The Sauk Department
Sauk and Fox Tribes
The Sauk Dress
The Sauk Language
The Sauk were an Algonquian Native American tribe. They migrated to the Eastern half of Michigan between Saginaw Bay and Detroit from the Atlantic Coast following the St. Lawrence River sometime before the 17th century. Saginaw Bay was named after this Native American tribe and means "place of the Sauk". The Sauk left Michigan and fled to Wisconsin after being driven out. Later, pushed out by the French, they moved to Iowa. More conflicts caused a repeated southward migration. In 1832 the Black Hawk War took place and forced them to surrender a town in Iowa. They then moved to Kansas, but moved on to Oklahoma after disagreements. They were very close to the Fox Indian tribe and were often considered one tribe.
The Sauk had the traditional Native American chiefs. The position of chief was the only inherited one. Other positions were earned by an individual’s demonstrated ability or spiritual power. There were three kinds of chiefs: war, civil, and ceremonial. One of the Sauk’s famous chiefs was Black Hawk, a warrior. The Sauk were governed by a tribal council. The Sauk’s population decreased because of disease and war, and a nation once over 10,00 dropped to a few thousand.
The Sauk’s diet consisted of more agricultural products than meat. Their main crops were corn, beans, squash, and tobacco. Women were considered owners of the field and were the ones who grew all this food. The Sauk’s meat diet consisted mainly of buffalo.
The Sauk were very close to the Fox, another Native American tribe. But they had very separate traditions and chiefs. Both the Sauk and Fox were individualistic and warlike. Both spoke Algonquian. If the Sauk had an honored guest, the main course in the feast was dog.
The Sauk had a strong sense of tribal identity and their lives were based on religion. They held many religious ceremonies. Their chiefs were chosen mainly because of their spiritual power and they had patrilineal clans that controlled their many religions ceremonies. These clans were the Bear, Beaver, Deer, Fish, Fox, Ocean, Potato, Snow, Thunder, and Wolf. They centered their lives around respect for self, family, community, and for all of creation. They believed in the Creator. Europeans later forced Christianity upon them.
