so in honor of indigenous people day I wanted to share a little bit about a local tribe here in Wisconsin: the Ho Chunk nation. [Official site] As with many tribes, up until the early 90's they were given the misnomer 'Winnebago' - a word that actually refers to the wetlands, and not the nation or the tribes.
This nation is just really cool in general, but I want to start with the fact that this nation is actually comprised of 2 moieties - those-who-are-above and those-who-are-on-earth. This breaks down into 12 clans, and each individually has responsibilities for the Nation relating to judicial, health, safety, and civic government. The ancestral lands even spread from Wisconsin to Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri. Due to this, the 12 clans are not only located in Wisconsin, but also the named states before.
The nation actually is the biggest employer in two Wisconsin counties, as well.
As of right now, the Ho Chunk Nation is currently headed by President Jon Greendeer, a role that has a term of 4 years, and the power from there is modeled after their traditional Chief and Clan system.
This nation also created the Hocąk language, which became the base for 15 other languages. Thanks to this fact, one of the names the Ho Chunk also go by is 'People of the Big Voice'. Despite the efforts of genocide from the US Government during colonization, this nation has been on these lands according to their oral traditions for at least 3 ice ages.
If you're ever in the driftless area and can stop at the Effigy Mound National park, these Effigies were from the Ho Chunk's past.