The Ho-Chunk -- formerly called the Winnebago -- are members of a Siouan-speaking tribe who were established in Wisconsin at the time of French contact in the s.
Other tribal traditions relate how tribes such as the Quapaw, Missouri, Iowa, Oto, Omaha, and Ponca were once part of the Ho-Chunk, but these other tribes continued to move farther west while the Ho-Chunk stayed in Wisconsin. The Ho-Chunk call themselves Ho-chungra , which means "people of the parent speech," or "people of the Big Voice. The English name "Winnebago" is derived from an Algonkian word meaning "people of the dirty water," and is thought to refer to Wisconsin's Fox River and Lake Winnebago, which are fouled by the bodies of dead fish in the summer.
There are a number of theories regarding the origins of the ancestors of the Ho-Chunk. One early theory suggests that they migrated into the Midwest from the eastern seaboard. According to this theory, they migrated west along the Ohio River, and the branch that became the Ho-Chunk moved north into Wisconsin between AD and Other scholars have hypothesized that the tribe migrated from the lower Mississippi River valley and arrived in Wisconsin during the s, shortly before contact with the French.
Some have also asserted that the ancestors of the Ho-Chunk built the large, earthen effigy mounds which were common in various parts of Wisconsin, but there is no conclusive evidence for this yet. In contrast to their Wisconsin neighbors the Menominee and Potawatomi, the Ho-Chunk relied more on agricultural products for subsistence. They planted large gardens and stored dried corn, beans, and other products in fiber bags and in pits dug in the ground for winter use.
Using dugout canoes, they also traveled up the Fox and Wisconsin rivers to hunt, caching their canoes as far upriver as possible before proceeding on foot. The Ho-Chunk also crossed the Mississippi to reach the prairies to hunt buffalo. Large and small game were also hunted closer to the villages. Nearby rivers and lakes were also extensively fished. Traditionally, the Ho-Chunk lived in a single large village or a few large villages in the Lake Winnebago area, building substantial rectangular houses.
