The Sauk or Sac (Sauk: Thâkîwaki and Neniwaki ("men, people"). This was later shortened to "Asaki-waki". In addition, the Meskwaki were generally known among neighboring tribes as the "people of the red earth". The Sauk and Meskwaki also used this term: Êshkwîha or Meshkwahkîha ("people of the red earth").

History

Precontact to 17th century

The Sauk, an Algonquian people, are believed to have developed as a people along the St. Lawrence River, which is now northern New York. The precise time is unknown, but around the time of the year 1600, they were driven from the area of the St. Lawrence River. Some historians believe that the Sauk migrated to what is now eastern Michigan, where they settled around Saginaw Bay (Ojibwe: Zaagiinaad-wiikwed – "Of the Outlet Bay"). For many years, the Sauk are believed to have prospered in the fertile valley of Saginaw thereafter. They had been driven west by pressure from other tribes, especially the powerful Haudenosaunee, which sought control over hunting grounds in the area.

Some Ojibwe oral histories also place the Sauk in the Saginaw Valley some time before the arrival of Europeans. Sauk traditions state that the tribe occupied the vicinity of Saginaw river. (In this tradition, the name 'Saginaw' comes from the Ojibwe "O-Sauk-e-non," meaning "land of the Sauks" or "where the Sauks were.") Approximately from the years 1638 to 1640, it is believed that a fierce battle ensued, nearly annihilating the entire Sauk Tribe. According to the legend, the Ojibwe inhabited the lands north of the Saginaw Bay, and the harsher northern climate caused more difficulty in prosperity compared to that of the Sauk occupying the area of Saginaw Valley. The Ojibwe allied with the Odawa, who resided south of the Sauk, and sprung a series of attacks on the Sauk, which practically decimated their people. One such attack, the Battle of Skull Island, occurred on a peninsula in the Saginaw River, which then was called Skull Island (its name came from the many skulls and bones supposedly found in mounds on that island over the years). In this battle, it is said that the Sauk had used their boats to cross part of the river, escape to the island, and were temporarily free from their attackers. But when morning came, ice had solidified the river enough for the Ojibwe to cross. They killed every member of the Sauk tribe who had fled to that island besides 12 women whom they later sent west of the Mississippi River. In the early 17th century, when natives told French explorer Samuel de Champlain that the Sauk nation was located on the west shore of Lake Michigan, Champlain mistakenly placed them on the western shore of Lake Huron. This mistake was copied on subsequent maps, and future references identified this as the place of the Sauk. Champlain never visited what is now Michigan. However,the Sauk continued moving west to Iowa and Kansas. Keokuk and Black Hawk were two important leaders who arose among the Sauk. At first, Keokuk accepted the loss of land as inevitable in the face of the vast numbers of white soldiers and settlers coming west. He tried to preserve tribal land and his people, and to keep the peace.

19th century

thumb |right |Sauk Indian family photographed by [[Frank Rinehart in 1899]]

Having failed to receive expected supplies from the Americans on credit, Black Hawk wanted to fight, saying his people were "forced into war by being deceived". Led by Black Hawk in 1832, the mainly Sac band resisted the continued loss of lands (in western Illinois, this time.) Their warfare with United States forces resulted in defeat at the hands of General Edmund P. Gaines in the Black Hawk War.

From 1832 to 1837, debt and poverty were tools used to coerce the Sauk and Meskwaki to relocate three times following successive cessions of territory. The population of the two tribes living in Iowa was halved in the twelve years from 1833 to 1845.

Oklahoma history

About this time, one group of Sac moved into Missouri, and later to Kansas and Nebraska. In 1869, after the Civil War, the United States forced the larger group of Sac to move into a reservation in Indian Territory (now the state of Oklahoma). They formed the federally recognized Sac and Fox Nation, which is misnamed and is primarily Sauk. The United States had been making treaties with the two tribes together since their residency in the Midwest. A number of Meskwaki returned to the Midwest from Oklahoma or resisted leaving. They joined the Meskwaki at the Meskwaki Settlement in Tama County, Iowa.

