Charles Hąbᵋmąnįga Walking Day (abt. 1858 - 1925)

Born about 1858 in Long Prairie, Todd, Minnesota, United States

Died 30 Aug 1925 at about age 67 in Winnebago, Thurston, Nebraska, United States

Charles was Ho-Chunk.

Biography

Birth

Charles was born about 1858. This date is relatively certain, since it is confirmed in numerous censuses. He is the son of Unknown Walking Day.

Name

The name "Walking Day" would translate an original Hocąk name, Hąbᵋmąnįga, from hąp (> hąbᵋ-), "day"; mąnį, "to walk"; -ga, a definite article suffix used in personal names. A simplified version of this name, Hąpmaniga, is an attested Bear Clan name, "Walks in the Day." (Dorsey) However, a similar name exists in the Eagle Clan.

Lineage

He is presented as John Baptiste's uncle in the 1900 Federal census. Given that John's grandfather was James Baptiste, if Walking Day had been his son, he would have carried that surname. It is also true that the Hocągara are particularly devoted to their mother's brothers, so we would expect that on being orphaned, a child would live with his maternal uncle. So Charles was the brother of Blue Back Woman, the mother of John and Jerome Baptiste.

Marriages

The 1900 census shows that he was married to an older woman, born in 1848, with the Hocąk name, Ho-ra-hau-me-nuk-kaw, which is for Hora-hamįnąka, "Riding the Fish," probably a Fish Clan name. She does not appear in the 1906 census, which shows Walking Day living alone. Charley married Blue Back Woman, the widow of John Little Wolf (usually called "John Wolf"). As a widow, she had lived next door to Charley for a number of years before they married ca. 1913.

Death

The 1925 census death list records that Charles Walking Day died on 30 Aug 1925, probably at Winnebago, Thurston County, Nebraska.

Sources

• Rev. James Owen Dorsey, "Winnebago Gentes, including Personal Names Belonging to each Gens" (National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution: T.D., 1878-79?), cat. #4800 Dorsey Papers, Winnebago (319).
• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-XC3S-JL5?cc=1325221&wc=9B7X-S58%3A1030896901%2C1032284601%2C1033946701 : 5 August 2014), Nebraska > Thurston > ED 187 Winnebago Precinct > image 36 of 51; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).
• 1906 Indian census; Roll: M595_663; Line: 12; Agency: Winnebago. 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.
• 1925 To 1926 Indian census (list of those dying during the year); Roll: M595_667; Line: 1; Agency: Winnebago. 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.