The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hocąk, Hoocągra, or Winnebago are a
Siouan-speaking
Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of
Wisconsin
Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
,
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
, and
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. Today, Ho-Chunk people are enrolled in two
federally recognized tribes
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States. , the
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Historically, the surrounding
Algonquin tribes referred to them by a term that evolved to Winnebago, which was later used as well as by the French and English. The Ho-Chunk Nation have always called themselves Ho-Chunk. The name ''Ho-Chunk'' comes from the word ''Hoocąk'' and "Hoocąkra," (''Ho'' meaning "voice", ''cąk'' meaning "sacred", ''ra'' being a definitive article) meaning "People of the Sacred Voice". Their name comes from oral traditions that state they are the originators of the many branches of the
Siouan language.
The Ho-Chunk claim descendancy from both the effigy mound-building
Late Woodland Period cultures and the successor
Oneota
Oneota is a designation archaeologists use to refer to a cultural complex that existed in the Eastern Plains and Great Lakes area of what is now occupied by the United States from around AD 900 to around 1650 or 1700. Based on the classificat ...
culture; they say their ancestors built the thousands of
effigy mound
An effigy mound is a raised pile of earth built in the shape of a stylized animal, symbol, religious figure, human, or other figure. The Effigy Moundbuilder culture is primarily associated with the years 550–1200 CE during the Late Woodland P ...
s through Wisconsin and surrounding states. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Ho-Chunk were the dominant tribe in its territory in the 16th century, with a population estimated at several thousand. They lived in permanent villages of
wigwams and adopted cultivated corn, squash, and beans; they gathered wild rice, hunted woodland animals, and used canoes to fish. Before the U.S. government removed the Ho-Chunk from their native land in Wisconsin, the tribe consisted of 12
clans
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...
with specific roles often assigned to clans. Wars with the
Illinois Confederacy and later wars with the
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
,
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...
,
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...
, and
Sauk people
The Sauk or Sac (Sauk language, Sauk: ''Thâkîwaki'') are Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their historical territory was near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Today they have t ...
s pushed them out of their territories in eastern Wisconsin and Illinois, along with conflicts with the United States such as
Winnebago War and
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...
. The Ho-Chunk suffered severe population loss in the 17th century to a low of perhaps 500 individuals. This has been attributed to casualties of a lake storm,
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
s of
infectious disease, and competition for resources from migrating Algonquian tribes. By the early 1800s, their population had increased to 2,900, but they suffered further losses in the
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
epidemic of 1836. In 1990 they numbered 7,000; current estimates of total population of the two tribes are 12,000.
Through a series of moves imposed by the U.S. government in the 19th century, the tribe was relocated to reservations increasingly further west: in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota,
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
, and finally
Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
. Oral history suggests some of the tribe may have been forcibly relocated up to 13 times by the federal government through forced treaty cession, losses estimated at 30 million acres in Wisconsin alone (they ceded lands in Wisconsin in 1829, 1832 and 1837; further removal attempts occurred in Wisconsin in 1840, 1846, 1850, and 1873–4). During these removals, bands of Ho-Chunk hid out in Wisconsin rather than be moved. In 1832, other bands of Ho-Chunk were moved to the Neutral Ground Reservation in eastern Iowa, where they faced hostile conditions between the warring
Dakota people and Sauk peoples. They were removed from Iowa in 1848 into Minnesota, where they were moved twice from
Todd County, Minnesota to
Blue Earth County, Minnesota. After the
Dakota War of 1862
The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of Dakota people, Da ...
and tensions created by the
hate group
A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society.
Acc ...
Knights of the Forest, about 2,000 Ho-Chunk were interned at
Camp Porter in Mankato before being expelled from Minnesota into
Crow Creek, South Dakota in 1863.
The Ho-Chunk often
nonviolently resisted removal by staying home, or simply returning home, rather than engaging in uprisings. Poor conditions at Crow Creek led many Ho-Chunk to leave for the
Omaha Reservation in Nebraska; The
Winnebago Reservation was founded for the Ho-Chunk in Nebraska in 1865. The
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin is considered a "non-reservation" tribe, as members historically had to acquire individual homesteads in order to regain title to ancestral territory; they hold land in more than 13 counties in Wisconsin and have land in Illinois.
The federal government has granted legal
reservation status to some of these parcels, but the Ho-Chunk nation does not have a contiguous reservation in the traditional sense. While related, the two tribes are distinct federally recognized sovereign nations and peoples, each with 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. The Ho-Chunk Nation is working on language restoration and has developed a Hoocąk-language
iOS
Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...
app and online dictionary.
Etymology

The Ho-Chunk speak a
Siouan language, which they believe was given to them by their creator, Mą’ųna (Earthmaker). Their native name is ''Ho-Chunk'' (or Hoocạk), which has been variously translated as "sacred voice" or "People of the Big Voice", meaning
mother tongue, as in they originated the Siouan language family.
Neighboring
Siouan tribes refer to the Ho-Chunk by translations of their name into their language, such as ''Hotúŋe'' in the
Iowa-Otoe language) or ''Hotháŋka'' in the
Dakota language. The term "Winnebago" is a term used by the
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...
, pronounced as "Winnipego".
The
Jesuit Relations of 1659–1660 said:
Nicolas Perrot was a 17th-century French trader who believed that the Algonquian terms referred to saltwater seas, as these have a distinctive aroma compared with freshwater lakes. An early
Jesuit
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
record says that the name refers to the origin of ''Le Puans'' near the saltwater seas to the north. When the explorers
Jean Nicolet and
Samuel de Champlain
Samuel de Champlain (; 13 August 1574#Fichier]For a detailed analysis of his baptismal record, see #Ritch, RitchThe baptism act does not contain information about the age of Samuel, neither his birth date nor his place of birth. – 25 December ...
learned of the "sea" connection to the tribe's name, they were optimistic that it meant ''Les Puans'' were from or had lived near the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
. They hoped it indicated a passage to
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
via the great rivers of the Midwest.
Culture

Before Europeans ventured into Ho-Chunk territory, the Ho-Chunk were known to hunt, farm, and gather food from local sources, including nuts, berries, roots, and edible leaves. They knew what the forest and river's edge had to give and both genders had a role in making best use of resources. With the changing seasons, Ho-Chunk families moved from area to area to find food. For example, many families returned to
Black River Falls, Wisconsin, to pick berries in the summer.
Ho-Chunk women 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. The maple sap was used to make syrup and candy. Women also processed and cooked game, making dried meats combined with berries to sustain their families when traveling. Tanned hides were used 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.
The main role of the Ho-Chunk man was as a hunter—and a warrior when needed. Leaders among the men interfaced with other tribes. As hunters, they speared fish and clubbed them to death. The men also hunted game such as muskrat, mink, otter, beaver, and deer.
[Radin, Paul. "The Autobiography of a Winnebago Indian", ''American Archaeology and Ethnology'' 16.7 (1920): 381–473] Some men learned to create jewelry and other body decorations out of silver and copper, for both men and women.
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; without it, their lives would be miserable.
Besides having a guardian spirit, men would also try to acquire protection and powers from specific spirits, which was done by making offerings along with tobacco. For example, a man would not go on the warpath without first performing the "war-bundle feast", which contained two parts. The first part honored the night-spirits and the second part honored the
Thunderbird spirit. The blessings these spirits gave the men were embodied in objects that together made the war-bundle. These objects could include feathers, bones, skins, flutes, and paints.
History
Ancestral Ho-Chunk

Ho-Chunk
oral history
Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from
people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
says they have always lived in their current homelands of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. Their
Siouan language indicates common origin with other peoples of this language group. They say their ancestors built the thousands of
effigy mound
An effigy mound is a raised pile of earth built in the shape of a stylized animal, symbol, religious figure, human, or other figure. The Effigy Moundbuilder culture is primarily associated with the years 550–1200 CE during the Late Woodland P ...
s through Wisconsin and surrounding states during the
Late Woodland period. In the Terminal
Late Woodland Period, the practice of building effigy mounds abruptly ceased with the appearance of the
Oneota
Oneota is a designation archaeologists use to refer to a cultural complex that existed in the Eastern Plains and Great Lakes area of what is now occupied by the United States from around AD 900 to around 1650 or 1700. Based on the classificat ...
