At the time of first contact with Europeans in 1634, the Winnebago tribe inhabited Red Banks, the South Shore of what is now Green Bay, Wisconsin (Radin 1990). Although it appears that the tribe migrated into the area during the second of four Siouan migrations from the East, the tribe has no migration stories. The Winnebago tribe asserts that their people originated at Green Bay. All other locations mentioned within the tribe’s creation stories are also located in modern day Wisconsin. The tribe is thought to have migrated to the area along with the Iowa, Oto, and Missouri tribes. Sometime after the 16th century, they were isolated from other Siouan groups and formed their own distinct way of life.As is common throughout Native American history, the name given to the Winnebago by Europeans is the name used through another tribe of people when referring to them. “Winnebago” is not what the tribe initially called themselves, but what their neighbors, the Algonquin peoples and the tribe’s geographical neighbors, called them. Many similarities exist between the two groups as a result of their close proximity. Prior to contact, the Winnebago’s called themselves “Hotcangara,” which has been interpreted to mean “big fish people” by tribal observers. The Winnebago tribe, and their geographical area are associated with numerous effigy earth mounds. During anthropologist’s first attempts to interpret the mounds in the 19th century, the earthen mounds were thought to be antiquarian. After speaking with tribal members, however, researchers found that many of the tribal elders remembered when some of the mounds were erected. The mounds themselves were built as an effigy to the particular clan’s animal, and it appears that the mounds were essentially property markers that were erected near clan habitations and plantations. Similar effigies are also seen in porcupine qui...
