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Walking Wawa'ąįja: 1833-1835
Famine ravaged Hoocąk communities as the expulsion neared. Elders came to Portage requesting time to recover before moving. No delay was granted. In May, 1833, hundreds of Hoocąk families crossed Wawa’ąįja as mandated. Some tried living on the Iowa Neutral Ground reservation, but most relocated to the remaining Hoocąk land north of the Wisconsin River. The choices of each Hoocąk family developed into survival strategies as the “Removal” era began.
Investigate the occurrences of 1833-1835:
Returning and Remaining​
During this first encounter with expulsion, Hoocąk families tested different methods to navigate the traumas. Many of those who had moved across the Wisconsin River or to the Iowa reservation quickly returned as they were faced with overcrowding and famine. This decision to remain on or return to the ceded land carried risks. Contemplate one Hoocąk individual's perspective on these risks.
"On my arrival at Rowan’s Place 35 miles from Fort Winnebago I was informed by a man named Sutton that the Winnebagoes were passing daily from North of the Wisconsin River into the country of the four lakes and Rock River in bands of eight and ten—carrying with them their wigwams and fishing and hunting implements on sleds—The evening that I arrived at Rowan’s a band of ten or twelve Winnebagoes with their families passed there on their way to the Rock River country...one of them told Sutton that he intended going on the Rock River and remaining there—that he could but be killed by the whites and that he would as soon die in that way as starve to death in their new country North of the Wisconsin."
1835 Brush Report​
Government commissioner E. A. Brush was sent in 1835 to investigate developments which had arisen following the 1835 expulsion. His report documents a second wave of removals across the Portage as a result of his communications threatening another military expulsion. The document also gives a glimpse into Hoocąk strategies, including seeking refuge within treaty boundary technicalities on the Fox River, returning to their prior homes, and giving ground to avert military evictions. Finally, it provides perspective on why Hoocąk communities feared moving to the Neutral Ground reservation, one point of contention being that the Neutral Ground was not the U.S. Government's land to give.
