Huron Smith's Ethnobotany of the Hocą
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HURON SMITH'S ETHNOBOTANY OF THE HOC~K (WINNEBAGO) KELLY KINDSCHER AND DANA P. HURLBURT ~ Kelly Kindscher (Kansas Biological Survey, 2041 Constant Ave., University of Kansas, law- rence, KS 66047-2906 USA, [email protected]) and Dana P. Hurlburt (Department of Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045 USA) HURON SMITH'S ETHNOBOTANY Or THE HOC4K (WINNEBAGO). Economic Botany 52(4)352-372. 1998. The Hocc~k, commonly known as the Winnebago, are one of the original tribes in the present state of Wisconsin. The field notes of Huron Smith, compiled in the late 1920s and early 1930s, document the extensive use of plant materials by Hocc~k people. Smith's notes contain refer- ences to 199 vascular plant species in 74families, with recorded uses for 153 of these species. Medicinal plants (with 117 species) comprise the largest category, followed by food (37 spe- cies), and fiber and material uses (22 species). Smith's work is unique for its time because he thoroughly explored the tribal uses of the plants in addition to collecting voucher specimens and photographic plates, and because it remains the most extensive Hocc~k ethnobotanical study. Added to Smith's other works of tribes in Wisconsin (Menominee, Meskwaki, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi), the Hocc~k ethnobotany broadens the cultural base of his regional compi- lation of Native North American plant uses. In addition, this is an important body of information for the Hocc~k people and those interested in their use of plants. Key Words: Hoc~k; Winnebago; ethnobotany; Smith, Huron; Wisconsin; North American Indians, Wisconsin ethnobotany. HOC4K WAZIJACI: A STATEMENT W~ksik ra, te, Huron Smith Project ~kre t/ W~k~ik ~'ak ra waire ~t/nt~ n~. M~'t~na h~gijirairawi ra, hiZ~ki ~n~ wa'~gin~p ~n~. wan~t'~ ct~ w~k hahiwi n~. Wan~'~ na han~c Kansas Biological Survey Team ra rac~k p~ hik't/ kjawi hesge aire n~. WaZ~ h~jawi ra, wakik't~ne wagax te'e hiru~j~ hire ra. Huron waZ~ han~xgt~wi ra, goi~ip h~w~peres han~he Smith Ethnobotany of the Hoc~k ra, epa, wagax kjawi hesge n~t. W~k~ik wo~g~ na hirasa aire horucgus han~w~ na eja n~ge woWak eja n~ n~. Wan~'~ n~kre wa~ wokoresge t/ ruxuruk k~n~he n~. wa't~ n~k ~n~. M~ hogihi roh~ xj~ h~jihawi ra, HOC~K WAZIJACI: A STATEMENT wan~'~ hom~j~ hesge ra, ht~kurujis h~rahawi Hoc~k means "Sacred Language, Parent n~. W~k~ik haj~wi na, egi m~ hirakara w~k Tongue, Master Language" hakererawi n~. ~e hawa't~ wan~'~ hom~j~ ~e'e Wazijaci means "Hoc~k who lives in pine ht/kurujis h~rahawi n~. X~w~ n~kre, n~ n~kre, Hoc~k ra han~c wawiperes hire n~. Jagu forests" One of the teachings of the Hoc~k people is hirokt~ p~ wa't~ na~k hinge wawiperes hire n~. that the Creator of all things has given us a Wo~g~ ~,e han~wi m~negi hajijewire j~ n~. mind. We are told to utilize it to the fullest, as Wo~g~ ~e'e ~ge hoxawan~ rahe n~. J~n~kira ~ge far as we can, using all of our senses. We have m~k~ m~j~ ra wawiperes hire, hesge wagax to remember and recall everything we have n~kre t/h~gikarahere ra, n~cge stak j~ h~ho wa- heard and seen. This was a way of life with our wiege, nt~n~ge, jagu ~i~ik ht~giwawi ra, w~k~ik people. The mind has capabilities beyond any- wo~g~ h~'t/w~ ~t/nt~ na ken~ ~ge M~hi~ Xete ra one's imagination of what it could and can do. hajire n~, hegt~ h~karan~ hajawi n~. Te p~, Throughout the many centuries we have gradu- w~k~ik hijane n~kre hota ~ge hoit'era ally lost this trait. This degeneration of the most gixawan~ne, wo~g~ na ~ge hirasa. powerful energy source we have has happened due to unrestrained invasion causing genocide of ~Received 14 July 1997; accepted 10 February a race of people that were caretakers of this con- 1998. tinent. The Hoc~k people knew about the gifts Economic Botany 52(4) pp. 352-372. 1998 9 1998 by TheNew York Botanical Garden Press, Bronx, NY 10458 U.S.A. 1998] KINDSCHER & HURLBURT: ETHNOBOTANY OF THE HOC,~K 353 of plants and their uses and have successfully names but includes no Latin binomials and only been a part of their existence since the beginning limited information on uses (Radin 1990:69- of this creation. Again due to the elimination of 70). Smith's ethnobotany is unique because of cultural values once practiced by our people its thoroughness (153 useful species, 91 photo- there are but a handful of our people who still graphic plates, and 201 voucher specimens) and know of these powerful medicines. It is with a because it is the most extensive research con- very heavy heart that I have consented to be part ducted in the original Hoc~k