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The Ho-Chunk are a Siouan-speaking American Indian people whose historic area included parts of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois.

Commonly known as the Ho-Chunk, and sometimes known as the Winnebago, Hocąk is the name used by the tribe to refer to themselves, and Hoocągra is a variant of that name. Hotúŋe is used by the Iowa-Otoe tribe to refer to the Ho-Chunk people. The Algonquian tribes referred to the Ho-Chunks by a term that was interpreted as "Winnebago" by the Europeans who encountered them. Thus, Europeans and European Americans have long known them as the Winnebago.

Today, Ho-Chunk people are enrolled in two federally recognized tribes, the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. While related, the two tribes are distinct nations, each with its own constitutionally formed government and separate interests.

The tribes separated when the ancestors of the Ho-Chunk Nation were forcibly relocated to an eastern part of Iowa then known as the Neutral Ground, then to Minnesota, South Dakota, and finally to the current reservation in Nebraska. Some members of the tribe have been forcibly relocated up to thirteen times.

Headquartered in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, the Ho-Chunk Nation is a non-reservation tribe, as members historically had to acquire individual homesteads in order to regain title to ancestral territory. Many tribal members own their own land, although the tribe oversees and maintains land placed in trust by the federal government, and spread over Adams, Clark, Crawford, Dane, Eau Claire, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Marathon, Monroe, Rock, Sauk, Sawano, Vernon, and Wood counties in Wisconsin. Some of these parcels have been designated as reservation land by the federal government, but the Nation does not have a reservation in the traditional sense. It is actively seeking to reacquire more traditional land to place in trust. Since 1988, it has been pursuing a claim to the Badger Army Ammunition Plant as traditional territory.

The Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska is concentrated on the Winnebago Reservation. Established in 1865, it is in the Nebraska counties of Dixon and Thurston, as well as Woodbury County, Iowa. The reservation is 176.55 square miles. Before being relocated to Nebraska and Iowa, the tribe owned, by treaty, a large wilderness area in central Minnesota Territory known as the Long Prairie Reservation. The Winnebago Tribe is headquartered in Winnebago, Nebraska.

In the 16th century, the Ho-Chunk were the dominant tribe in its territory, numbering several thousand. Speculation is that they may have originated in the East Coast, migrating west during pre-colonial times.

Before Europeans entered their area in significant numbers, the Ho-Chunk hunted, farmed, and gathered food from local sources. With changing seasons, families moved from one area to another to maximize the availability of food. Women were responsible for growing crops and gathering berries, nuts, roots, and sap from maple trees, and they were also familiar with medicinal uses for herbs, roots, and leaves. The men hunted, and very few parts of a game animal were wasted. The men also provided protection and were the warriors in times of war.

Before the federal government removed the Ho-Chunk from their native land in Wisconsin, the tribe consisted of twelve clans: 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), and Waką (Snake). Like other American Indian groups, there were rules requiring people to marry outside their clans.

Ho-Chunk populations diminished sharply during the 17th century due to epidemics and competition for resources.

According to one report today, the total population of Ho-Chunk/Winnebago people is about 12,000.

Clearly, the focus of this portion of our web guide is on the Ho-Chunk people, who may be known as the Winnebago people, or by other names, as well as the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, or any other Ho-Chunk/Winnebago groups or associations. Organizations, businesses, or other entities operated by either of the tribes or by individual tribal members, as well as schools, medical facilities, museums, or events closely associated with the Ho-Chunk people.

 

 

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