The Ho-Chunk: A History of Removal and Endurance

For more than a half-century, the Ho-Chunk endured the U.S. government’s policies of removal and ethnic cleansing. Since then many Ho-Chunk have returned to their ancestral homelands and today they are one of Wisconsin’s largest employers.

Colin Mustful is a Minnesota author and historian with a unique story-telling style that tells History Through Fiction. His work focuses on Minnesota and surrounding regions during the complex transitional period as land was transferred from Native peoples to American hands. Mustful strives to create compelling stories about the real-life people and events of a tumultuous and misunderstood past. You can learn more about Colin and his work at https://www.colinmustful.com

Check out these other resources by historian/author Colin Mustful.

Novels
Fate of the Dakota: A Novel and Resource on the U.S.- Dakota War of 1862 - https://www.amazon.com/Fate-Dakota-No...
Grace at Spirit Lake - https://www.amazon.com/Grace-Spirit-L...
Ceding Contempt: Minnesota’s Most Significant Historical Event - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/148...
Resisting Removal: The Sandy Lake Tragedy of 1850 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08...

Online Textbook
Confronting Minnesota’s Past: A Resource to Test Your Understanding on the U.S. - Dakota War of 1862 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

Online Educational Course
The U.S. - Dakota War of 1862 - https://www.udemy.com/course/the-us-d...

Twitter -   / colinmustful  
Facebook -   / colinmustful  
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Colin-Mustful/...
Goodreads -   / 7367036.colin_mustful  

Image Sources
Wa-kaun, or the Snake, a Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) Chief. Collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society, image ID 4795

Map of Wisconsin Territory, 1837, Collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society, image ID 92210

Big Foot’s Village and Lake, Collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society, image ID 109891

Winnebago Wigwam, Collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society, image ID 10001

Wisconsin Lakes and Rivers map from GISGeography, https://gisgeography.com/wisconsin-la...

Painting of the the burning of Washington D.C. from Smithsonian Magazine, https://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...

Map of the boundaries from the Treaty of Prairie du Chien from Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Red Bird and Wekau from Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Image of land ceded in 1829 from Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...

Image of the Battle of Bad Axe from History Central, https://www.historycentral.com/Ant/Bl...

Map of Ho-Chunk land cession treaties from Cole Sutton’s Portfolio, https://colesutton11.wordpress.com/20...

Map of Iowa Neutral Ground from Fayette and Westfield Iowa History Timeline, https://www.angelfire.com/ia/fayette2...

Map of Ho-Chunk Relocations from Cole Sutton’s Portfolio, https://colesutton11.wordpress.com/20...

Winnebago Indian and Basswood Wigwam, MNHS Collections, http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/displ...

Map of Proposed and Actual Winnebago Reservations from “The Failed Watab Treaty of 1853” by Edward J. Pluth

Winnebago Indian Agency on the Owatonna Road, near Mankato, from MNHS Collections, http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/displ...

“Battlefield, New Ulm” by Mike Eischen, from Brown County Historical Society, https://www.nujournal.com/life/lifest...

Captured Sioux Indians in fenced enclosure on Minnesota River below Fort Snelling, MNHS Collections, http://collections.mnhs.org/cms/displ...

Screenshot of Winnebago Removal Act from Minnesota Legal History Project, http://www.minnesotalegalhistoryproje...

Crow Creek Reservation, 1880s. Courtesy State Archives of the South Dakota Historical Society, https://www.usdakotawar.org/history/a...

Map of Ho-Chunk Nation from Wisconsin First Nations, https://wisconsinfirstnations.org/ho-...