HoChunk Nation

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The Ho-Chunk Nation - A Brief History

In 1634, when the French explorer Jean Nicolet waded ashore at Red Banks and people of the Ho-Chunk Nation welcomed him. For about 360 years, this nation was labeled as the Winnebago Tribe by the French. In 1994 the proper name of the nation was acknowledged to be the Ho-Chunk Sovereign Nation (People of the Big Voice) which they have always called themselves. Hence today the Winnebago are the Ho-Chunk Nation.  And Redbanks is better known as Green Bay . The exact size of the total Ho-Chunk Nation was not known at that time. Their territory extended from Green Bay , beyond Lake Winnebago to the Wisconsin River and to the Rock River in Illinois .

While most people think of Native Americans as hunters or gatherers, the Ho-Chunk were also farmers. They appreciated the bounty of the land we now call Wisconsin .

Their story is the story of a people who loved the land of Wisconsin . In the last 170 years they faced tremendous hardship and overcame long odds to live here. Their troubles began in the late 1820'S when lead miners began to come into southwestern Wisconsin .

At that time, the U.S. Government recognized the Ho-Chunk as a sovereign Nation. The U.S. Government recognized the Ho-Chunk held title to more than seven million acres of some of the finest land in America . Treaty commissioners, speaking for the United States , promised they would punish any whites going on recognized Ho-Chunk lands. However within ten years, the U.S. government changed its mind. The Ho-Chunk were forced to sell their remaining lands at a fraction of their worth and were removed from Wisconsin .

First, the Ho-Chunk people were moved to Northeastern Iowa . Within ten years (1846), they were moved to a wooded region of Northern Minnesota . They were placed there because the Sioux and Chippewa were at war and the government thought it would help. As a result, the Ho-Chunk were victims of raids by both. At the HoChunk's request, they were to be moved to better land near the Mississippi River . Whites objected and before they could move, the U.S. Senate moved them further West. Within four years of their arrival (1859), the Government reduced their reservation from 18 square miles to 9 square miles.

Four years later (1863), they were moved to a desolate reservation in South Dakota surrounded by Sioux. The U.S. Government allowed the Ho-Chunk to exchange their south Dakota reservation for lands near the more friendly Omaha ’s of Nebraska , in 1865.