Betsy Thunder facts for kids
Betsy Thunder (born around the 1850s – died 1913) was a respected medicine woman from the Ho-Chunk tribe. The Ho-Chunk are also known as the Winnebago Sky Clan. Betsy was likely born in the 1850s on Ho-Chunk land near Black River Falls in Wisconsin. We don't know her exact birth year because much of their history was passed down by spoken stories, which can be lost over time. Betsy Thunder was part of the well-known Decorah family line.
She married William Thunder, who was also a medicine man. Betsy learned a lot from him, working as his helper for many years. William Thunder wanted to make sure that the healing skills and practices of medicine people would continue. Betsy Thunder helped make this happen by teaching her four sons. One of her sons, John, also became a medicine man. Even though Betsy Thunder knew very little English, she was known for helping both Ho-Chunk people and white patients. People paid her for her healing services with things they needed, like food, clothes, blankets, and other important goods.
Contents
How Betsy Thunder Helped People
Before Europeans came to America, medicine men and women in the Ho-Chunk tribe often used traditional dances and cultural rituals to help heal a person's spirit. However, Betsy Thunder was known for using herbs and other natural remedies to heal her patients. She first learned about medicine by working as a nurse for her husband, William Thunder. Betsy Thunder successfully carried on her late husband's wish to pass down the traditions of medicine. Both her son, John Thunder, and her grandson, Frank C. Thunder, became medicine men themselves.
Her Most Famous Healing Story
Betsy Thunder was famous for treating both Ho-Chunk people and white patients. One of her biggest achievements was healing John Mills. John was the son of a white businessman named Hugh B. Mills. All other white doctors had tried and failed to make John better. Hugh B. Mills brought Betsy Thunder to his house as a last hope to save his son's life. After several days of Betsy's remedies, which used herbs and roots, the child got well.
Hugh Mills was extremely grateful for Betsy Thunder's work. In return, he gave her enough wood to build a small cabin. The Mills family continued to show their thanks to Betsy. When John Mills grew up and became a successful banker, he even built a room in his house for Betsy Thunder to use when she visited the city. He also invited her to special family events like dinners and weddings. An oil painting honoring Betsy Thunder was later added to the Black River Memorial Hospital art collection. This showed how much she was respected as a medicine woman.
Where Betsy Thunder Lived
Betsy Thunder lived near Black River Falls on the land she called home. She stayed in the small cabin she received for healing John Mills for the rest of her life. People in her community helped her build this cabin on her land. They did this to show their thanks for her important work in the community. She lived in the small cabin until the early 1900s.
As the U.S. government continued to expand into Ho-Chunk territory, the Ho-Chunk people were forced to move from Wisconsin to Nebraska. However, Betsy Thunder refused to leave. Instead, she stayed on her family's land in the mountains of Jackson County until she passed away in 1913.
Her Ho-Chunk Family History
Betsy Thunder was a member of the Ho-Chunk tribe. This tribe originally lived in the Fox River Valley in Aurora, Illinois. The Ho-Chunk people first met European settlers in 1634 when they encountered Jean Nicolet, a French explorer. The French described the Ho-Chunk people as strong and skilled warriors. They were often in conflicts with other tribes. The first French settlers also wrote about the important role women played in the Ho-Chunk tribe. This included women even serving as chiefs.
In the 1700s, the Ho-Chunk tribe had a matrilineal society. This means that family lines were traced through the mother's side. This is believed to be why women were allowed to hold powerful positions, which was not common in many other tribes at that time. The Ho-Chunks' last female chief was Ho-poe-kaw. Her name meant "Glory of the Morning." She became chief after her father, who was a powerful Ho-Chunk chief. She ruled for many decades, even as her people lost land and crops due to European expansion.
Ho-poe-kaw resisted these losses and continued to live in her homelands. Like many others at the time, she married a French fur trader and had several children with him. Ho-poe-kaw's family line, the Decorah bloodline, became very respected. The Decorah family became one of the most powerful Winnebago families. Many of its members became important figures in the Ho-Chunk tribe. They even helped sign peace treaties in the early 1800s.
In the mid-1800s, when Betsy Thunder was born, some of the Ho-Chunk people still lived on their ancestral lands in Wisconsin. But they continued to face challenges as Western expansion continued. Betsy Thunder, like others in the Decorah family, earned the respect of her people. She did this through her work as a medicine woman. She lived on her ancestral land until she died.
