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Walking Wawa'ąįja: 1842-1872
The unfolding ordeal of wholesale displacement brought each Hoocąk family to a crossroads of decision. Scores of those who survived the 1840-1 expulsions immediately returned to Wisconsin alongside those who had eluded capture. Others would join them in subsequent years. Their survivance strategy was to face the future as fugitives within their homeland. Still others navigated the subsequent years by following the trail of treaty-established reservations westward. Investigate their experiences:
“I want to stay in Wisconsin and pick huckleberries. Got land here. Want to stay here trade & keep store. My brother has died here, this old man want to live here till he goes to other world. Everywhere else is miserable Country. My Grandfather has been all over the Country. He has seen it… he tells his children here is the best country to stay in and the place for Indian to die & lay bones with his father.I no like to move away. I want to stay here. Here is the best place for my family for my children to grow. Can not do well anywhere else they send us. I speak for myself & for all Wisconsin Indians. We want to stay here and we shall do no harm to any one. We want to stay in Wisconsin woods. I want Govr Fairchild to see this which I have spoken & you have written. I ask him to help these poor Indians to stay in the land which is their home. This Company and the Indians of Wisconsin don’t like to go to the Territory. There it is sickly – a miserable Country – the little Children all die. Every family loses its little children. This is the reason we don’t like to go there, but wish to stay here where the children can live.”
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The Risks of Remaining
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Those who stayed in Wisconsin did not find security in their location. Individuals and communities were subject to harsh, sometimes criminal, treatment by settlers and repeated government eviction efforts. Translator John T. De La Ronde recorded one example of these instances involving Portage band chief Wakąjaxetega (Dandy):
Land Use​
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Those who did not own land often earned permission to seasonally occupy parts of white settlers’ land. Traditionally utilized areas around Portage thus continued to be used by Hoocąk families. Translator Moses Paquette came of age during this span of years and offers a partial picture of the lives and challenges faced by Wisconsin Hoocąk families during this period:
Intertwined Paths​
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The stories of those living on the U.S. government reservations are intertwined with the stories of those who lived in Wisconsin. Paths crossed during family returns; ongoing expulsions; and temporary visits. An example of this is found in the personal reflections of Cugiga (Spoon Decorah). His interwoven experiences at the Neutral Ground reservation and in Wisconsin are related in pages 455-457: