Hunting
Above: Dakota Hunting Buffalo. Painting by Seth Eastman in Mary H. Eastman, The American Aboriginal Portfolio (Newberry Library, Ayer 250.45 .E2 1853). View catalog record
Providing meat for their families was primarily the job of men, although women sometimes hunted small animals. Hunting methods, based on extensive knowledge of the habits of game animals, included shooting with a bow and arrow or gun and setting various kinds of traps. Hunters had different arrows for different kinds of game: small ones for birds, rabbits and other small animals, and larger ones for deer, bears, wolves and foxes. Deer and moose were hunted at night with lights. Deer calls that imitated the cry of fawns also attracted the deer to the hunter. Native peoples with access to the prairie region of the upper Mississippi River hunted buffalo in the summer or fall by the surround method. A large group of people would drive a herd into an enclosure where the animals could be killed. By the early 19th century, some groups, such as the Dakota, hunted the buffalo on horseback. Meat from hunts always was widely shared. Hunters used a deadfall on large animals, such as bears, wolves and foxes. A timber supported by an upright was set to fall when an animal took bait. Men made snares for rabbits. They trapped deer by concealing a stake behind some brush along a deer trail. The deer would jump over the brush and become impaled. When beaver traveled on land, they were caught when they fell into grass-covered holes dug by hunters. Men trapped for beaver, otter, and muskrat. The meat was eaten and the pelts usually were traded.
Native people believed that successful hunting always involved proper relations with the animal spirits that controlled the animals. Boys fasted many times to obtain a spirit helper to aid in hunting. Hunters held ceremonies to show respect to the animal spirits before going on a hunt, and hunters carried charms that symbolized their bond with their spirit helper. Often, men who had reputations for having especially powerful spirit helpers led deer and buffalo hunts. Today many Native people still hunt for subsistence, and tribal or other game wardens monitor hunting.
Do you want to know more about hunting?
Spearing Muskrat
Muskrats were hunted near their houses. In the winter they were speared and in warm weather traps were set on top of their houses. Here, Eastman shows that the work was difficult. One hunter has his mittens on a string around his neck. Another hunter has an axe for chopping the ice and a bag for the game. The men are wearing woolen hoods introduced by French trappers. Painting by Seth Eastman in Mary H. Eastman, The American Aboriginal Portfolio (Newberry Library, Ayer 250.45 .E2 1853).
Dakota Hunting Buffalo
By the time Eastman saw them, the Dakota had horses and were hunting from horseback. Painting by Seth Eastman in Mary H. Eastman, The American Aboriginal Portfolio (Newberry Library, Ayer 250.45 .E2 1853).
Dakota Woman Preparing Buffalo Hide. Watercolor by Seth Eastman
Women used hide to make clothing, containers, dwellings, and ceremonial items. Painting by Seth Eastman in Mary H. Eastman, The American Aboriginal Portfolio (Newberry Library, Ayer 250.45 .E2 1853).
Ojibwa Man Hunting with Bow and Arrow, 2006
Today hunters use both guns and bows and arrows to hunt. Photo courtesy of Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC).
Hunting Deer, Fall 1997
Mille Lacs tribal members David and Mary Sam participated in the first off-reservation deer season in the Treaty of 1837 ceded area. The tribes establish tribal quotas for deer and moose. The quotas represent less than 10 percent of the states' average annual antlerless deer harvest in the ceded territory. The "treaty deer season" is under tribal law; therefore, it is different than the state deer season. Photo courtesy of Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC).
Tagging deer
Here, a deer taken during the tribal, off-reservation season is tagged and registered. Tribes have game wardens for on-reservation hunting, fishing, and gathering activity. GLIFWC game wardens patrol the ceded territory. Infringements are handled in tribal court. Photo courtesy of Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission (GLIFWC).
Do you want to learn more about bears?
