Sauk Indians

The Sauk Indians lived originally in eastern Michigan. They speak a form of the Algonquian language. "Sauk" means "people of the yellow earth."

The Sauks were allies of the French, but fell from favor when they helped Indians who were hostile to the French. The Sauks were divided about who to support during the French and Indian War. During the American Revolution the Sauks sided with the British against the Americans.

The Sauks never were an important tribe in Ohio. They gave up their claim to lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Fort Harmar (1789). In 1804, the Sauk gave up their claim to all their lands east of the Mississippi River.

Text from the Ohio Historical Society Site, for much more information please visit their site!

Missouri, History, Early Inhabitants

In the prehistoric period, successive stages of human development took place in Missouri. Nomadic hunters, called Paleo-Indians by archaeologists, were present perhaps as early as 12,000 years ago. Divided into small bands, they ranged widely over the land, hunting many now-extinct animals. The next stage, called Archaic, lasted from about 10,000 to 3,000 years ago. In this period, woven baskets and highly specialized stone tools abounded. Following that was the Woodland culture, which saw the introduction of pottery and agriculture. Southeastern Missouri contains many artifacts and relics of the culture called Mississippians or Mound Builders, a village society that started about AD 800.

The peoples who inhabited the area during the era of exploration and settlement were seminomads who were attracted by the forests and prairies in the lower part of the Missouri River valley, which abounded with game. They lived about half the year in villages, growing crops. Most powerful and numerous were the Osage, who lived along the Osage River. North of the Missouri lived the Oto, and a village of the Missouria people was located at the confluence of the Grand and Missouri rivers. The name of the village was applied to the people, the river, and finally the state. The Iowa and, later, the united Sac (Sauk) and Fox drove out the other groups by the early 19th century. Some Shawnee and Delaware were temporarily moved to Missouri by the Spanish, but all of the Native Americans had been forced out of the state by 1837.

from: "Missouri," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Illinois, Black Hawk War

By 1830 most native peoples in Illinois had been forced to move west across the Mississippi. In 1804 the Sac and Fox had agreed, for an annuity of $1,000, to cede to the United States their lands east of the Mississippi River. One Sac chief, Black Hawk, had promptly repudiated this agreement, arguing that the whites had persuaded the Native Americans to sign it after getting the Sac and Fox drunk. Treaties signed in 1815 and 1816 ceded more disputed territory, and in 1823 most of the Sac and Fox settled west of the Mississippi. Black Hawk, however, once more refused to recognize the agreements after white settlers began occupying the vacated lands. The Native Americans were, moreover, suffering from hunger in their new, less fertile lands, and so in April 1832 they returned to the disputed territory to plant crops.

The war began after white settlers shot a peaceful emissary sent by Black Hawk, who had come to realize that he could not defeat the whites. Black Hawk led the Sac to an early victory, but they were defeated near the Wisconsin River on July 21, 1832, and were almost completely annihilated in the Bad Axe Massacre on August 3. Black Hawk escaped the massacre, but then surrendered on August 27. Following Black Hawk's defeat, the remaining members of the group were settled in Iowa. In 1833 the last treaty relating to the native inhabitants of Illinois was negotiated, and the Potawatomis and two other remaining tribes relinquished all claims to disputed territory in northeastern Illinois.

from: "Illinois," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Sauk

In September Piankashaw and Wea warriors led by de Noyelle arrived from a Miami post with instructions from the Governor of Canada that no peace was to be made with Fox. Apparently some Sauk ignored this order and provided the Fox with food, but it was not enough. Surrounded by over 1,400 warriors, the Fox fought off everything, but their food and water gave out. They began throwing their children out of the fort, telling their enemies to eat them. Many apparently were adopted by other tribes, but the fate of their parents was far worse. After 23 days, a thunderstorm struck on the night of September 8th, and the Fox took advantage of this to break out and flee. They did not make it. The French and their allies caught up and killed between 600 and 800 of them. There were no prisoners.

Names

Either Sac or Sauk is correct. Spelling variations of this are : Osawkee, Saki, Saque, and Sawkee. The name comes from their own language - Osakiwuk, or Asakiwaki, meaning "people of the outlet" and refers to their original homeland on Michigan's Saginaw Bay which gets its name from them - Saginaw meaning "place of the Sauk." Since the Fox were the "people of the red earth," Sauk has often been inappropriately rendered as meaning "people of the yellow earth." Alternate names for the Sauk were: Hotinestakon (Onondaga), Osaugee (Ojibwe), Quatokeronon (Huron), Satoeronnon (Huron), Zake (Dakota), and Zagi (Winnebago).

Culture

In most other ways, the Fox and Sauk closely resembled the other Algonquin tribes in the Great Lakes. Descent was traced through their patrilineal clans: Bear, Beaver, Deer, Fish, Fox, Ocean, Potato, Snow, Thunder, and Wolf. Politically, the Fox and Sauk had more central organization than with other Algonquin which probably was a reflection of the many wars they had fought. The tribal councils of their chiefs wielded considerable authority. Fox and Sauk chiefs fell into three categories: civil, war, and ceremonial. Only the position of civil chief was hereditary - the others determined by demonstrated ability or spiritual power.

Agriculture provided most of their diet: corn, beans, squash, and tobacco, and the women were considered the owners of their fields. One important difference between the Fox and Sauk and neighboring tribes was they usually maintained large villages during the winter. Otherwise their housing was typical for the region. Large communal buffalo hunts, especially after they acquired horses in the 1760s, were conducted in the fall and provided much of their meat during winter, but like other Great Lakes Algonquin, when the Fox or Sauk wanted to hold a real feast for an honored guest, the main course was dog meat from which the expression "putting on the dog" has come.

from First Nations, for complete history and more information, please visit the First Nations site