Wisconsin's First People
This page was created by Julie Budde's fourth grade class at Eleva Elementary, Eleva, WI

Cluster A Goals 2000 Grant | Posted 5.5.97 | jjb

Woodland Indians
Chief Black Hawk
Tribes
Chief Yellow Thunder
Woodland Indians

The Woodland Indians lived all over Wisconsin. The types of homes they lived in were wigwams and longhouses. They lived in wigwams during the summer and long- houses during the winter.

They hunted and fished with spears. They gathered nuts and berries like cranberries. They also gathered things to dry and store in the winter.

 

They dressed in buckskin decorated with porcupine quills, beads and dyes. One of the traditions they still hold is a pow wow. The traditional clothing is usually only worn during special ceremonies.

 

Tribes of Wisconsin

Tribes
COUNTIES

Menominee

Menominee and Shawano

Oneida

Vilas, Bayfield,Barron, Polk and Forest

Potawatomi

Forest, Marininette and Oconto

Winnebago

Adams, Clark, Crawford, Dane, Jackson, Juneau, LaCrosse, Marathon, Monroe, Sauk, Shawano and Wood

Stockbridge/ Munsee

Shawano

Ojibwa/ Chippewa

Ashland, Iron, Burnett, Sawyer and Washburn

The names of their reservations are: Red Cliff Indian Reservation, Bad River Indian Reservation, La Courte Oreilles Indian Reservation, Lac Du Flambeau Indian Reservation, Menominee Indian Reservation, Stockbridge Indian Reservation and Oneida Indian Reservation. Most of the reservations are located in the northern half of Wisconsin.

 

 

 
Chief Black Hawk

Chief Black Hawk was a leader of the Fox-Sauk Indians. They lived in Wisconsin for a long time. When they lost their land to settlers, they were forced over the Missisippi River into Iowa. They wanted their homelands back, but they didn't want to bother the settlers either. Black Hawk wouldn't stay where he was told to stay. In 1832 Black Hawk led about 1,000 Indians back over the Missisippi River into Wisconsin. The settlers didn't trust them. A battle broke out between the settlers and the indians. Nearly all but about 100 of the indians were killed in the battle. Chief Black Hawk and his people had been defeated, but the memory of his efforts still remains and important part of Wisconsin's past.

 
Yellow Thunder

Yellow Thunder was the chief of the Winnebago Tribe that lived near Lake Winnebago and Green Bay area. He never left his home without a fight. Settlers came to Wisconsin and fought for Yellow Thunder's land. Yellow Thunder went to Washington D.C. to talk to the government. The government just told the Winnebago Tribe to move to a new land in eight years. The guards moved them out in just eight months. He moved back to Wisconsin with his wife. A few years later he died. His tribe remembered him as "The man who knew his home and wouldn't give up."

 

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This page was created by Julie Budde's fourth grade class at Eleva Elementary, Eleva, WI

Cluster A Goals 2000 Grant | Posted 5.5.97 | jjb

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