By Denise Lana,
In the opening ceremony of Decorah’s 175th anniversary celebration, Prosper Waukon, the great-great-great-grandson of Chief Waukon Decorah, introduced himself and his family and gave a summarized version of what he shared Saturday night at the Hotel Winneshiek. (Decorah Leader photo by Zach Jensen)
Prosper Waukon has devoted his life to keeping his tribe’s traditions and practices alive, including a long-standing respect for every living thing.
The indigenous leader and community figurehead — himself the great-great-great grandson of Ho Chunk Chief Waukon Decorah, for whom the city of Decorah is named — visited the city earlier this June during the its 175th anniversary celebration.
Waukon, his wife, daughter, three grandchildren and great-grandchild, Prosper also addressed a small crowd of local history aficionados at the World’s Smallest Church in Festina. Prosper spoke slowly but with confidence and power, describing his lineage and sharing anecdotes from his childhood.
“There is a lot more in common that people want to admit, but the spiritual life of a Native American is far greater,” Waukon said. “It is in our thinking. How many white folks go around a do a sun dance?”
He went on to question the crowd on the meaning of community and who is involved in fostering such a group. Several audience members chimed in with responses — families, friends, neighbors, churches, towns.
“So, you’re talking about a human community,” Waukon said, as he slowly eyed the crowd.
But he indicated his cultural view of community extends beyond just humanity to include plants, insects, animals and flying creatures.
“They are all a part of our community,” he said. “Our community is a lot bigger than just people – that’s the way we think. Everything we do affects everything else. It touches and involves a much wider community.”
Gazing up at the trees, he continued to explain his cultural perspective.
“You’ve got all these elders out here around us, he said. “These trees are older than us, so we go to them. Those animals out there have more knowledge than we will ever have, so we go and watch them. We observe how they treat each other.”
Waukon’s granddaughter Ciarrah Reine Waukon-Latraille said her own daughter Luna, at the age of 2, would place her hands against a large palm tree in the family’s front yard each day “and be one with it.”
“Many people believe that things that happened in our physical earth are separate than our spiritual world,” Waukon-Latraille said, asking the audience if they too believed that to be so. “That’s what many have been taught, but in the Indian world, the spiritual and physical world interact. Through different ceremonies, you get to see and visit those realms and realize there is only one world.”
Waukon-Latraille has numerous visible tattoos on her arms and hands, and she said many are symbolic and represent her family’s culture — she pointed to a tattoo which wraps around her arm and ends in a snake symbol.
“It’s in our traditional appliqué style,” she said. “When we have pow wows, we have a traditional dance style specific to the Ho Chunk people. Our last name is Snakeskin, and the snake is a huge significance for that with our family.”
Others have a more literal connection to loved ones who have passed on, such as her fiance who passed away last summer.
“Some of his ashes are in the tattoo ink,” Waukon-Latraille said. “My grandmother’s ashes are also in this tattoo as well, but the tattoo itself is not symbolic of anything.”
She explained that even the colors used in items of clothing can be symbolic. She herself wore items which are representative of the Indian medicine wheel. She said the wheel’s four colors can symbolize multiple ideas — such as the seasons, natural elements, cardinal directions or even differing human races.
“Like my grandfather said, we are all about being connected to everything around us,” she said.
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