Kate was Ho-Chunk.

Biography

Birth

Kate was born in June 1880. (1900 Fed. census)

Lineage

In her marriage licenses she is stated to be the daughter of Thomas Dixon and Da-a-mona-win-ka (Te’emąnįwįga, "This One Walks"), also known as "Mary Eagle". The 1885 census shows White Spirit and Luke Eagle as neighbors.

Name

Since Katie used the name "Whitespirit", that must have been her clan name inherited from her father Tom Dixon. The name "Whitespirit" or "White Spirit" is found among Hocąks living in Wisconsin. It is phonetically rendered, WaukChaHeSkaWinKah, which is for Wakcexiskawįga. (1910 census; van Schaick, 162) A Wakcéxi or Wakjéxi, is a spirit animal that forms the essence of water, but can on rare occasions be seen in material form as a massive, horned, creature with an extremely long tail. A Hocąk drawing of a Wakcéxi or Waterspirit may be seen in the image section on this page. So the clan name is actually, "White Waterspirit."

Her own personal Hocąk clan name is given in van Schaick (163) as NeChooKoontchRaWinKah, which may be for Nįcųkujᵋrawįga, "Shooting Abundant Water," a reference to the geyser-like defensive actions of Waterspirits. It comes from nį, "water"; cų, "much, to be available, to have many, to abound, to have plenty, to be plentiful, to be provided with"; kujᵋra, "shooting" (< kuc, guc, "to shoot", and -ra, "the"); -wį, a feminine gender infix; and -ga, a definite article suffix used in proper names. In all censuses but one, her name is given as NeChooHatchGayWinKah, a name whose interpretation is obscure.

Marriages

Her first marriage was to Frank Thunder sometime before 1900. They were still married in 1910, but had separated by 1912, and in 1914 he remarried, taking Carrie Decorah to wife.

On 10 September 1907, Katie White Spirit married John Baptiste of the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska, the son of George Baptiste and Cho-na-ka-wi-ka (Conąkewįga, "Blue Back Woman").

Less than two years later, 22 January 1909, she again married, this time in Sioux City, Iowa. Her groom was John C. Decora, the son of Peter Decora and Buzwoman (Berrywoman ?). The license records that both bride and groom lived in Winnebago, Wisconsin.

For a long time, she was counted as the wife of James Seymour. She first appears in that capacity in the 1917 census, but does not herself appear as a resident of James' household in any census whatever. In all cases, she is said to be in the Wisconsin rolls, and was, in fact, living at the Tomah Indian School Agency in Wisconsin.

Death

She passed away after 1937.

Sources

• 1885 Wisconsin State Census; Roll: 5. 1885 Microfilm, 10 reels. Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin.Wisconsin.
• Nebraska, Marriage Records, 1855-1908. State Library and Archives, Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska. Marriage Record 252.
• 1900 Federal census for Manchester, Jackson, Wisconsin; Page: 8; Enumeration District: 0053; FHL microfilm: 1241792. United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1900. T623, 1854 rolls.
• 1910 Indian census; Roll: M595_671; Line: 5; 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.
• 1913 Indian census; Roll: M595_570; Line: 14; Agency: Tomah Ind 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.
• 1914 Indian census; Roll: M595_570; Line: 15; Agency: Tomah Ind 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.
• 1917 Indian census; Roll: M595_665; Page: 50; Line: 15; 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.
• 1937 Indian census; Roll: M595_573; Page: 96; 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.
• Iowa Department of Public Health; Des Moines, Iowa; Series Title: Iowa Marriage Records, 1880–1922; Record Type: Textual Records; Volume: 434 (Muscatine - Wright). Woodbridge County, Iowa, p. 19 (1909), #12085.
• Tom Jones, Michael Schmudlach, Matthew Daniel Mason, Amy Lonetree, and George A. Greendeer, People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1942 (Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society Press, 2011).