In contrast to their Wisconsin neighbors the Menominee and Potawatomi, the Ho-Chunk relied more on agricultural products for subsistence. Some have also asserted that the ancestors of the Ho-Chunk built the large, earthen effigy mounds which were common in various parts of Wisconsin, but there is no conclusive evidence for this yet. Other scholars have hypothesized that the tribe migrated from the lower Mississippi River valley and arrived in Wisconsin during the 1500s, shortly before contact with the French. According to this theory, they migrated west along the Ohio River, and the branch that became the Ho-Chunk moved north into Wisconsin between AD 8.

One early theory suggests that they migrated into the Midwest from the eastern seaboard. There are a number of theories regarding the origins of the ancestors of the Ho-Chunk. The English name 'Winnebago' is derived from an Algonkian word meaning 'people of the dirty water,' and is thought to refer to Wisconsin's Fox River and Lake Winnebago, which are fouled by the bodies of dead fish in the summer. The Ho-Chunk call themselves Ho-chungra, which means 'people of the parent speech,' or 'people of the Big Voice.' Historical and linguistic evidence supports these oral traditions, particularly for the Missouri, Iowa, and Oto tribes. Other tribal traditions relate how tribes such as the Quapaw, Missouri, Iowa, Oto, Omaha, and Ponca were once part of the Ho-Chunk, but these other tribes continued to move farther west while the Ho-Chunk stayed in Wisconsin. The oral traditions of the tribe, particularly the Thunderbird clan, state that the Ho-Chunk originated at the Red Banks on Green Bay.

The Ho-Chunk - formerly called the Winnebago - are members of a Siouan-speaking tribe who were established in Wisconsin at the time of French contact in the 1630s. View Announcement Search toggle Mobile Menu Toggle Nations in Wisconsin: Sovereignty and Treaty Rights.Modern Tribal Communities: Politics, Prosperity, and Problems.

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