Sac

Massika, a Sauk Indian, left, and Wakusasse, right, of the Meskwaki. By Karl Bodmer, aquatint made at Saint Louis, Missouri in March or April 1833 when Massika pleaded for the release of Chief Blackhawk following the Black Hawk War.

The Sauks or Sacs are a group of Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands culture group. Their autonym is (oθaakiiwaki in their own language, and their exonym is Ozaagii(-wag) in Ojibwe. The latter is the source of their names in French and English.

Clan system

Originally, the sacs were governed by a patrilineal clans system. Clans which continue are: Fish, Ocean/Sea, Thunder, Bear, Fox, Potato, Deer, Beaver, Snow, and Wolf. The tribe was governed by a council of sacred clan chiefs, a war chief, the head of families, and the warriors. Chiefs fell into three categories: civil, war, and ceremonial, but only the civil chief was hereditary. The other two chiefs were determined by demonstrating their ability or their spiritual power.

This traditional manner of selecting historic clan chiefs and governance was replaced in the 19th century by United States appointees of the Sac and Fox Agency. In the 20th century, the tribe adopted a constitutional government patterned after the American form.^{[citation needed]}

History

Sauk Indian family photographed by Frank Rinehart in 1899

The Sac may have had their original territory along the St. Lawrence River. They were driven by pressure from other tribes to migrate to Michigan, where they settled around Saginaw Bay. Due to the yellow clay soils found around Saginaw Bay, their autonym was Oθaakiiwaki (often interpreted to mean "yellow-earth".) The Ojibwe and Ottawa name (exonym) for the tribe was Ozaagii, meaning "those at the outlet". From the sound of that, the French derived "Sac" and the English "Sauk". Anishinaabe expansion and the Huron attempt to gain regional stability drove the Sac out of their territory. The Huron were armed with French weapons. The Sac moved south to territory in parts of what are now northern Illinois and Wisconsin.

Their closely allied tribe, the Meskwaki (Fox), were noted for their hostility toward the French, having fought two wars against them in the early 18th century. After the second war, Fox refugees took shelter with the Sac, making them subject to French attack. The Sac continued moving west to Iowa and Kansas. Two important leaders arose among the Sac: Keokuk and Black Hawk. 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 whatever remnant of tribal land he could and to keep the peace.

On the other hand, having failed to receive expected supplies on credit, Black Hawk wanted to fight, saying his people were "forced into war by being deceived."^[1] 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 Blackhawk War.

About this time, one group of Sac moved into Missouri, and later to Kansas and Nebraska. In 1869 the larger group of Sac moved into reservations in Oklahoma, where they merged with the Meskwaki as the federally recognized Sac and Fox Nation. A smaller number returned from Oklahoma (or did not go) and became the Mesquakie tribe in Iowa (Meswaki Settlement, Iowa).

As of 2006^[update] the official Sac and Fox communities are:

• Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska;
• Sac and Fox Nation in Oklahoma; and
• Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa.

Language

The Sac speak an Algonquian language, now called Sauk language, which is a dialect of the same language spoken by the Meskwaki, and very closely related to that of the Kickapoo. Their language is now almost extinct. The now extinct Mascouten language was reportedly related to the Sauk language.

Geographical names

Lake Osakis in west-central Minnesota, the Sauk River^[2], which flows from Lake Osakis, and the towns of Osakis, Sauk Centre, and Sauk Rapids all received their names as a result of an historical association with a small group of Sauks who, having been banished from their tribe for murder, made camp on the shores of Lake Osakis. According to Ojibwa oral tradition, these five Sauks were massacred by local Dakota Indians in the late 18th century.^[3]

Place names with "Sauk" references include:

• Iowa: Sac City, Sac County, and Sac Township.

• Illinois: Sauk Village; Sauk Valley: The cities of Dixon, Sterling, and the surrounding area; Sauk Trail, a winding road south of Chicago, said to follow an old Indian trail.

• Michigan: The name of Saginaw is believed to mean "where the Sauk were" in Ojibwe; Saginaw Trail, said to follow an old American Indian trail.

• Minnesota: Le Sauk and Little Sauk townships.

• Missouri: Sac Township.

• North Dakota: Sauk Prairie and Sauk Valley Township.

• Wisconsin: Prairie du Sac, Sauk City, Saukville and Sauk County.

Notable people

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

Notes

1. ^ [http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/black_hawk/british_war.htm J. B. Patterson, Autobiography of Black Hawk or Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak, 1882, Access Genealogy
2. ^ 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 Sauk tribe of the Midwestern U.S. (James W. Phillips, Washington State Place Names, University of Washington Press, September 1976)
3. ^ Upham, Warren (2001). Minnesota Place Names, A Geographical Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. pp. 53. ISBN 0-87351-396-7. 

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sac

• African-Native Americans
• Algonquian languages
• Sac and Fox Nation
• Kickapoo
• Meskwaki
• Native Americans in the United States
• Native American tribes
• Native American tribes in Nebraska
• One Drop Rule
• Saginaw Trail

External links

• Sac and Fox of Oklahoma
• General information to Sac and Fox