Grace was Ho-Chunk.

Biography

Birth

Grace was born about 1880.

Name

Her name in several censuses was given as MaKaKah. This may be for the attested name, Mąkaxka, "Dirt, Earth", a name in the Bear and Waterspirit Clans. It might also be for Mąkaga, "Medicine." It's unusual in lacking the feminine gender infix, -wį- (> Mąkaǧᵋwįga, Mąkawįga). She chose not to give her children clan names, nor are they referred to in the censuses by birth order names.

In the 1927 census, just beneath her name is written "(Minnie Payer)", which following standard practice, would mean that her real name had been "Minnie Payer."

Marriages and Children

She was originally married to Frank Sam Decorah, who disappears after the 1915 census. Around 1916, she took up with someone named "Thunderchief," and had one child by him. Grace became the second wife of Luke Green. In the 1919 census he was listed as a widower, but in the 1922 census his son Milford Jacob Green was two years old, implying that they were married in 1920. She had the following children:

Nina Decorah, b. 1910

Adeline Decorah, b. 15 Nov 1911 (1912 census)

Cecil Decorah, b. 26 Jan 1914 (1916 census)

Dorothy Decorah, b. 1915, d. 28 Sep 1937 (1937 census)

Sam C. Thunderchief (Sam C. Decorah), b. 1917

Milford Jacob S. Green, b. 1920

Nina had died by 1911 and Cecil by 1920.

Death

She died of "cir[culatory] myocarditis" on April 21, 1928. (Death List)

Sources

• 1910 Indian census; Roll: M595_671; Line: 6; Agency: Wittenberg. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1912 Indian census; Roll: M595_570; Line: 17; Agency: Tomah Indian School. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1916 Indian census; Roll: M595_168; Line: 19; Agency: Grand Rapids. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1919 Indian census; Roll: M595_168; Page: 14; Line: 18; Agency: Grand Rapids. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1920 Indian census; Roll: M595_168; Page: 24; Line: 17; Agency: Grand Rapids. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1922; Roll: M595_168; Page: 24; Line: 18; Agency: Grand Rapids. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1924 Indian census; Roll: M595_168; Page: 24; Line: 19; Agency: Grand Rapids. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1927 Indian census; Roll: M595_570; Page: 23; Line: 17; Agency: Tomah. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1927 To 1928 Indian census Death List; Roll: M595_571; Line: 17; Agency: Tomah Indian School, Tomah. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.
• 1937 Indian census; Roll: M595_573; Page: 21; Line: 1; Agency: Tomah Indian School. Indian Census Rolls, 1885-1940; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M595, 692 rolls); Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Record Group 75; National Archives, Washington, D.C.