Tribe: The Sauk and Fox, also called the "Sac and Fox" and the "Sauk/Fox." There are three federally-recognized tribes: The Sakiwaki (the Sac and Fox Nation), the Meskwaki (the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa) and the Nemahahaki (the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska.)
Meaning of Names: The Sauk call themselves the "Osa'kiwug" which means "People of the Outlet," or "Sak," "Sac" or "Sauk" for short. They consider themselves the "People of the Yellow Earth." The Fox call themselves the "Muskwakiwug," which means "Red Earth People." The Fox were called "Outagamie" by their enemies, the Chippewa (Ojibwe), who were allies of the French. The Chippewa had told the French that the clan of the Muskwaskiwug that they were pointing to, the Fox Clan, was called the "Fox" and the French thought that they were talking about the entire tribe, so they called the Muskwaskiwug the "Renards," which is "Fox" in French. Apparently, the Chippewa didn't bother to correct them, so the name "Fox" stuck.
Location: The Fox tribe lived in the Michigan and Wisconsin side of the Great Lakes area for several thousand years as part of the Eastern Woodland/Algonquin culture. In the 1700's, over a period of several wars and several years, they were forced out by the French and their allies (see "Traditional Enemies), and took sanctuary with their neighborly allies, the Sauk, many of whom lived in the city of Saukenuk in Illinois. After that, both the Sauk and the Fox were shuffled around by white men to live in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri, Kansas and finally, Oklahoma. Most of the Sauk/Fox people now live in Oklahoma, but some live in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska and Canada. Those who had entered Canada following the French/Fox wars, had done so as slaves of the French colonists.
Original Language: Meskwaki-Sauk, a dialect of the Algonquin family tree.
Tribal Affiliations: The Sac and Fox people have been allies since the Sauk offered them sanctuary. Their other allies included or include the Mascoutens, the Kickapoo, the Winnebago and the British, who didn't like the French, either.
Traditional Enemies: The French, the Iroquois, the Ottawa, the Neutrals, the Miamis, the Sioux, the Ojibwe, the Huron, the Potawatomi, the Iowas, the Assiniboine and the Cree.
Traditional Style of Housing: Traditionally, the Sauk and Fox had a summer home, which was near the wives' parents and grandparents, and a winter home, which was near the husbands' parents and family. Their large dome-shaped buffalo-skin-covered wigwams, which were made and owned by the wives, were used as temporary housing during the winter, and their rectangular bark-covered lodges, which were also made and owned by the wives, and were in villages near their fields, were used in spring, summer and fall as their permanent homes. These homes and their contents were passed down to the oldest daughters when their mothers died. Within the villages were even larger lodges that were big enough for five fire-pits or hearths. These were probably used for meeting places and as tribal town halls. The Sauk and Fox also probably had sweat-lodges, menstrual huts, fields for crops and sports, and smokehouses in their villages.
Traditional Attire: The Sac and Fox seemed to have picked up whatever style of native clothing was adopted by the other tribes. The women historically wore wraparound skirts, and then long cotton dresses. The men went shirtless, and wore breechcloths, leggings, moccasins, beaded collars or yokes, face paint, and animal hides draped across their chests. They either shaved their heads into a Mohawk, or wore porky roaches, or wrap-around hats of otter-fur with feathers.
Traditional Foods: Once the Sauk and Fox moved out of the Great Lakes area and set up their villages and farms in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma, the women grew corn, beans and squash, including pumpkins. They also gathered or grew whatever grew naturally in the area: Indian potatoes, sunflowers, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, elderberries, pecans, hickory nuts, paw paws, persimmons, crabapples, plums, wild grains, and wild roses. The men hunted or trapped geese, ducks, turkeys, pheasants, grouse, quail, loons, pelicans, brants, snipes, rails, woodcocks, partridges, gulls, teals, doves, pigeons, armadillos, otters, beaver, possums, bears, skunks, rabbits, elk, squirrels, groundhogs, deer and occasionally buffalo. They fished for or speared lampreys, pickerel, sturgeon, gar, eels, shad, paddlefish, shiners, chubs, suckers, buffalo-fish, catfish, trout, perch, sculpin, bass, sunfish, crappie and walleye. As always, they took what they needed from the land and left the rest unharmed, and shared with all members of the community. Even today, the Sauk and Fox have a generous food distribution program. They also grew tobacco.