Culture. The Ho-Chunk claim descendancy from both the effigy mound-building Late Woodland cultures and the successor Oneota Culture. The tribe historically adopted
corn
Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout Poaceae, grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago ...
agriculture at the end of the
Late Woodland period as well as hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants. They cultivated
wild rice (''
Zizania
Wild rice, also called manoomin, mnomen, psíŋ, Canada rice, Indian rice, or water oats, is any of four species of Poaceae, grasses that form the genus ''Zizania'', and the grain that can be harvested from them. The grain was historically an ...
'' spp.) and gathered sugar from
sugar maple trees.
Dugout canoes found near many small lakes and rivers are prompting new anthropological research projects near
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...
, that may yield better information about ancient settlements.
European contact and tribe split
European contact came in 1634 with the arrival of French explorer
Jean Nicolet. He wrote that the Winnebago/Ho-Chunk occupied the area around Green Bay of
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
in Wisconsin, reaching beyond Lake Winnebago to the
Wisconsin River
The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, at approximately 430 miles (692 km) long. As a tributary of the Mississippi River, it is part of the Mississippi River System. The river's name was first recorded in 1673 b ...
and to the
Rock River in
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
. The oral history also indicates that in the mid-16th century, the influx of
Ojibwe
The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...
peoples in the northern portion of their lands caused the Ho-Chunk to move to the south of their territory. They had some friction with the tribes of the
Illinois Confederacy as well as fellow
Chiwere-speaking peoples splitting from the Ho-Chunk. These groups, who became the
Iowa
Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...
,
Missouria
The Missouria or Missouri (in their own language, Niúachi, also spelled Niutachi) are a Native American tribe that originated in the Great Lakes region of what is now the United States before European contact.May, John D"Otoe-Missouria"''Oklah ...
, and
Otoe
The Otoe ( Chiwere: Jiwére) are a Native American people of the Midwestern United States. The Otoe language, Chiwere, is part of the Siouan family and closely related to that of the related Iowa, Missouria, and Ho-Chunk tribes.
Histori ...
tribes, moved south and west because the reduced range made it difficult for such a large population to be sustained.
[Winnebago]
from dickshovel.com
Population decline
Nicolet reported a gathering of approximately 5,000 warriors as the Ho-Chunk entertained him. Historians estimate that the population in 1634 may have ranged from 8,000 to more than 20,000. Between that time and the first return of
French trappers and traders in the late 1650s, the population was reduced drastically. Later reports were that the Ho-Chunk numbered only about 500. When numerous Algonquian tribes migrated west to escape the aggressive
Iroquois
The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
tribes in the
Beaver Wars, they competed for game and resources with the Ho-Chunk, who had to yield to their greater numbers.
The reasons historians give for the reduction in population vary, but they agree on three major causes: the loss of several hundred warriors in a storm on a lake,
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
s after contact with Europeans, and attacks by the Illinois Confederacy. The warriors were said to be lost on Lake Michigan after they had repulsed the first attack by invading the
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...
from what is now
Door County, Wisconsin
Door County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, its population was 30,066. Its seat of government is Sturgeon Bay.
It is named after the strait between the Door Peninsula and Washington Island. ...
. Another says the number was 600. Another claim is that the 500 were lost in a storm on Lake Winnebago during a failed campaign against the
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...
, while yet another says it was in a battle against the
Sauk. 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.
[Edmunds, R.D., p. 5] The Winnebago apparently suffered from a widespread disease, perhaps an
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
of one of the European
infectious disease
An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...
s. 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
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
.
Historians have rated disease as the major reason for the losses in all Native American populations. Edmunds notes as a third cause of the population decline the following historic account: decimation by the Illinois Confederacy. The Ho-Chunk had been helped at one time by many of their enemies, in particular the Illinois Confederacy, during their time of suffering and
famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...