The land currently occupied by the Sauk is only a section of what used to be the Sac and Fox Reservation from 1867 to 1891. This reservation was established by the U.S. and spanned 480,000 acres. In 1887, however, the Dawes Act purposely broke collective tribal lands into small allotments designated for individual households. The remainder of land not allotted to the Sac and Fox was then sold to non-Native settlers in an attempt to gain Oklahoma statehood and the full assimilation of its Native American population.

By 1889, 519 members of the tribe were located in Indian Territory, what is now central Oklahoma. On June 10, 1890, they ceded these Indian Territory lands to the federal government.

Saukenuk or Saukietown (today: Black Hawk State Historic Site) near the mouth of the Rock River (Sinnissippi – "rocky waters") into the Mississippi (Mäse'sibowi – "great river"), the most important Sauk settlement in the 18th and 19th centuries with about 4,000 inhabitants, was divided into 12 districts, which were assigned to the respective clans.

The tribe was governed by a council of sacred clan chiefs, a war chief, the head of families, and the warriors. Chiefs were recognized in three categories: civil, war, and ceremonial. Only the civil chiefs were hereditary. The other two chiefs were recognized by bands after they demonstrated their ability or spiritual power.

This traditional manner of selecting historic clan chiefs and governance was replaced in the 19th century by the United States appointing leaders through their agents at the Sac and Fox Agency, or reservation in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). In the 20th century, the tribe adopted a constitutional government patterned after the United States form. They elect their chiefs.

Federally recognized tribes

Today, the federally recognized Sac and Fox tribes include:

  • Sac and Fox Nation (, meaning: "People of the yellow earth"), headquartered in Stroud, Oklahoma;
  • Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa (, meaning: "People of the red earth"), headquartered in Tama, Iowa; and
  • Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska (), headquartered in Reserve, Kansas.

Language

Geographical names

Lake Osakis in west-central Minnesota, the Sauk River, which flows from Lake Osakis, and the towns of Osakis, Sauk Centre, and Sauk Rapids all were named for association historically with a small party of Sac who made camp on the shores of Lake Osakis. They had been banished from their tribe for murder. According to Anishinaabe oral tradition, these five Sac were killed by local Dakota in the late 18th century.

Place names with "Sauk" references include:

  • Iowa: Sac City, Sac County, and Sac Township.
  • Illinois: Sauk Village; Sauk Valley: the cities of Dixon, Sterling, Rock Falls and the surrounding area; Sauk Trail, a winding road south of Chicago, said to follow an old Indian trail; Johnson-Sauk Trail State Recreation Area; and Black Hawk College [Moline and Kewanee, IL].
  • Michigan: The name of Saginaw is believed to mean "where the Sauk were" in Ojibwe; and the Saginaw Trail is said to follow an ancient Native American trail. US Route 12 in Michigan is said to follow the Sauk Native American trail.
  • Minnesota: City of Sauk Centre, Le Sauk and Little Sauk townships, Lake Osakis, Sauk River, Sauk Rapids.
  • Missouri: Sac Township, Sac River and Little Sac River of southwest Missouri
  • North Dakota: Sauk Prairie and Sauk Valley Township
  • Wisconsin: Prairie du Sac, Sauk City, Saukville, Sauk County and Ozaukee County

Notable people

  • Black Hawk
  • Checokalako
  • Keokuk
  • Do-Hum-Me
  • Quashquame
  • Jim Thorpe

See also

  • Native American tribes
  • Native American tribes in Nebraska
  • Saginaw Trail
  • Sauk Trail

Notes

:1. The name of the Sauk River in Washington State, however, comes from the Sah-kee-ma-hu (Sauk-Suiattle tribe), a group related to the Skagit tribes, not from the Sac tribe of the Midwestern U.S.

References

  • Official Site of the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa/Meskwaki Nation – the Meskwaki
  • Official Site of the Sac and Fox Nation (of Oklahoma) – the Thakiwaki or Sa ki wa ki
  • Official Site of the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska – the Ne ma ha ha ki
  • General information to Sac and Fox
  • Sauk Language, Sac and Fox Nation