Former Ho-Chunk President Wilfrid Cleveland Talks Reflects on Life: Ho-Chunk Reflections (Part 2 of 2)
Wilfrid “Willy” Cleveland had two terms as the Ho-Chunk president
by Jonathan Gramling
Wilfrid “Willy” Cleveland was the president of the Ho-Chunk Nation for two different terms, from 2007-2011 and 2015-2019. We sit in his living room in Black River Falls with various forms of remembrance lining the walls. There is a painting of a bear symbolizing his membership in the Bear Clan.
Tribal government has evolved since the 1960s when the Ho-Chunk government was recognized by the federal government. When it was first formed, the government tried hard to make the government relevant to the lives of the Ho-Chunk people who were spread across the tribal land trusts and in the major cities in and surrounding Wisconsin.
“Back in the day when our government first originated, our government was made up of representatives from different communities,” Cleveland said. “Once a month, they would have what they called area meetings. The representatives would get the people of this area here together and talk about what kind of things were needed and what was going on. There is a building over here that we met in. The Nation advanced to have its tribal office building. Our tribal office moved from time to time from one area to another. They had been in Nekoosa and Tomah. When we got more financially stable, we had our smoke shop and the bingo hall. Our treasury began to get larger and larger. It got to the point where we were able to build a tribal office building and different community structures. We have our community building over here. It used to be a casino. There was no place for us to really meet. And so we converted the old casino into a community center. It was targeted towards trying to get the children off the street.”
The Ho-Chunk government tries to have a presence with health clinics and other services located in the areas where large numbers of the Ho-Chunk live.
“We’re established in Tomah, Wisconsin Dells, Black River Falls and Wisconsin Rapids,” Cleveland said. “These are places where we have communities. We have a presence in each one of those. We’re all the same people and you can’t do something for one community and not do it in the others. We needed to keep a level playing field so to speak with each of the communities.”
They also try to meet the needs of Ho-Chunk members who live in the urban areas.
“One of the major things that we have that is very helpful — it’s sad, but it’s good — our burial fund when someone passes away,” Cleveland said. “No matter where they are, we are able to help them with the money that is allocated to take care of the burial. They can be buried wherever they are. That’s a family decision. There are some tribes that do that. If you bring the body back to the reservation, they will help you. But if you are out here, you have to do it on your own. Like I said, out elders were generous thinking about it because that whole big movement started with the federal government relocation trying to streamline us into the major population and make us disappear. They got stuck out there being told that there was a better life out there and they found out it wasn’t that way. It was a way to get us out of here. But there were some who were talented and they knew how to stay here.”
The role of the government — or at least the breadth of its services — has grown with the expansion of gaming.
“The whole idea of Ho-Chunk Nation having a government was to better access originally funding for different services, to have access to better housing, better education and better health,” Cleveland said. “When our casinos came into being, that offset a lot of the programs. We don’t stop putting in for grants, but it still makes it easier for the government to manage the programs that are needed to make services available to the people.”
Cleveland remembers his terms in office as being very demanding. He felt that government needed to meet people where they are. In a nation that is spread out over pockets of tribal trust land, that adds up to a lot of miles on the road and a lot of time spent meeting with people.
“Being the president was a seven-days-per-week job,” Cleveland recalled. “There was always something going on. Coming from a Nation with a small population, you had a lot of personal contact with people. When I first became the president, I tried to meet everyone and give personal service. I realized that it was a never-ending stream of demands. I learned to manage time and work.”
Cleveland is retired now or as he puts it, “waiting for that perfect job to come by.”
As a two-term president, Cleveland has made his mark on the Ho-Chunk and its tribal government. Cleveland is perfectly happy to allow others to leave their mark and carry the load. After all, there is a lot of “retirement” that needs to get done.