, aggravated by the loss of their hunters. The Winnebago then attacked the Illinois Confederacy. Enraged, additional Illinois warriors retaliated and killed nearly all the Ho-Chunk.
After peace was established between the French and Iroquois in 1701, many of the
Algonquian peoples
The Algonquians are one of the most populous and widespread North American indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous American groups, consisting of the peoples who speak Algonquian languages. They historically were prominent along the East ...
returned to their homelands to the east. The Ho-Chunk were then relieved of that pressure on their territory and after 1741, most returned inland.
From a low of perhaps less than 500, the population gradually recovered, aided by
intermarriage with neighboring tribes and some of the French traders and trappers. A count from 1736 gives a population of 700; in 1806, they numbered more than 2,900. A census in 1846 reported 4,400 people but by 1848, there were reportedly 2,500. Like other Native American tribes, the Ho-Chunk suffered great losses during the
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
s of 1757–58 and 1836. In the 19th-century epidemic, they lost nearly a quarter of their population.
Today the Ho-Chunk population is about 12,000.

The
Black Hawk War
The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...
of 1832 was fought largely on Ho-Chunk land. In early 1832, White Cloud invited the Sauk band to live in the Rock River band's Illinois villages. About 1,200 Ho-Chunk, Fox, Kickapoo, and others came, from locations such as
Saukenuk on the Iowa reservation, where there was little food. The arrivals included
Black Sparrow Hawk, who had been a leading warrior of the
British Band during the
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...
.
Series of forced removals
Through a series of moves imposed by the U.S. government in the 19th century, the tribe was relocated to reservations increasingly further west: in Wisconsin, Minnesota,
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
, and finally
Nebraska
Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...
. Oral history suggests some of the tribe may have been forcibly relocated up to 13 times by the federal government to steal land through forced treaty cession, losses estimated at 30 million acres in Wisconsin alone. The Ho-Chunk often
nonviolently resisted removal by staying home, or simply returning home, rather than engaging in uprisings.
The Winnebago ceded lands in Wisconsin in 1829, 1832 and 1837; further removal attempts occurred in Wisconsin in 1840, 1846, 1850, and 1873–4.
The 1848 removal from Iowa was documented by a soldier in Morgan's Mounted Volunteers. About 2,500 people were forced to travel by wagon, on foot, and on horseback from
Fort Atkinson, Iowa to
Winona, Minnesota
Winona ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. Located in bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf (Winona, Minnesota), Sugar Loaf. The population was 2 ...
, and thence by
steamboat
A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...
to a new Reservation covering parts of
Stearns,
Morrison, and
Todd Counties, and with its agency at
Long Prairie, Minnesota. The Long Prairie Reservation, which was heavily wooded, was more suitable for logging than for farming.
Writing in 1915,
St. Cloud, Minnesota journalist and local historian William Bell Mitchell recalled that as of 1850, the Ho-Chunk "had one of their main villages on the west bank of the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...
", and at the mouth of the
Watab River in what is now
Sartell, Minnesota. The Long Prairie Reservation was dissolved in 1855, and its residents were moved to
Blue Earth County, Minnesota.
While relating a May 1860 series of raids and revenge killings between the
Chippewa and
Dakota peoples in which one Ho-Chunk warrior was also killed in
Maine Prairie Township,
Stearns County, Minnesota, George W. Sweet, a pioneer settler of
Sauk Rapids, recalled, "The Winnebagoes were supposed to be a neutral party between the Sioux and Chippewa, but occasionally a Winnebago would join a party of Sioux on a raid against the Chippewas."
During the 1862
Dakota War, a very small faction of the Ho-Chunk led by Chief Little Priest joined forces with the uprising and its figurehead leader, Chief
Little Crow. This had disastrous results for all the Ho-Chunk living in Minnesota.
Reservations formation
In 1863, the Ho-Chunk were forced to leave Blue Earth County by the
Knights of the Forest, a
secret society
A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence ag ...
hate group
A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society.
Acc ...
organized by vengeful prominent pioneer settlers in nearby
Mankato
Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...
.
