Family and Early Life
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.
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