Winnebago - Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. A disparity in the number of clans in the upper and lower moieties probably reflects an effort to maintain an approximate population balance between the moieties as new clans evolved in the course of the Winnebagos' incorporation of members of alien tribes. The Thunder and Bear Clans were and are regarded as the leading clans of their respective moieties and also provided the dual tribal chieftainship. In the 1830s, the tribal Thunder Clan chief still was nominally recognized. Each clan had its own origin myth, ceremonies, and a large number of customs relating to birth, naming feasts, death and wakes, lists of personal names, obligations, prerogatives, taboos, reciprocal relationships with other clans, and duties to the tribe as a whole.

Political Organization. Tribal chieftainship was an old organizational principle rather than a function of White influences. The scattered, increasingly autonomous villages generally maintained a localized dual Thunder and Bear leadership. It is not known how people attained the role of chief except that eligibility by clan also required personal exemplariness. By the treaty period, a few non-Thunder clan men were recognized as civil leaders because of their ability. Like Thunder and Bear Clan chiefs, they were "real," unlike the "bread chiefs" that Whites appointed to deal out rations.

Social Control. The Thunder Clan chief presided over civil functions, and his was a peace lodge where disputes were adjudicated and prisoners or culprits could seek sanctuary. If agreement could not be reached—for example, on indemnities to survivors in the case of murder—the Thunder Chief turned the offender over to the Bear Chief to be killed. Bear Clan men were called manape (soldier) probably in analogy to organized, standing army units at forts, but the Bear Clan really carried out internal police and penal functions. Generally, men were expected to be warriors, but the Hawk or Warrior Clan had the special prerogative of initiating and leading war parties. Old informal techniques of social control are still operative to encourage proper behavior of sharing, generosity, modest demeanor, and respect for other people. These include ridicule, gossip, withdrawal from troublemakers, and witchcraft. Evidently, fear of evoking a witch's envy or being suspected of witchcraft became increasingly important to enforce desired norms as formal, clan-based controls eroded.

Conflict. Early records portray the Winnebago as exceedingly warlike. Men welcomed opportunities to go to war, and the Winnebago fought with the French against the English, with the English against the Americans, in the Union army in the Civil War, as scouts and fighters in federal conflicts with the Dakota Sioux, and in both world wars, Korea, and Vietnam. Veterans who experienced combat are accorded special respect as speakers at wakes and are recipients of kettles of food at feasts.