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Walking Wawa'ąįja: 1837-1839
In mid-1837 [source], the U.S. government formally rescinded the ability of officials at Portage to legally meet with Hoocąk elders. This intentional [view example source] decision meant that the only official channel for communication with the U.S. Government during this turbulent time was through the Prairie du Chien Indian Agency: a location which was adjacent to the Iowa Neutral Ground reservation, and over 100 miles from Portage.
Over the subsequent two years as the next treaty-mandated expulsion approached, newly emerging Hoocąk leaders of the "Portage band" chose to avoid the official government point of communication. Instead, they sought to represent their Nation through alternative channels and in alternative places. Groups of elders met with the government at Portage and through other private individuals and public officials whom they regarded as more likely to consider and forward their messages. Explore a sampling of the speeches made by these delegations:
Portage: March 20, 1838​
Wakąjaxetega (Roaring Thunder, Dandy) reported incursions on Hoocąk land by settlers to Major Green, who was no longer authorized to act as agent. Dandy additionally discussed that the Nation did not consent to the treaty of 1837 and expects to be able to meet and receive payment from the U.S. government at Portage for 30 years. Dandy was reminded that Green was no longer authorized to meet with them. He stated that they wish to continue to communicate with him (rather than their agent) because they can depend on him.
Portage: June 12, 1838​
Hoocąk elders met with Fort Winnebago officer Gideon Low on June 12, 1838, requesting that he “help us get redress for our wrongs.” Wakąjaziga (Yellow Thunder), one of the Portage band leaders, noted that he had never spoken in council before that day. Low recorded their words and forwarded it to the territorial governor, who passed it on to Washington along with complaints that this was an “irregular” council since Low had no authority to meet with Hoocąk leaders at Portage.
Portage: Undated, 1838​
At this undated 1838 meeting with unauthorized Fort Winnebago officer Major Cobbs, Hoocąk leaders focused in on the government’s refusal to authorize agents at Portage as had been promised before the 1837 treaty. The mothballed agency house, which still exists today, stood as a visual talking point during this council.
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“We want the House for our Agent to be kept for that purpose. We don’t want any body [else] in it. …Our father told us we would have specie for thirty years and put it on paper. These three men went to Washington and he promised if they would sell the land they would have what they want, but now he says he don’t care for them he will send white men after us. …He said we should have our money paid to us for thirty years at the Big House at this place; and we want it here. …It is so long that we have been wronged out of our rights, that I can hardly remember.”
Mineral Point: September 16, 1838​
Territorial governor Dodge sent a message to Portage-region Hoocąk people that the annuity would soon be paid at Paint Rock near Prairie du Chien. Portage area elders from the Lake Winnebago band traveled to Mineral Point on September 16, 1838, in order to report to the Federal Government through Dodge that they would not consent to go to Prairie du Chien and Paint Rock for the promised land payment annuities. “If they were not paid at the Portage they would do without…”
Wakąjaxetega (Dandy) also remonstrated that although they understood the treaty of 1837, it had been made from start to finish under oppressive coercion. There were false assurances before the delegation left that they would not be asked to make a treaty; there were threats to the lives of delegates who refused to sign; and there were verbal promises of time to remain in Wisconsin which did not carry over into the written treaty.
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Rice Eater Keeramąnįga exhibited a copy of the Treaty of 1829 and reminded the governor of its promise that they may receive their annuity for 30 years at the Portage. They would not go to Prairie du Chien to receive it in part because they did not trust the Indian agent there. Dandy concluded the council, saying “We have consulted together and have determined not to go down to the Prairie, even if we should starve to death.”
Prairie du Chien: October 5, 1838​
Following the Mineral Point meeting, Hoocąk elders of the Portage area went down to Prairie du Chien during the payment of the annuity. At the resulting council, objections to the 1837 treaty were corroborated by other treaty signers, and Dandy stated that the Portage bands would not receive the annuity that was being distributed. A separate annuity payment was reluctantly arranged at Portage later that autumn.
Chicago: December 27, 1838​
In December, 1838, a Portage-area delegation was dispatched to send another message, this time through prior Portage sub-agent, John H. Kinzie, at his home in Chicago. Black Decori, the speaker, requested that his people remain in Wisconsin for the four years which had been verbally promised to Hoocąk elders before signing the 1837 treaty. He also reflected on the passing of a generation of experienced Hoocąk leaders and challenged the U.S. government’s use of the word “father” to describe their relationship with Euro-American leadership.
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“If say they ‘we are [the president’s] children, is he a Father? Cannot he soften his heart and grant us what we ask? …We know that part of our nation have sold our land. Many of our old chiefs have lately died, and we hate to leave them so soon. Although they are dead, we wish to keep them company longer. You know our dislike at present, to removing West of the Mississippi, especially on our lands opposite to Prairie du Chien. Our neighbors there (meaning the Sacs and Foxes), have spilt our blood – When we went to Washington with you some ten winters ago, our Great Father the President, told us to bury our war club. If he now obliges us to go west, we shall be compelled to raise it and show it again to our enemies. He seems by thus compelling us to go west, to wish to see us destroyed! …I now give my hand to my Great Father the President and desire to hold it fast on this side of the Mississippi for four winters longer.”
Paint Rock: October 4, 1839​
Seven Hoocąk leaders from the Portage band attended the 1839 annuity payment at Paint Rock near Prairie du Chien. They requested that a speech be written down and delivered to Governor Dodge, stating that their bands, comprising the majority of the Nation, were not adequately represented there, and that they wished their annuity be paid once more at Fort Winnebago as promised. They noted that U.S. officials had consented that they may remain in Wisconsin for one winter longer, and reflected that “our women & children do nothing but cry when they are told that they must leave it forever next spring.”
