Aazhawigiizhigokwe: Hanging Cloud

Not a Chippewa Princess

Europeans and their descendants have always had a fascination with princesses. The Disney company has made billions selling the idea of them. In fact, they love princesses so much they even try to apply princess-hood to systems of government that don’t have concepts of royalty. That’s why in the 1800s, the talk of the town in the newly-settled midwest was of a princess that did not exist.

Pocahontas wasn’t a princess either and she’s judging you for calling her one

Between 1837 and 1854, the lives of the Ojibwe in the northern Wisconsin area began to change. For centuries they had lived on the same land. Although little is known about their history due to the lack of a written record, we do know that their culture and oral traditions were strong. 

They likely began interacting with white explorers around the 1600s when French fur traders entered the territory. Suddenly, the Ojibwe’s expertise in hunting became valuable - and lucrative - for colonizers. So did their land.

In return for trade goods such as guns, knives, cloth, and liquor, the Ojibwe allowed the foreign traders to use their land and even become a part of their communities. Most traders embraced Ojibwe culture. They learned the language and married Ojibwe women. However, as the 1700s wore on and white settlements pushed bands of Ojibwes farther afield, a war that had been simmering for over a century began to heat up.

While Europeans fought one another in the East, as the US fought for its independence, and even as the nation neared Civil War, another war was raging in the middle of the country. The Ojibwes and the Sioux had never gotten along. They fought endless, bloody wars over land and hunting rights. However, as colonizers began to push Objibwes perilously close to Sioux strongholds, they introduced a new entity to the fight: the gun.

With new and improved firepower, the Ojibwes advanced. One particular band of Ojibwe - the Lac Courte Oreilles - found themselves on the edge of Sioux territory. However, as they concentrated on taking more land from their enemy, there was a greater threat looming on the horizon.

In 1807 and 1842, the entirety of Minnesota was ceded to the US government. Thus, the policy of Indian Removal began. When the natives didn’t go willingly, other more manipulative means were employed to clear them from the land. Since the Ojibwes had become dependent on trade goods, they were lured away from their lands along with their families to retrieve rations and then purposefully delayed from returning home. Those that survived the harsh winters with no preparation were subjected to severe assimilation tactics. 

This is the setting into which Aazhawigiizhigokwe was born.

Coming-of-age rituals were customary in Ojibwe culture. In order for a child of any gender to be recognized as an adult they would first endure a torturous endurance test. For ten days the child was required to fast, not letting a single crumb enter their mouth. 

Aazhawigiizhigokwe, or Hanging Cloud, was not a princess, but she was Chief Nenaa’angebi’s daughter. Yet, her elevated position in the tribe did not preclude her from participating in the test. She too had to endure ten full days of fasting. On the final day of the test she had a vision. She envisioned herself in a war party against the Sioux. She saw herself killing an enemy warrior and returning victorious with his scalp. 

Though her parents and others in the tribe attempted to prevent her departure, Hanging Cloud rode out with the next war party. Then, after twelve days of riding, they returned. Over the course of their raid they had grown steadily more disappointed with each passing day. They weren’t running into any Sioux to fight. Then, one day they came upon a single, very surprised, Sioux warrior. The Ojibwe band killed him and returned with his scalp. And just like that, Hanging Cloud became more than a princess. She was a prophet.

Once she had proven herself as a warrior, Hanging Cloud was granted rights unknown to most women in the tribe. She was a full warrior, permitted to carry weapons, wear war paint, take part in ceremonies, raids, and hunting expeditions, as well as speak before the tribal council. She was admired and possibly feared. Second-hand accounts from the time indicate a reluctance by any of the men in her tribe to pursue her. And who could blame them?

In 1855, Hanging Cloud’s father died. Shortly thereafter, her village was raided. This time the attack came from her Mdewakanton uncle, Chief Shák’pí. Suddenly, she was called to defend her people once again. In the skirmish she was able to kill one of Chief Shák’pí’s sons. She and her village emerged victorious, and Hanging Cloud’s story began to spread beyond the bounds of her tribe. By the time her name reached the ears of a white audience, she had been dubbed a Chippewa warrior princess.

There are no contemporary accounts of Hanging Cloud’s life. There definitely aren’t any writings or interviews from her. So, there’s no way to know what led her to marry a series of white men.

Her first marriage was to Joe Koveo, a lumberman from Taylors Falls, Minnesota. However, shortly after their marriage ceremony, Koveo abandoned Hanging Cloud. What she didn’t know at the time of their marriage was that Koveo was already married. She was left alone and pregnant with her first child, Ogimaabinesiikwe, or Julia. 

Her second marriage was to James Bracklin. Bracklin was the first mayor of Rice Lake. Three children came from this marriage: Nellie, Thomas, and James, Jr. However, Bracklin also abandoned Hanging Cloud for a white woman, Minnie Russell. 

Her last marriage was to Samuel Barker, another lumberman. This union produced two children: Mary and Edward. In the end, Barker also left Hanging Cloud in favor of another white woman. 

Hanging Cloud lived out the rest of her life in the Whitefish community of the Lac Courte Oreilles Reservation. With the collapse of the fur trade economy, land dispossession, and the creation of reservations, her life in the tribe was dramatically altered from the one she knew prior to her marriages. We don’t know if she was happy or sad, confident or defeated. No primary sources exist that recall her thoughts or personal experiences. Everything we know about Aazhawigiizhigokwe’s life comes from the sensational tales told of her exploits in surrounding white communities, and from the writings of Benjamin Armstrong who, in his book Early Life Among the Indians: Reminiscences from the life of Benjamin G. Armstrong, recalls that she spoke proudly of her early life defending her village from invaders, reliving her glory days as a warrior, until the day she died. 

The Ojibwe way of life is still strong today. These days, “repatriation” is as important a term in native communities as tradition. Repatriation broadly means returning funerary objects, sacred material, and remains to native care, but it also means returning to traditional ways of living, cultivating verbal histories and generational knowledge, preserving native languages, and fighting against the cultural degeneration that was inflicted upon them through colonization.

To support tribal efforts across the US, look for tribes in your area and volunteer to assist at local events. To support the Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe College, visit www.lco.edu/give.