Sibling-of-Wild Goose Ho-Chunk (abt. 1790)

Descendants

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Sibling-of-Wild Goose was Ho-Chunk.

Biography

Name

Western genealogies with Christian name, middle name, and surname formats are ill suited to Native American naming systems. A sibling of Wild Goose would not be named "Wild Goose," but such a "surname" has to be used as a "peg" to express important family relationships.

Family

Waggoner's collection of affidavits from 1838-39 (62a) shows that Wihaga was the niece of Wild Goose. This makes her a cousin of Heigh-noh, a daughter of Wild Goose. (Waggoner, 61a) As cousins, they share the father of Wild Goose as their grandfather. However, owing to the ambiguity of the term "niece" we do not know whether Wild Goose's father was her maternal or paternal grandfather. We do not know whether this sibling of Wild Goose was male or female. A female identity was arbitrarily assumed because the Hochunks have an avunculate in which a sister's children have a strong bond to her brothers. The children of a man's brothers view their paternal uncles as "little fathers," a much weaker emotional bond.

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).

Acknowledgements

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