Josette Hīnū́gā (Spanioraga) St. Cyr (abt. 1782)

Born about 1782 in Wisconsin

Descendants

Josette was Ho-Chunk.

Biography

Name

"[The younger] Michel's mother was called Josette. Henokaw (or Hinuga) was here birth-order name, because she was the first daughter of The Spaniard, an alleged Winnebago chief." (Waggoner, Red Wing, 7)

Lineage

“Michael St. Cyr, who being duly sworn, doth depose and say. that he is about twenty eight years old, is the son of H. St. Cyr, and Keenokou who was a full blood Winnebago woman, who was the daughter of “The Spaniard,” who was one of the first chiefs of the Winnebago Nation." (Waggoner, Neither, 39a)

Residence

Michel St. Cyr's sister, Ellen "... is the daughter of Hyacinth St Cyr a white man and Kee-nou-Kon a full blood Winnebago woman—That she resides at Prairie du Chlen [and] ls about 22 years old ..." (Waggoner, Neither, 36b) This shows that she lived in Prairie du Chien in 1838.

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).
• Linda M. Waggoner, “Starring Red Wing!: The Incredible Career of Lilian M. St. Cyr, the First Native American Film Star (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019).