LANGUAGE
Siouan - Chiwere. Besides the Dakota (Sioux) at the west end of Lake
Superior, the Winnebago were the only Siouan-speaking people of the Great Lakes.
Their language is identical to that of the
Iowa, Otoe, and Missouri who
acknowledge that they separated from the Winnebago shortly before contact.
Although the Sioux (Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota) have provided the name for the
Siouan
language group, it appears likely that Winnebago may have been the
more important branch. It is closer to the Dhegiha dialect of the Osage, Quapaw,
Omaha, Kansa, and Ponca (who call the
Winnebago grandfathers or elder
brothers). There also appears to be a closer relationship of Winnebago to the
Mandan from North Dakota and the Siouan speaking tribes in the southeast United
States. Siouan-speakers in North America originally were located along a
diagonal line extending roughly from North Dakota to South Carolina. The
Winnebago position in Wisconsin was near the midpoint which lends weight to
their claim as the "grandfather tribe."