Akecheta
Pre-Contact Period
Wisconsin Wilderness
THE SMALL BAND of braves, six in number, emerged from the forest tree line into the open, snow-covered meadow. Laden with the bounty of a successful hunt—carcasses of deer, raccoon, rabbits, and wild turkey piled high on pulled sleds or wrapped around the men’s shoulders—no man returned unburdened. Their leader, Akecheta, paused and looked up, squinting into the midafternoon sun. The days were getting longer now, with the promise of spring less than a full moon away. He smiled. The good-hunt medicines concocted by the shaman had proven effective.
Akecheta and his brothers were members of the Ho-Chunk, or Winnebago, tribe, a Siouan-speaking people who occupied a large portion of present-day Wisconsin, extending from Green Bay in the north, westward to the Wisconsin River and beyond, and as far south as the Rock River in present-day northern Illinois. This area was also occupied at various times by other indigenous peoples, predominantly the Algonquin-speaking Menominee and Potawatomi tribes with whom the Ho-Chunk shared many of their cultural traditions.
Akecheta was of the Bear clan, one of twelve family clans that comprised Ho-Chunk society. Each clan was associated with a particular animal and strength and had certain, well-defined roles within the village. Men of the Bear clan were responsible for policing and maintaining tribal discipline. Whatever the situation, whether on the hunt, in times of war, or when the tribe was on the move, Bear clansmen would assume the vital role of leaders.
As the six men approached the village, packs of gnarling dogs ran to meet them, drawn by the scent of the fresh kill. Close behind came the young boys of the village, their toy weapons waving in the air, eager to see and greet their elder champions.
Akecheta smiled as one of the older boys approached him.
“Here, Enapay, take these rabbits to your mother. Tell her there is much more to come.”
For a hunting party of this size, Akecheta, being the eldest, held claim to the hides and was granted the right to apportion the meat and other animal remains. Other customs of apportionment often applied, depending on the number of individuals involved in the hunt, their status within the tribe, and the particular animal killed. In almost every case, the individual who made the actual kill had little say over apportionment. In the end, however, food distribution within the tribe was largely a matter of courtesy between individuals and equity prevailed.
Approaching the village from the north, Akecheta and his hunting party came upon the first clusters of family dwellings, or wigwams—dome-shaped timber structures covered in bark and straw matting. There was nothing haphazard about village organization and the placement of these dwellings. In fact, everything about Ho-Chunk society was executed in an orderly fashion, with all clans having their assigned roles and responsibilities, established by long-standing traditions.
This first grouping of dwellings were the lodges of the Bear clan. The lodges of the seven remaining manegi (“people of the earth”) clans lay in various clusters throughout the northeast half of the village. These were the Wolf, Water Spirit, Deer, Elk, Buffalo, Fish, and Snake clans.
The four remaining clans—Thunderbird, Pigeon, Eagle, and People-of-War—comprised the wangeregi (“people of the sky”) clans. Their lodges occupied the southwest portion of the village, with the Thunderbird clan, home of the tribal chief, located in the farthest southern reaches. And so it was, a division of clans, both a geographical and familial partitioning within the village. Tribal norms and marriage customs allowed only the pairing of men and women of clans from opposite “sky” and “earth” divisions. In Akecheta’s case, he had married a woman from the Thunderbird clan, a permissible pairing.
The Thunderbird and Bear clans were, arguably, the most important clans in the tribe. In times of peace, the village chief was chosen from the Thunderbird clan. But in times of war, a leader from the Bear clan would assume this important role. Akecheta himself had served in this capacity more than once, when warring tribes of the Illinois Confederation—the Illiniwek or Illini—from the south had challenged their hold on these hunting grounds.
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ANGEPETU WAS BUSY preparing the evening meal with her two daughters when she spied Enapay approaching in the distance with a broad smile and two rabbits draped around his neck. Her eyes lit up. “Good!” she said. “There will be fresh meat for tonight’s meal!”
She then turned to her younger daughter. “Ehawee, please mind the corn chowder while I help your brother prepare the rabbit.” Her older daughter continued tending the fire and sunflower seed cakes baking on the stone griddle.
Women who were especially gifted at food preparation were highly valued within the tribal community. Akecheta’s wife, Angpetu, was one such woman.
Corn, or maize, was a major staple of the Ho-Chunk diet, grown in many varieties—yellow, red, sweet, white flint, and blue flint—and prepared in more than fifty ways. Along with other preserved food items—beans, seeds, squash, dried berries, wild rice, dried meats, and fish—maize carried them through the harsh winter months until their stores could be replenished.
Another crop of major importance was tobacco. Far beyond the recreational use it was to enjoy among the Europeans who would later arrive, tobacco assumed a significant, even spiritual, role in tribal affairs. As a sacred offering, it possessed the power to protect against and ward off evil spirits. It was no wonder, then, that corn and tobacco were believed to be the direct gifts of Mother Earth: one to sustain the body, the other to fortify and protect the spirit. It was said that from one breast of Mother Earth grew corn; from the other breast grew the tobacco plant.
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THROUGHOUT THE REMAINDER of the afternoon, Akecheta and his fellow braves worked diligently to dress and apportion their kill, with Akecheta retaining the deer and raccoon hides according to custom. After the evening meal, Akecheta took two of the deer hides and headed south through the village toward his wife’s clan of origin, where he made a gift of one of the hides to the village chief, and the other to his wife’s father, along with a portion of the deer meat. The gifts were well received.
From this southernmost vantage point situated high on a bluff, Akecheta had a clear view of the expansive marshlands that lay below and marked this area as a choice place to live for all the tribes of the region. Besides the Ho-Chunk, this included the Potawatomie and Menominee at various times. It was a veritable garden of Eden of hunting, trapping, fishing, and farming, with vast marshlands below and meadows and forests behind. As far as the eye could see, the bluffs were lined with wigwams and ribbons of smoke rising from distant evening campfires.
With a full moon rising in the early night sky, a cold wind began to blow from the north. As the wind grew in intensity, an unspoken urgency and uneasiness took hold as the people set about gathering up and securing loose items before adjourning to the warmth and safety of their lodges, safe from the cold winter wind and the terrors that, according to legend, came with a night such as this. Gathered about the family fires, the village storytellers recited tales of the Ice Giants, a beastly race of beings that swept down from the north upon the north wind to work their evil mischief. Woe to the lone soul who fell victim to these giants and ended up boiled, skewered, or stewed in their large food kettles!
According to oral tradition, these Ice Giants once roamed the land devouring whole villages. To restore balance to his creation, Ma-ona the Creator, also called Earthmaker, sent Rabbit and Turtle, two principal deities, down to Earth to destroy these two-legged giants, leaving only remnants in the far north country to provide a check on human overpopulation.
To confer some measure of protection to his family, Akecheta had taken tobacco, turkey feathers, and food and arranged them some distance from their lodge on the perimeter of the village as offerings to the Ice Giants. Other families had done the same, encircling the village in a ring of protection. Now, safe within their lodges, the storytellers did their work, reciting myths and legends well into the night as the lodge fires burned and the cold winds howled. Surely, the Ice Giants had come! Not as assuredly, the offerings and storytellers’ tales would keep them safe through the night.
Copyright 2022 by Stephen Goldhahn