Hoc=?UTF-8?Q?=C4=85k/Winnebago_?=name? "Wiscopawis"

[Saul Schwartz]

Hello,

An archaeologist colleague of mine working on the cultural affiliation of
Effigy Mound sites in Wisconsin asked me to see if anyone on this list
could help with a name associated with a possible mid-19th
century Winnebago oral tradition of mound building. The name is
"Wiscopawis." Sound Hocąk? Any suggestions for a translation? More
information below.

All best,
Saul

The name is in a letter by Rev. Silas Hawley that was published in a
newspaper, the *Dodge County* [WI] *Citizen*, some time before 1880. The
article was reprinted in the *History of Dodge County, Wisconsin* (1880),
pp. 452-453. The full quote, from the reprint, is:

"Wiscopawis, chief of the Winnebagoes, prior to the tribes being removed to
their western reservation, in conversation with M. Shafer, Esq., of Beaver
Dam, told him the spring was much prized by his tribe." Earlier in the
article, Hawley referred to "Much-kaw, the great medicine chief of the
Winnebagoes."

Shafer (1820-?) was a "general repairer of jewelry" who moved to Beaver Dam
in 1854. Hawley (1815-1888) is listed as having been on a committee
concerned with Presbyterian "missions to the Dakotas, Ojibwas, Senecas,
Tuscaroras, and Abenaquis" (*The Missionary Herald*, v. 51, n. 10, p. 295,
1855).
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