Wicą́ga Wild Goose Ho-Chunk (abt. 1788)

Born about 1788 in Northwest Territory, United States

Descendants

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Wicą́ga was Ho-Chunk.

Biography

Name

Lurie's list of treaty signers (Lurie, Wijǝŋgǝ, 68, #95) gives his name as Wijǝŋgǝ, which is for Wiją́ga; Kinzie's Roll of 1832 gives his name as Wee-jan-kaw, both of which are variants of a more standard form Wicą́ga, from wicą́ ~ wiją́, "goose, wild goose", and -ga, a definite article suffix used in personal names. Since it is a bird name, Wild Goose is almost certainly a member of the Upper Moiety.

Family

In 1832, Wild Goose was recorded as living with four women and four children on Doty Island. Three of these eight were probably E-pe-ink-ah, Heigh-noh, and We-un-kah. (Kinzie, Rolls)

In an affidavit sworn on 20 Sept. 1838, "John Vunk, a white man, who being duly sworn according to Law doth say. That he is about 26 years old—That he was married in May 1836 to Heigh-noh, who was a full blood Winnebago woman, being the daughter of Wild Goose and E-pe-ink-ah. That he has a son by his said wife, named john, who is now about twenty months old—That the child is smart & active and now resides with its parents." (Waggoner, 61a)

An affidavit given in 1838 states, “Personally appeared John Pelky, a white man aged 26 years who being duly sworn according to Law, doth depose and say that he resides at the Four Lakes Wis. Ty — and has been in this Country about ten years. That about three years ago he was lawfully married to We-un-kah — an orphan, and full blood Winnebago woman, niece of Wild Goose who was a principle Chief. (Waggoner, 62)

Treaties of 1829 and 1832

Wild Goose was a signatory of the Treaty of 1832. (Lurie, Wijǝŋgǝ, 68, #95) Later, we find that he received an allotment of $29.50 while living at the Doty Island Village in 1832. (Kinzie, Rolls)

Residence

In 1832 when Wild Goose signed the treaty of that year, he was noted as having belonged to the Rock River bands, who had villages along the Rock River mainly in Illinois. However, Kinzie's rolls show him at Four Legs' village on Doty Island on Lake Winnebago in that same year, which shows that he had made a move in 1832 from Illinois to Wisconsin.

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).
• Nancy Oestreich Lurie, "A Check List of Treaty Signers by Clan Affiliation," Journal of the Wisconsin Indians Research Institute, 2, #1 (June, 1966): 50-73.
• "Winnebago Village List, compiled by John H. Kinzie," in Richard Dieterle, The Encyclopedia of Hočąk (Winnebago) Mythology.

Acknowledgements

Thank you, Richard Dieterle, for the research and creation of this profile; see Richard's contributions to this profile prior to its rename.

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