|
Native American Indian Information
THE FOX and SAUK TRIBES
The Beginnings
The Fox and Sauk Indians have gone down in history as
"warlike" people because of the Fox tribe's immediate hostility
towards the French. This hostility was far from random, though--the Huron, armed
with French weapons, had just finished driving the Fox from their lands in
Michigan when the French themselves arrived, and the dispossessed Fox were not
pleased with the newcomers. Two Fox Wars ensued; the Fox Indians were no
Iroquois Confederacy, though, and could not hold their own against the larger
and better-armed French. Usually the French were the least violent of the
European invaders, but on this occasion, they resolved to wipe out the conquered
Fox Indians, and pursued them across the country slaughtering any they could
find. The only survivors were a group of no more than 500 Fox people who were
sheltered by their near relatives the Sauk, and, though they had previously
maintained good relations with the French, the Sauk tribe now found themselves
under assault as well. Luckily for the Fox and Sauk, the various Native
Americans allied with the French were starting to put more and more pressure on
them to abandon their commitment to genocide, and the French eventually gave in
and made reluctant peace with the Sac and Fox tribes. After the French departed
North America, the Fox and Sauk Indians were relocated to Iowa, Kansas, and
finally Oklahoma; one group of Sauk, under the warrior Black Hawk,
refused to leave and fought the pyrrhic Black Hawk War, which ended with
American soldiers wiping out the entire company as Black Hawk brought them in
for surrender. Another group, mostly Fox, returned to Iowa, where the state
government was willing to sell them land. This turned out to be good farmland,
unlike anything available in Oklahoma, and the Meskwaki tribe in Iowa is a
prosperous one today. The rest of the Fox and Sac Indians remained in Oklahoma,
where they live together to this day....
Please learn more about the Mesquakie-Sauk history at: http://www.native-languages.org/meskwaki-sauk.htm
The People
The Fox and Sac have been such closely associated allies
that they are usually considered as a single tribe. They originally lived in
Michigan (Saginaw Bay is named for the Sauk tribe), but multiple forced
relocations left their descendants in Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma. There are
about 4500 Sac and Fox Indians today. Mesquakie-Sauk is a seriously endangered
language today, due to most of its speakers being older and the Sac and Fox
communities being so far-flung. Some teachers are trying to revitalize the
language, particularly the Meskwaki dialect, before
it is too late....
Please learn more about the Mesquakie-Sauk people at: http://www.native-languages.org/meskwaki-sauk.htm
Native American
Jewelry | Native American Art
Native
American Music | Native American Research
|
