Ho-Chunk mythology

The Hocągara (Hochungara) or Hocąks (Ho-Chunks) are a Siouan-speaking Indian Nation originally from Wisconsin and northern Illinois, but due to forced emigration, they are also found in Nebraska, where about half the nation now lives. They are most closely related to the Chiwere peoples (the Ioway, Oto, and Missouria), and more distantly to the Dhegiha (Quapaw, Kansa, Omaha, Ponca, 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 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 Menominee ("Kaǧi") chief commanded that all manner of supplies be assembled at a white sand beach on Lake Michigan. 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 ravens ("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 http://hotcakencyclopedia.com/ho.HotcankArrivalMyth.html.]

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". [Untitled Clan Myths (Hotcâk-English Interlinear) in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notes, Winnebago V, #8, Freeman #3881 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1908) 23-28. "Deer Clan Origin Myth," in Paul Radin, Winnebago Notebooks, Winnebago III, #19a, Freeman number 3899 (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society) 1-13.] Lake Michigan as a whole was called "Te-šišik", "Bad Lake", [Thomas J. George, Winnebago Vocabulary, 4989 Winnebago (Washington: Smithsonian Institution, National Anthropological Archives, 1885) "s.v". Informants: Big Bear of Friendship, Wisconsin, and Big Thunder. Norton William Jipson, Story of the Winnebagoes (Chicago: The Chicago Historical Society, 1923) "s.v".] 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.

Red Horn

The legend of Red Horn (also known as 'He Who Wears Human Heads as Earrings' [National Geographic December 1993 'Going Head-to-Head with Indian Prehistory'. This section takes the speculative point of view of archaeologists, who often jump to the conclusion that any character depicted in an artistic medium in which he is shown wearing prosopic earpieces can be identified as Redhorn. This despite the fact that nearly two score of actual prosopic earpieces have been recovered from all over the midwest, indicating that it was a reasonably common kind of ear ornament.] ) is found in the oral traditions of the Pawnee (?), Ioway, and Ho-Chunk people (recorded by anthropologist Paul Radin around 1900). The saga of Red Horn depicts his adventure with Turtle and Storms-As-He-Walks (a thunderbird) who fight a race of red haired giants that have been killing Red Horn's people. Red Horn eventually took one of the giant women as a wife. Red Horn has been identified by archaeologists as one of the major mythic figures in Mississipian art, with numerous representations on Southeastern Ceremonial Complex artifacts. [ cite book | editors = F. Kent Reilly and James Garber | title = Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms | publisher = University of Texas Press | date = 2004 | pages = pp. 29-34 | isbn - 978-0-292-71347-5] The mythic cycle of Red Horn and his sons has certain analogies with the Hero Twins mythic cycle of Mesoamerica. [ cite book | last = Power | first = Susan | title = Early Art of the Southeastern Indians-Feathered Serpents and Winged Beings | publisher = University of Georgia Press | date = 2004 | pages = pp. 158| isbn - 0-08203-2501-5]

Notes and References

Wikipedia Links

*Native American mythology
*Ho-Chunk
*Winnebago language
*Winnebago War
*Doty Island
*Native American tribes in Nebraska

External links

* [http://www.ho-chunknation.com/ Ho-Chunk Nation web site]
* [http://hotcakencyclopedia.com The Encyclopedia of Hotcâk (Winnebago) Mythology]
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15657b.htm Catholic Encyclopedia entry]
* [http://www.winnebagotribe.com/ Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska]
* [http://hotcakencyclopedia.com/[e-mail] Paul Radin's Winnebago Notebooks] at the American Philosophical Library