[ Knights of the Forest ''Mankato Review'', April 27, 1886, page 6.] Blue Earth County commissioners sent for "negro bloodhounds" from the South to assist the Knights of the Forest. The Knights sent armed men to surround the Ho-Chunks' prime farmland and shoot any Ho-Chunk who crossed the line. About 2,000 Ho-Chunk were interned at
Camp Porter in Mankato, and thence removed to the
Crow Creek Indian Reservation in
Dakota Territory
The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...
. Poor conditions at Crow Creek led many Ho-Chunk to leave for an Omaha reservation in Nebraska. The
Winnebago Reservation was founded for the Ho-Chunk in Nebraska in 1865.
Following the forced relocations, many tribe members returned to previous homes, especially in Wisconsin, despite the U.S. Army's repeated roundups and forced removals.
But the federal government finally allowed the Winnebago to resettle and acquire land in their ancestral homeland in Wisconsin, which eventually received recognition as an official Reservation known as the
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. The Ho-Chunk in Nebraska have gained independent federal recognition as a tribe and have a reservation in
Thurston County. The Ho-Chunk Nation now has a constitution that reinforces its
sovereign
''Sovereign'' is a title that can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to ...
abilities to negotiate with the U.S. government.
Waukon and
Decorah, county seats of
Allamakee and
Winneshiek County, Iowa, respectively, were named after the 19th-century Ho-Chunk
Chief Waukon Decorah.
Ho-Chunk clans
Before the U.S. government removed the Ho-Chunk from their native land in Wisconsin, the tribe consisted of 12
clans
A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship
and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...
(see table). In pre-contact Ho-Chunk society, clans were typically associated with specific social roles; for instance, the Thunderbird Clan was the clan from which chiefs were appointed, while the Bear Clan enforced discipline within the community and oversaw prisoners.
The clans were associated with animal spirits representing the traditional responsibilities within the nation; each clan had a role in the survival of the people. Like other Native Americans, the Ho-Chunk had rules generally requiring people to marry outside their clans. The
kinship
In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...
system was based in the family and gave structure to descent and inheritance rules. Although the tribe is
patrilineal today, anthropologists believe they may have had a
matrilineal
Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritan ...
kinship system in the 17th century before their major losses. At that time, the matriarchs of a clan would name its chief and they could reclaim the position if they disapproved of his actions. The Ho-Chunk may have shifted to the patrilineal system due to marriage into other tribes or under the influence of the male-oriented fur trade.
Today there are two
federally recognized tribes
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States. of Ho-Chunk people, the
Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska.
Ho-Chunk Nation
This tribe is headquartered in
Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Formerly known as the ''Wisconsin Winnebago Tribe'', it changed its name to "Ho-Chunk Nation" to take back the traditional Siouan name. Ho-Chunk usually call themselves meaning "sacred voice people of the Pines". They also call themselves ''wąąkšik'' – "people". They are the larger of the two federally recognized Ho-Chunk tribes.
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 and other elements of their culture. Among its recent innovations is the development of a Hocąk-language app for the
iPhone
The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
. The Ho-Chunk have about 200 native speakers among its elders.
Of the 7,192 tribal members as of May 2011, 5,042 lived in Wisconsin. The tribes own 4,602 acres (18.625 km
2) scattered across parts of 12 counties in Wisconsin and one in Minnesota. The largest concentrations are in
Jackson,
Clark, and
Monroe counties in Wisconsin. Smaller areas lie in
Adams,
Crawford,
Dane,
Juneau,
La Crosse,
Marathon
The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...
,
Rock,
Sauk,
Shawano, and
Wood
Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...
counties in Wisconsin. The Ho-Chunk Nation also owns land in
Lynwood, Illinois
Lynwood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 9,116 at the 2020 census.
Lynwood was founded in 1959. The village is bordered by Lansing, Illinois, Lansing to the north, Glenwood, Illino ...
.
Government
The Ho-Chunk Nation established a written constitution and is governed by an elected council. , the current president is Jon Greendeer.
