The Hocągara (Ho-Chungara) or Hocąks (

Ho-Chunk The Ho-Chunk, also known as Hocąk, Hoocągra, or Winnebago are a Siouan languages, Siouan-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people whose historic territory includes parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois ...

s) are a Siouan-speaking Native American Nation originally from

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 ...

and northern

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 ...

. Due to forced emigration in the 19th century, they now constitute two individual tribes; the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the

Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska () is one of two federally recognized tribes of Ho-Chunk, along with the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin. Tribe members often identify as ''Hoocągra'', meaning "People of the Parent Speech" in their own language. It ...

. They are most closely related to the Chiwere peoples (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 ...

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 ...

, and

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 more distantly to the Dhegiha (

Quapaw The Quapaw ( , Quapaw language, Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or � ...

, Kansa,

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 ...

Ponca The Ponca people are a nation primarily located in the Great Plains of North America that share a common Ponca culture, history, and language, identified with two Indigenous nations: the Ponca Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma or the Ponca Tribe of ...

, and Osage).James W. Springer and Stanley R. Witkowski, "Siouan Historical Linguistics and Oneota Archaeology," in Oneota Studies, ed. Guy E. Gibbon, University of Minnesota Publications in Anthropology, 1 (1982) 69-83. The separation of Winnebago from Chiwere is calculated to 1500 AD, and this separation of this branch from Dhegiha was put at 1000 AD.

Migration myth

In the story that follows, the Bear Clan assumes the foundation role for the whole nation, and when they land they find the nation's friendship tribe, the

Menominee The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...

. The Bear Clan is strongly associated with the ''kaǧi'', a term that denotes the raven and northern crow. It is also the name by which the Hocągara know the Menominee. On account of his vision, a great

(''Kaǧi'') chief commanded that all manner of supplies be assembled at a white sand beach on

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 ...

. And when all this had been done and set in order, as the sun reached its zenith the vision came to life: in the pure blue sky of the eastern horizon a single dark cloud began to form and move irresistibly towards them. It was a great flock of

raven A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

s (''kaǧi''), spirit birds with rainbow plumage of iridescent colors. The instant that the first of these landed, he materialized into a naked, kneeling man. The Menominee chief said to his people, "Give this man clothing, for he is a chief." And the others landed in like fashion, and were given great hospitality. They were the Hocąk nation, and that is how they came to Red Banks.Walter Funmaker, The Winnebago Black Bear Subclan: a Defended Culture (Ph.D. Thesis, University of Minnesota: December, 1986 MnU-D 86-361) 6-7. Informant: One Who Wins of the Winnebago Bear Clan. This telling of the story reproduced by consent of the author, Richard Dieterle, 10/8/08. For this story in context, see Richard Dieterle,
"Hotcâk Arrival Myth"
. Red Banks (Wisconsin) is the traditional homeland of the Hocąk Nation. It is situated on Green Bay, which the Hocągara called ''Te-rok'', the "Within Lake". Lake Michigan as a whole was called ''Te-šišik'', "Bad Lake", which may well have led the Algonquian peoples round about Lake Winnebago to call them "the people of the Bad Waters", or ''Winnibégo'' in Menominee.

Trickster tales

Trickster tales played a major role in the Winnebago tribe. These stories were passed down orally and depicted humorous lessons through animals, nature and trickery. For example, "The Trickster and Talking Bulb" tells the story of "The Old Man", who disregards the warnings of a bulb and, in turn, gets punished for his defiance. The trickster later learns to respect nature and not go against it.

Red Horn

Red Horn (also known as 'He Who Wears (Human) Faces on His Ears') is found in the

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

s of the

, and Ho-Chunk (whose ethnology was recorded by anthropologist

Paul Radin Paul Radin (April 2, 1883 – February 21, 1959) was an American cultural anthropologist and folklorist of the early twentieth century specializing in Native American languages and cultures. The noted legal scholar Max Radin was his older brothe ...

, 1908–1912). The Red Horn Cycle depicts his adventures with Turtle, the thunderbird Storms-as-He-Walks (''Mą’e-manįga'') and others who contest a race of

giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) * Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...

, the ''Wąge-rucge'' or "Man-Eaters", who have been killing human beings whom Red Horn has pledged to help. Red Horn eventually took a red haired giant woman as a wife. Archaeologists have speculated that Red Horn is a mythic figure in Mississippian art, represented on a number of Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC) artifacts. Hall has shown that the mythic cycle of Red Horn and his sons has some interesting analogies with the

Hero Twins The Maya Hero Twins are the central figures of a narrative included within the colonial Kʼicheʼ document called Popol Vuh, and constituting the oldest Maya myth to have been preserved in its entirety. Called Hunahpu and Xbalanque in the Kʼ ...

mythic cycle of

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

.Robert L. Hall, "The Cultural Background of Mississippian Symbolism," in Patricia Galloway, ed., ''The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex: Artifacts and Analysis.'' The Cottonlandia Conference (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press) 239-278.

Notes and references

External links

Ho-Chunk Nation web siteThe Encyclopedia of Hotcâk (Winnebago) MythologyWinnebago Tribe of Nebraska
at the American Philosophical Library {{DEFAULTSORT:Ho-Chunk Mythology Ho-Chunk Siouan mythology

Migration myth

Trickster tales

Red Horn

See also

Notes and references

External links