September 29, 2024
To further my research on Indigenous cultures, I decided to speak with an individual who has Native American heritage and has connections with it. The way I went about contacting this individual was through my professor for my Human Behavior course. I had talked to her about the group I decided to learn more about and if she had any suggestions as of to what steps to take to begin this project. My professor had suggested a couple of people I could contact who have experience with Native American traditions and beliefs. After that I had gone forth with reaching out to one of the suggested individuals. After this interview I had learned a lot about traditions that different tribes have adopted over time. I had also learned about different events that had taken place in the past, especially amongst the Winnebago tribe which the individual and his family are a part of.
The person I had the opportunity to interview talked about the history of the Winnebago tribe. This tribe was originally called Hocak. They were settled in what is today’s Green Bay, Wisconsin. The word winnebago is of French origin meaning people of the smelly water. The cause of those of the Hocak tribe to be referred to as Winnebago was because of when fur traders would come through the land where the Hocak tribe lived, these fur traders would encounter them at times bathing in muddy water hence the name Winnebago. While time went on, at one point the federal government forced them to leave their land which was a large area. They had promised them different land which was in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Eventually, they were forced to move again even though they were promised they could stay. After the second move some people cooperated, and others had fled to the mountains to hide. Those who had complied were moved to Lacroix, Wisconsin. During this move many of the elders had died. However, this was not the last time they were told to move. They had moved again and this time to an area with many farmers who they had gotten along with until the Crow Creek Reservation had raided the town and killed a few people. This event was then blamed on the Hocak tribe. After this event they had moved back to Lacroix, Wisconsin and eventually moved to the Crow Creek Reservation. However, they did not last long there because both tribes had not gotten along with each other.
They had then moved down and up the Mississippi and eventually down and up the Missouri river. Sometime on their way up the Missouri River they had to stop and during their stop they had run into The Chief of the Umahan Reservation. Chief Little Priest of the Winnebago tribe had told him what had been happening to them. The Umahan Chief had made a deal with them that if they could get the Lakota to leave them alone, that he would give the Winnebago’s land of their own. The way that the Winnebago’s settled the issue was when Little Priest and his war party went out and they had come across three people of the Lakota tribe. They had told them not to come by anymore and they had killed two of the three, ate them and sent one back to his tribe. After that the Umah an no longer had any issues with the Lakota.
Even though there are several other historical stories of the Winnebago tribe, the person I interviewed had discussed his experience growing up. Throughout his life he had moved to several places due to his father being in the military. This gave him the opportunity to grow up amongst those with different cultural backgrounds. Throughout his childhood he was raised Catholic, but had not practice traditions relating to his Native American heritage. Eventually, in 1996 his family settled in the Winnebago Reservation. After they had moved, he was more emersed in the culture but had not been welcomed by others who resided there. Living on the reservation people did a lot of farming and hunting in order to provide food and clothing. He had not only gained new traditions, but even interacting with others was a little bit different then prior to living on the Winnebago reservation. An example would be that if females had something to say to a male individual that was not a relation, she would have to say it to a male relative and that relative would have to pass on the message to the person who was to receive it. This is also true for when a male individual needs to say something to a female individual. He had not only learned the lifestyle but had also learned new games, what they value, etc.
After interviewing this individual there were a couple of things I already knew about. However, I was interested to learn about different things that are important to Native Americans that practice past traditions. I also enjoyed hearing the reasons why certain traditions are practiced especially being someone who wants to know the answer to everything. To be able to see misconceptions be disproved can be by learning more about different populations instead of labeling groups as one thing when that stereotype is just simply not who that entire group of people are. I would say that the traditional aspect is helping me to understand the reasons behind why certain traditions are practiced. I am excited to continue this journey to be educated more about my chosen population as it will equip me to have more understanding of a culture that is in many ways different from my own.