Since the late 20th century, the tribe operates six casinos in Wisconsin, in order to raise funds:
*
Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells in
Baraboo,
*Ho-Chunk Gaming Black River Falls,
*Ho-Chunk Gaming Nekoosa,
*Ho-Chunk Gaming Wittenberg,
*Ho-Chunk Gaming Tomah, and
*Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison.
In February 2013, the Beloit Common Council sold land to the Ho-Chunk Nation for a proposed casino. The council has used revenues to enhance infrastructure, healthcare, and educational support for its people.
In 1988, the Ho-Chunk Nation filed a timely claim for transfer of the
Badger Army Ammunition Plant (BAAP), which was to be declared surplus under federal regulations. As part of their former traditional territory, the property holds historical, archeological, sacred, and cultural resources important to their people. It is a 1500-acre parcel in
Sauk County, Wisconsin
Sauk County is a county in Wisconsin. It is named after a large village of the Sauk people. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,763. Its county seat and largest city is Baraboo. The county was created in 1840 from Wisconsin Territor ...
. Between 1998 and 2011, the Army spent millions of dollars in environmental assessments and cleanup to prepare the property for transfer. In 1998 the
Secretary of the Interior had issued a letter to claim the land on behalf of the Ho-Chunk but in 2011, the
Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...
(BIA) refused to accept the property. It was unwilling to conduct an environmental assessment due to cost.
In 2012 the
National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) passed a resolution in support of the Ho-Chunk and to encourage the BIA to accept surplus lands in trust on behalf of tribes.
["Update: HCN Secures Support from Key Tribal Organizations on Badger Property"](_blank)
, Ho-Chunk Nation website. Accessed August 31, 2012. Note: The main page includes links to 2012 NCAI and Great Lakes Intertribal Council (GLITC) resolutions. Finally, through a special act of congress, the Ho-Chunk Nation took control of the 1500-acre parcel in 2015. This is regarded as the first time that the United States' military has ever returned land to an indigenous people. Today, the Ho-Chunk Nation is restoring the prairie that was present at the site before European settlement.
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska

The tribe has a reservation in northeastern Nebraska and western Iowa. The
Winnebago Indian Reservation lies primarily in the northern part of
Thurston and a small part of
Dixon counties in Nebraska, with an additional portion in
Woodbury County, Iowa. A small plot of off-reservation land of is in southern Craig Township in
Burt County, Nebraska. The total land area is 457.857 km
2 (176.78 sq mi).
They refer to themselves as meaning "sacred voice people living on the Missouri River".
The Iowa portion was originally west of the
Missouri River
The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
and within Nebraska boundaries. After the
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...
changed the course of the river, some of the reservation land was redefined as falling within the boundaries of Iowa. The tribe successfully argued that the land belonged to them under the terms of the deed prior to diversion of the river. This land has a postal address of
Sloan, Iowa, as rural addresses are normally covered by the nearest post office.
The
2000 census reported a population of 2,588 people living on these lands. The largest community is the village of
Winnebago, with others in
Emerson and
Thurston, Nebraska. In 2006 their enrolled population was estimated at 4,000.
[Hocank Language](_blank)
, Documentation of Endangered Languages website (DOBES in German), 2006. Accessed August 31, 2012
The federally recognized
Omaha
Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...
also have a reservation in Thurston County. Together, the Native American tribes occupy the entire land area of Thurston County.
Government
The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska has a written constitution and is governed by an elected nine-person council.
Since 1992 the Winnebago tribe has owned and operated the WinnaVegas Casino on its lands in Iowa. The tribe legalized alcohol sales to keep liquor tax revenue, earmarked for supporting individuals and families affected by alcoholism. More than 60% of federally recognized tribes in the lower 48 states have legalized alcohol sales.
[James N. Hughes III, "Pine Ridge, Whiteclay and Indian Liquor Law"](_blank)
, Federal Indian Law Seminar, December 2010, p. 7, University of Nebraska College of Law. Accessed February 27, 2012.
In 1994 the tribe established Ho-Chunk, Inc., an economic development corporation that now employs 1400 people. Its success has earned the tribe small business organization awards. It has initiated a strong housing construction program in collaboration with federal programs. Its leaders were featured on ''Native American Entrepreneurs'' in 2009 on
PBS.