Position of Women: Neither the Sauk and the Fox were completely patriarchal nor completely matriarchal. The women did the farming, made the clothes, did the childcare, did the cooking, built the homes, tanned the hides, and did the majority of the work. On the other hand, they owned their homes which they passed onto their oldest daughters when they died, and they insured the smooth running of life in the tribe. Meanwhile, the men hunted, fished, and defended their homes and villages. It is probable that traditionally, only the men could be chiefs and that lineage was reckoned through the father's line, which seems to be more in keeping with the Algonquin ways, but nowadays, women can be chiefs, too. Two-Spirit tribes-members were accepted, valued and celebrated in ceremonial dances.
Sauk and Fox Courtship: Although I could not find anything specifically on the Sauk and Fox courtship traditions, I did find out that the men, like other Woodland cultures, played flutes in order to court the woman of their dreams. There were specific love-songs and melodies that were employed by the young men who played said cedar, sumac, pine or cottonwood flutes, some with fancy feathers, beads and inlaid work, and some as long as four feet in length. The men played their flutes while outside of their beloved's mother's house just out of sight. (It is also possible that he communicated his unseen love for her by whistling his love-songs, instead, especially if he were not a skilled flutist.) If she was impressed by his flute-playing or whistling, and went outside to seek him out, there she could find him, sitting with his legs crossed on his courting blanket. If they followed the traditions of similar tribes, she would sneak him into her parents' lodge to spend the night and if her parents found them in the morning, they were considered married, whereupon the groom would live with and labor for his in-laws until his first child was born. During this period, his new wife would build her house, and once it was completed, it was hers but she shared it with her husband and their children.
Interesting Tidbits: Both the Sac and the Fox used to have two chiefs: the peace chief and the war chief. The peace chief inherited his position from his father, and the war chief was elected to the position. The peace chief was probably a remnant of the old matriarchal system of Clan Mothers.... The Sauk and Fox each have four clans: The Bear Clan, the Sturgeon Clan, the Thunder Clan and the Wolf Clan.... Because the U.S. Government deemed them fully assimilated, the Sauk and Fox were set for termination (meaning, losing their reservation, tribal lands, scholarships, medical care, and sense of identity as members of the Sauk and Fox tribes) in 1953, but with a concerted effort, got a reprieve.... The term "Red-Earth People" comes from the Meskwaki creation story that the Creator made the first man out of red earth or clay....
Traditional Religion: Native American Church, Christianity, Drum Dance, traditional tribal religion.
Slavery and the Sauk and Fox: Over one thousand men, women and children of the Sauk and Fox tribes were captured by the allies of the French during the two Fox Wars in the 1700's and were sold into slavery to the French colonists. As slaves, they were bartered in trade for goods and credit by their Native American captors, and then used by the French-Canadian colonists and administrators for unpaid, unskilled labor, domestic servants and as field hands. The Shawnee also participated in the slave trade, as did other Native American tribes. From the early 1700's to the 1800's, slaves living in Canada were forcibly converted to Catholicism and called "servants," and there were twice as many Native American (including Fox) slaves in Canada as there were black slaves. However, unlike chattel slavery in the American South, the marriages between slaves in Canada were legally recognized, families were not separated, and slaves could learn how to read and write. Gradually, slavery declined as a wide-spread institution, and after it was outlawed in Canada in 1834, one could be still a slave for life, but no new slaves could be imported from the United States or other countries and the children of slaves had to be granted their freedom as soon as they reached age 25. On the other hand, slavery has extended beyond abolition in Canada, is still ongoing, and is now called "Human trafficking" which is a much fuzzier and less incendiary term.
Current Population: There are over 3800 registered members of the Sauk and Fox nations in the United States.
Current Sources of Tribal Income: Casinos, golf courses, RV parks, truck stops, restaurants, tribal museum, hotels and smoke shops.
Famous Sauk and Fox: Jim Thorpe, the All-American Athlete; Saginaw Grant, actor; Black Hawk, Sauk and Fox leader.
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