People of the Big Voice: Photographs of Ho-Chunk Families by Charles Van Schaick, 1879-1942
About this ebook
People of the Big Voice tells the visual history of Ho-Chunk families at the turn of the twentieth century and beyond as depicted through the lens of Black River Falls studio photographer Charles Van Schaick. The family relationships among those who sat for the photographer are clearly visible in these images. Sisters, friends, families, and young couples appear and reappear, fleshing out a narrative of the period, from 1879 to 1942, referred to as "the dark ages” in First Nations tribal history.
Following introductory essays from three of the authors are more than three hundred beautifully detailed photographs. Unique to the project are captions that identify over ninety percent of the individuals pictured—made possible by the continuing efforts of tribal members and genealogists—and include both English and Ho-Chunk names.
Also featured are candid shots of Ho-Chunk people on the streets of Black River Falls, outside family dwellings, and at powwows. As author and Ho-Chunk tribal member Amy Lonetree writes, "A significant number of the images were taken just a few short years after the darkest, most devastating period for the Ho-Chunk. Invasion, diseases, warfare, forced assimilation, loss of land, and repeated forced removals from our beloved homelands left the Ho-Chunk people in a fight for their culture and their lives."
A significant contribution to the history of Native peoples, People of the Big Voice is a breathtaking portrayal of a resilient community whose story continues today.
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About the author
Tom Jones is an artist, curator, writer, and professor of photography at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. His work can be found in the National Museum of the American Indian and the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, among numerous other private and public collections. He is an enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
Michael Schmudlach was a member of the Wisconsin Historical Society's Board of Curators and had a lifelong relationship with the Ho-Chunk Nation.
Amy Lonetree is a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the author of Decolonizing Museums: Representing Native America in National and Tribal Museums and co-editor of The National Museum of the American Indian: Critical Conversations. She is an enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
Matthew Daniel Mason is an archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.
George A. Greendeer is an archival researcher for the Ho-Chunk Nation and the former tribal genealogist. He is an enrolled citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation.