''Native American Entrepreneurs''
, ''American Experience'', PBS. April 13-27 2009. Accessed March 1, 2012.
Land claims
According to Gordon Thunder (Wakąja), the Ho-Chunk have been systematically removed from their homelands, many now occupied by other tribes. The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, which at one time consisted primarily of tribal members spread over 13 counties of Wisconsin, have a historical territorial claim in an area encompassed by a line from Green Bay to Long Prairie to St. Louis to Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Some in the federal and state governments have undermined the Ho-Chunk land claims; however, repatriation activities document where many villages once stood.
Notable Ho-Chunk people
* Angel De Cora, artist and educator
* Joba Chamberlain, Major league baseball pitcher
* Henry Roe Cloud, born 1884, Yale
Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...
graduate, educator
* Glory of the Morning, 18th-century chief
* Willard LaMere, educational leader and co-founder of the Native American Educational Services (NAES) College in Chicago
* Hononegah, co-founder of Rockton, Illinois
* Bronson Koenig, All Big-Ten basketball player from University of Wisconsin-Madison from 2013 to 2017
* Truman Lowe, artist
* Red Bird, chief and leader during the 1827 Winnebago War
* Mitchell Red Cloud, Jr., Korean War Medal of Honor recipient
* Red Wing (also known as Lillian St. Cyr), film actress
* John Raymond Rice, World War II and Korean War hero, recipient of the Bronze Star
* Chief Waukon Decorah, warrior and orator
* Mountain Wolf Woman, an early 19th-century convert to the Peyote religion
* Chief Yellow Thunder (also known as ''Waun-kaun-tshaw-zee-kau'')
* Betsy Thunder, Traditional doctor
*Sharice Davids
Sharice Lynnette Davids (; born May 22, 1980) is an American politician, attorney, and former mixed martial artist serving as the U.S. representative from since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents a district that includes ...
(b. 1980), assumed office in 2019 as the U.S. representative from Kansas's 3rd congressional district
Kansas's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in eastern Kansas, the district encompasses all of Anderson County, Kansas, Anderson, Franklin County, Kansas, Franklin, Johnson County, Kansas, ...
, one of the first Native American women elected to Congress
* Sam Blowsnake, author
See also
* Ho-Chunk mythology
* Winnebago language
* Badger Army Ammunition Plant
* Doty Island
* Native American tribes in Nebraska
Native American tribes in the U.S. state of Nebraska have been Plains Indians, descendants of succeeding cultures of indigenous peoples who have occupied the area for thousands of years. More than 15 historic tribes have been identified as havin ...
Notes
References
* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .
* Radin, Paul ''The Winnebago Tribe''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1990. .
Ho-Chunk Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Wisconsin/Minnesota
United States Census Bureau
Winnebago Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Nebraska/Iowa
United States Census Bureau
Further reading
*Loew, Patty, 2001. ''Indian Nations of Wisconsin: Histories of Endurance and Renewal''. Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
External links
Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska
official website
Ho-Chunk Nation
official website
Hocak Worak
Ho-Chunk Nation Newspaper
Hoocąk Waaziija Haci Language and Culture Division
Ho-Chunk Nation, extensive materials about language and restoration efforts
Ho-Chunk Nation Online Dictionary
*
Ho-Chunk Language
' Video produced by Wisconsin Public Television
*
Ho-Chunk History
' Video produced by Wisconsin Public Television
Kindscher, K., and D. Hurlburt. 1998. "Huron Smith's 'Ethnobotany of the Hocak' (Winnebago)
, ''Economic Botany'' 52:352–372, includes much about traditional culture and use of plant resources
''The Encyclopedia of Hočąk (Winnebago) Mythology''
as told by Richard L. Dieterle
American Philosophical Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ho-Chunk
Great Lakes tribes
Siouan peoples
Native American tribes in Minnesota
Native American tribes in Nebraska
Native American tribes in Wisconsin
Native American tribes in Illinois
Native American tribes in Iowa
Native American people in the American Revolution