Brown Second Daughter Wīhą́zigā Blacksmith (abt. 1800)

Ancestors

Brown Second Daughter Blacksmith was a Native American and member of the Ho-Chunk tribe.

Biography

Second Daughter was born about 1800. She is the daughter of Mąs’ų́ga Blacksmith and Hīnū́gā First Daughter.

Name

We hun see gah is for Wīhą́zigā, which comes from Wīhą́, the birth order name for the second born daughter; zi, a color from yellow to orange to brown, and -gā, a definite article suffix used in personal names. It therefore means, the "Brown Second Daughter." This naming style matches that of her uncle Kųnųsepka (Co-no-saip-kah), a birth order name Kųnų ("First Son") followed by a color term, sep, "dark, black." The color terms for brown and dark may refer to complexion.

Family

According to a deposition of Stephen Mack himself, in 1839, "Deponent’s wife has one sister and three Uncles now living in the vicinity of this place [Prairie du Chien] The Uncles names are Co-no saip kah (or Little Black), Es tche e she sheek, and Ho ro hon kak — the sisters name is We hun see gah." (Waggoner, 25a)

There exist two garbled recollections that Wīhą́zigā was a half-sister to Xųnųnįka:

Mrs. Olds writes that a letter from Carrie Mack to Bio de Casseres,

when she was Mrs. Harry Jones, was found among the latter's effects

at the Mack Museum. The letter, dated 31 Oct. 1909 states: "Hononegah

had a sister, We-hah-ze-ka, and two half sisters, Kw-no and Ha-na."

A hand written note at the Museum, which I have been unable to

relocate says: "Hononegah had one half sister, We-hah-ze-ka and

two half brothers, Ku-no and Ha-na. Her mother was a full blooded

Winnebago and her father a full blooded French Canadian, a blacksmith."

(Sprague, 22)

Carrie was about 2 years old when her mother died, so her second-hand account is slightly inaccurate, since the names Kwno and Hana are for Kųnųgá and Heną́ga, birth order names for First Son and Second Son respectively. That Xųnųnįka's father was French Canadian was refuted by Stephen Mack himself.

Sources

• Linda M. Waggoner (ed.), “Neither White Men Nor Indians: Affidavits from the Winnebago Mixed-blood Claim Commissions, Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, 1838-1839” (Roseville, Minnesota: Park Genealogical Books, 2002). Extracted from Territorial Papers of the United States, Wisconsin, 1836-1848. M236. “Special Files of the Office of Indian Affairs,” 1836-46. “Special File 161” (Roll 41). “Special File 190” (Roll 42). National Archives, Washington D.C., Documents on Microfilm, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Record Group 75).
• Locke A. Sprague, The Progenitors and Descendants of Col. Stephen Mack and Temperence Bond Mack as Related to the David Cooper and Rollin Sprague Families (Milwaukee: the Author, 1975).
• Marguerite Olds, Biography of the Mack Families (the Author, 1968).

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