Paul Radin interviewed elderly Winnebagos [Ho-Chunks] about hunting bear. Before a man started on a bear hunt he went through the following ceremony, known as literally “concentration of the mind.” He either built a special lodge or used his own for the ceremony and built a fire. He offered food—corn and dried fruit, tobacco, and red feathers to the bear spirit. He rubbed sticks together while singing until he saw a sign in the fire (a streak of flame passing from the fire toward the gifts he brought the bear). This attracted the bear. He could hunt alone or join the tribal bear hunt in the summer, which was led by the Bear Clan. The same ceremony was held before a man hunted deer. One Winnebago man described the bear hunt thus: “When the Winnebago went on the bear hunt they always traveled in large numbers. They would always be able to find bears in the groves of red timber-oak, and it would be very easy to kill them. Nevertheless the old people considered it a very dangerous affair, especially if the hunters came upon breeding bear. If anyone killed a breeding bear he would cause very much trouble. The male bear would get very angry and chase the man who had done the killing, and if it ever happened that he was out of ammunition, the man surely would be killed. The bear would jump upon him and tear him to pieces. It is said that when bears kill a human being they always eat him. Another way of getting at the bears was to clear away the ground for them. It is very easy to kill them then. This generally takes place at the time of the year when the acorns fall to the ground. The bears gather in the cleared spaces and lie down there. They lie in the timber under the trees. They look like black objects in the distance. It is customary to shoot at them from some distance, but care is always taken not to shoot all of them, nor to shoot when the wind was with them, for then they would scent the hunters or hear the noise and run away. For this reason hunters are very careful about these two things—namely, the number of bear shot and the direction of the wind.” The Winnebago Tribe, NLAyer301A2, 1915-16.
Wisconsin has a thriving black bear population of about 13,000 animals, whose primary range is in the northern third of the state. Adult male bears average 47-70 inches long and weigh about 250-350 pounds. Female bears weigh between 120-180 pounds and measure 50-58 inches long. Black bears have a round and short body with sturdy legs. They walk on the soles of their feet, the same as people, and have five toes with non-retractable claws. As a matter of fact, the bear’s hind footprint looks a lot like a human one. Claws come in handy for hunting, climbing trees, and tearing open logs in search of insects. Even though they are huge bulky animals, they can run over 30 miles per hour. They eat all the food they need for the year in only 6 to 8 months. You might see them out at twilight between mid-May and into late September. In early fall they gorge themselves with greens, nuts, berries, carrion (dead meat), insects and small mammals (and sometimes refuse carelessly left by people). In late fall, they stuff themselves into a cozy den and fall into a deep winter sleep. Their body temperature, heartbeat and respiration decrease but dormant bears can be easily awakened. Dens can be found in hollow trees, brush piles, rock crevices, caves, excavated holes in hillsides, or under upturned tree roots. They do not eat, drink, urinate or defecate all winter. They lose up to 20 percent of their fall weight by spring. Bears are loners. A male bear needs up to 27 square miles for his territory. A female only wanders about 5 miles from her den. You will know where the territory is by locating a “bear tree.” These are trees found along trails and other areas where bears like to visit. The tree, or sometimes a building or park sign, will be repeatedly clawed, bitten and rubbed. It might even be marked by a bear’s urine scent. Black bears are sexually mature at 3 years of age and mating occurs in June and July. Females breed every other year and give birth to two or three cubs in January or February while they are still in their winter sleep. At birth, cubs weigh 7-12 ounces. They remain with the mother one year. Then in the spring she chases them off so she can breed again.
Bears have been an important part of history in Wisconsin. The Native Americans treated the bear hunt with great ceremony and respect. They prized bear skins for robes and the meat and oil for food. The settlers also placed great value on bear meat and especially sought the bearskins, which they used for clothing and bedding. As more settlers moved into Wisconsin, however, there was conflict between people and bears. Bounty systems were set up to encourage the killing of bears, and fur traders paid high prices for bearskins. This large-scale killing caused the numbers of bears to decrease. Logging and settlement also reduced the bear’s habitat and numbers. Until 1985, unlimited and increasing harvests were causing the bear population to rapidly decline. Today, wildlife biologists study bear populations and their habitat and monitor hunting so that population levels remain healthy.
Whitetail deer
The deer probably was the most important game animal throughout the Midwest. It adapted well to the changed habitat that followed logging and settler agriculture, and its home range was about 1-2 miles. Indians used the deer for food, and made clothing from the hide. Deer hair was used for ornamentation, bones and antlers for tools, hooves for glue and ornamentation, and sinew for thread. Photo by Scott Bauer, courtesy of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Moose
The habitat of the moose was in the northern Great Lakes country where there were forests, bogs, and streams. The moose was an important game animal, especially for the Ojibwa, who lived in this northern region. The 5-6 ½ feet tall moose fed on high grasses and scrubs, as well as pine cones and, in summer, small aquatic plants. In the 19th century, settlers and loggers created an ideal habitat for the whitetail deer, who moved into moose territory and infected them with a deer parasite. The moose population dramatically declined, but in recent years moose have been reintroduced into the Great Lakes area. Photo courtesy of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service.
Muskrat
This was one of the smaller animals hunted for food and fur throughout the Midwest. The muskrat lived in wetlands in or near marshes, streams, and ponds. Excluding the tail, which they used as a rudder when swimming, the muskrat was 18-25 inches long. Muskrats constructed their burrows above water level with the opening under water. Photo by R. Town, courtesy of United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