homelands in Wis- of this project. However, regardless of all trib- consin. ulations we have experienced, we still to this day maintain all of our ceremonies that we have How THIS MANUSCRIPT ORIGINATED been blessed with, before the appearance of This project is of mutual interest to botanists white people, which is very unique since many and to the Hoc~k people, whose elders gener- tribes have lost their languages and ceremonials. ously provided the original data to Huron Smith. I want to express my personal gratitude to my As Curator of Botany at the Milwaukee Public fellow tribes people who had the foresight to Museum from 1917 to 1933, Smith had already agree to become involved with the Huron Smith studied the uses of plants among the Menomi- Project. The staff of the Kansas Biological Sur- nee, Meskwaki, Ojibwe, and Forest Potawatomi vey team from the University of Kansas, Law- when he began to work with the Hoc~k. Smith rence, is to be commended for furnishing this spent most of the summer of 1928 based at the invaluable piece of work. The Huron Smith Eth- farm of a Hoc~k family near Wisconsin Rapids, nobotany of the Hoc~k (Winnebago) will always Wisconsin. During that summer, Smith learned have an honored place in our tribal library for about Hoc~k culture and plant uses from over the benefit of our people now and in the future. fifteen Hoc~k men and women. His consultants, (Kenneth Funmaker, Hoc~k Wazijaci Language acknowledged in his field notes and photographs and Culture Program) and in his publication "Among the Winnebago" (Smith 1928b), included the following people: THE HOC~K ETHNOBOTANY: HISTORY John Bear, the family of Dave Dekorah, Henry The Hocsk (Winnebago) are an important Dick, "Cahab~ge" (Annabelle Eagle), Mr. and tribe in the Great Lakes Region, with a long his- Mrs. Jim Henniger, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Mallory, tory in the present state of Wisconsin. Their long "Iwahon~2~ka" and Beaver Woman (Mr. and occupancy of the Lake Winnebago-Fox River Mrs. George Monegar), Mr. and Mrs. Frank area is supported by historical and archaeologi- Smith, Ray White, and Mr. and Mrs. Ulysses A. cal sources (Dorsey and Radin 1910; Lawson White. 1906; Lurie 1978; Peske 1971) and by the tribe's Smith's field notes for the "Ethnobotany of traditions. Detailed references in their folk lit- the Winnebago" were archived by the Milwau- erature to the flora, fauna and landforms of the kee Public Museum following his death. The area confirm that Hocsk knowledge of the local manuscript has been photocopied and circulated flora is extensive (Bigony 1982; Radin 1990). among Hoc~k people as well as among linguists Huron Smith's previously unpublished draft researching Native American languages. How- manuscript "Ethnobotany of the Winnebago" is ever, Smith's notes were never published or ex- the only known work that focuses solely on the amined in depth by ethnobotanists. The increas- knowledge and use of plants by the Hocsk tribe. ing interest in ethnobotany has generated interest Melvin Gilmore's Uses of Plants by the Indians in publication of the manuscript. In order to up- of the Missouri River Region (1991), completed date this manuscript accurately, we consulted the in 1914, contains Hocsk names for 48 medicinal Hoc~k Wazijaci Language and Culture Program plants used by the tribe on their Nebraska res- to obtain the correct Hoc~k plant names corre- ervation. Andros (1883) listed 23 plants (without sponding to Smith's phonetics and to help us Hoc~k names) used by the Winnebago and Da- with historical information. kota for medicine during the period when the majority of the Hoc~k were being relocated to THE HOCA~K NATION Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. In 1994 the Wisconsin Winnebago adopted a Radin's extensive work on Hoc~k culture in Ne- new constitution, which officially changed their braska, completed in 1923, lists 50 Hoc~k plant name to the Hoc~k Sovereign Nation. Hoc~k (or 354 ECONOMIC BOTANY [VOL. 52 HoChunk), the name they have always called treaties with the U.S. government from 1825- themselves, means "People of the Big Voice" 1837. The Hoc~k were thereby deprived of their or "Sacred Language" (Hoc~k Nation Depart- lands east of the Mississippi (Fay 1966; Lurie ment of Historical Preservation 1996). 1978; Smith and Carstensen 1974). The 1837 Traditions generally place the origin of the treaty, signed under duress by a delegation that Hoc~k at a place called Red Banks, located on had no authority to cede lands, was considered Green Bay (Lurie 1960, 1978; Radin 1990:3, to be fraudulent by the Hoc~k (Lurie 1966, 17).