THE WINNEBAGO TRIBE 



Part I 



CHAPTER I 



HISTORY 

 General Remarks 



At what time the Winnebago entered Wisconsin it is impossible 

 to say. It seems quite reasonable to suppose that they came from 

 the east. If we are right in assuming that they are the builders of 

 the effigy mounds, then we are justified in assigning a certain signifi- 

 cance to the distribution of the latter. One of the interesting points 

 of this distribution is that many are found along the shore of Lake 

 Michigan and northward to Two Rivers, that some are found in 

 Rock Covinty, and that they gradually decrease in number as one 

 proceeds north. Tliis would lead us to assume that the Winnebago 

 entered Wisconsin from the south, probably from the southeast. We 

 ought, then, to find effigy mounds in Illinois and, in general, on the 

 route of their probable journey from the east. This is not the case, 

 and it is very difficult to account for their absence unless we assume 

 that all traces of them have disappeared; that the Winnebago first 

 developed their mound-building habit after they had reached Wis- 

 consin; or that the mounds in Illinois are their work (and that 

 of kindred tribes), and finally that the type of mound developed 

 along different lines after they had definitely settled in Wisconsin. 

 It is also possible that since the effigy mounds are undoubtedly 

 closely associated with the clan organization this type of social 

 organization was adopted by the Winnebago only after they entered 

 Wisconsin. 



There can be no doubt but that the Winnebago and the closely 

 related tribes like the Missouri, Oto, and Iowa represented the second 

 of the Siouan migrations westward. Tliere were probably four of 

 these migrations, as G. F. Will and H. J. Spinden claim, succeeding 

 each other as follows: 



1. Mandan, Hidatsa, Crow. 



2. Iowa, Oto, Missouri, Winnebago. 



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