Waukon Decorah

Waukon Decorah (c. 1780–1868), also known as Wau-kon-haw-kaw or "Snake-Skin", was a prominent Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) warrior and orator during the Winnebago War of 1827 and the Black Hawk War of 1832. Although not a hereditary chief, he emerged as a diplomatic leader in Ho-Chunk relations with the United States.

Waukon Decorah came from a prominent Ho-Chunk family in what is now the U.S. state of Wisconsin. He was the son of Buzzard Decorah, who was in turn the son of a French trader named Sabrevoir De Carrie and a Ho-Chunk woman named Glory of the Morning. Waukon Decorah's brother was known as Big Canoe or One-Eyed Decorah (c.1772–1864). Early historical accounts sometimes confused the brothers with each other, or with their uncle Spoon Decorah (c.1730–c.1816) or with their cousin Old Decorah (c.1746–1836) and Old Decorah's sons Little Decorah (1797–1887) and Spoon Decorah (c.1805–1889).

Some early histories state that Waukon Decorah was also known by the nickname "Washington Decorah", because he had visited Washington, D.C. in the 1820s. However, in June 1832, Indian agent Joseph M. Street wrote in a letter that he had met with Waukon Decorah and his brothers One-Eyed Decorah and Washington Decorah, implying that Washington and Waukon were two different men. According to historian Ellen M. Whitney, it is not clear which member of the Decorah family was called "Washington". Waukon Decorah and One-Eyed Decorah had an older brother named Mau-wah-re-gah, who became an outcast after killing their father in a drunken brawl.

In 1829, Waukon Decorah's daughter, who had married a Dakota man, was killed in Iowa by Sauk and Meskwaki raiders, part of ongoing hostilities between Dakotas and the Sauks and Meskwakis. Decorah wanted to mount a retaliatory raid against the Sauks and Meskwakis, but he was discouraged from doing this by United States officials, who were trying to negotiate an end to the hostilities.

When the Black Hawk War erupted in 1832, Decorah eagerly joined the American war against Black Hawk's band of Sauks and Meskwakis, hoping to finally avenge his daughter's death. Although some Ho-Chunks were sympathetic to Black Hawk's efforts to resist American expansion, Decorah was able to recruit warriors from his followers on the Wisconsin River, and was joined by One-Eyed Decorah and his followers from Prairie la Crosse. After the war, on November 5, 1834, Meskwaki raiders killed ten women and children from Decorah's family, including his wife. Decorah believed that the attack was meant as retaliation for his role in the Black Hawk War.

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