing, gathering and processing food for their families, including the cultivation of varieties of corn and squash, in order to have different types through the growing season; and gathering a wide variety of roots, nuts and berries, as well as sap from maple trees. In addition, women learned to recognize and use a wide range of roots and leaves for medicinal and herbal purposes.[13] The maple sap was used to make syrup and candy. Women also processed and cooked game, making dried meats combined with berries, which could sustain the people and hunters when traveling. They tanned the hides to make clothing and storage bags. They used most parts of the game for tools, binding, clothing, and coverings for dwellings. They were responsible for the survival of the families, caring for the children as well as elders.[14]

The main role of the Ho-Chunk man was as a hunter, in addition to a warrior when needed. Leaders among the men acted in political relations with other tribes or peoples. As hunters, they would catch fish by spearing them and clubbing the fish to death. The men would also hunt game such as muskrat, mink, otter, beaver, and deer.[15] Some men learned to create jewelry and other body decorations out of silver and copper, for both men and women.[14] To become men, boys would go through a rite of passage at puberty: they fasted for a period, during which they were expected to acquire a guardian spirit for, without it, their lives would be miserable.


Winnebago courting flute

After the boys became men, they were allowed to court young women. Pubescent women had their own rite of passage associated with their first menstruation, and learning the skills to support a family. Young men would first visit young women in their menstruation lodges. Women were separated from their families during this time because of the Ho-Chunk belief that a woman's menstruation was strong medicine. Other occasions associated with blood, such as childbirth, or preparation for war, also called on strong medicine. Men visited women in their lodges at night, as there was some shame in associating with a woman during menstruation. After courting, the man and woman (whom his family had chosen from another clan) would elope. Elopement was an accepted and practiced form of marriage in the Ho-Chunk culture.[17]

Ho-Chunk clans [edit]


Hokiikarac – Ho-Chunk Clans
Name Translation
Wakąja Thunderbird
Wonąǧire Wąąkšik People of War
Caxšep Eagle
Rucge Pigeon
Hųc Bear
Šųkjąk Wolf
Wakjexi Water-spirit
Ca Deer
Hųųwą Elk
Cexjį Buffalo
Ho Fish
Waką Snake



Ho-Chunk Nation[edit]

This tribe is headquartered in Black River Falls, Wisconsin.[20] Formerly known as the Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe, they changed their name to "Ho-Chunk Nation" to take back their traditional Siouan name for themselves. They are the larger of the two tribes. They also call themselves Wonkshieks - "First People of the Old Island".

The Ho-Chunk have established the Hoocąk Waaziija Haci Language and Culture Division, which has developed materials to teach and restore use of the Hocąk language, as well as other elements of the traditional culture. Among its recent innovations are developing a Hocąk-language "app" (software application) for the iPhone.[21] The Ho-Chunk have about 200 native speakers among its elders and are working to develop more.[22]










Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska[edit]

Martha Gradolf, a contemporary weaver, is enrolled in the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska[31]









Notable Ho-Chunk people[edit]

Chief Waukon Decorah in 1825
Cpl George Miner, a Winnebago, of the US Army of Occupation of Germany 1919
Photograph of Cpl. Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr., Korean War Medal of Honor recipient

See also[edit]


  1. ^ Pritzker, 475
  2. ^ http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/relations/relations_45.html
  6. ^ a b About Us from Ho-ChunkNation.com
  7. ^ a b c d Winnebago from dickshovel.com
  10. ^ Potawatomi
  12. ^ a b Edmunds, R.D., p. 5
  13. ^ Kindscher, K., and D. Hurlburt. 1998. "Huron Smith's Ethnobotany of the Hocak (Winnebago)", Economic Botany 52:352-372, accessed 31 August 2012
  14. ^ a b Ho-Chunk Nation :: About Us
  16. ^ Winnebago History and Culture
  23. ^ Ho-Chunk Buys More Land
  24. ^ Ho-Chunk Gaming Black River Falls
  25. ^ Ho-Chunk Gaming Nekoosa
  26. ^ Ho-Chunk Gaming Wittenberg
  27. ^ "Wisconsin Indian Casinos." 500 Nations . Retrieved 21 June 2010.
  32. ^ "About Us", Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, Retrieved 21 December 2009


Further reading[edit]


External links[edit]