Sauk people

The Sac or Sauk are a group of Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands culture group. Their autonym is oθaakiiwaki, and their exonym is Ozaagii(-wag) in Ojibwe. The latter name was transliterated into French and English by colonists of those cultures.

Today they have three federally recognized tribes, together with the Meskwaki (Fox), located in Iowa, Oklahoma and Kansas.

History

The Sauk, an Algonquian languages people, are believed to have developed as a people along the St. Lawrence River. They were driven by pressure from other tribes, especially the powerful Iroquois League or Haudenosaunee, to migrate to Michigan, where they settled around Saginaw Bay. Due to the yellow-clay soils found around Saginaw Bay, they called themselves the autonym of Oθaakiiwaki (often interpreted to mean "yellow-earth".)

The neighboring Ojibwe and Ottawa peoples referred to them by the exonym Ozaagii, meaning "those at the outlet". French colonists transliterated that as Sac and the English as "Sauk". Anishinaabe expansion and the Huron attempt to gain regional stability drove the Sac out of their territory. The Huron were armed with guns supplied by their French trading partners. The Sac moved south to territory in parts of what are now northern Illinois and Wisconsin.

Sac and Fox Nation

The Sac and Fox Nation is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Sauk and Meskwaki (Fox) Native Americans. They were relocated to Oklahoma and are predominantly Sauk.

The two other Sac and Fox tribes are the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa and the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska. The Sac and Fox tribes were always closely allied and speak very similar Algonquian languages, sometimes considered two dialects, instead of two languages. The Sauk call themselves Thakiwaki or Sa ki wa ki, which means "people coming forth from the water."

Government

The Sac and Fox Nation is headquartered in Stroud, Oklahoma, and their tribal jurisdictional area covers Lincoln, Payne, and Pottawatomie Counties. Their Principal Chief is George Thurman. Five elected officials, each elected for a four-year term, govern the tribe. Elections are held in odd-numbered years in August.

Of the 3,794 enrolled tribal members, 2,557 live in Oklahoma. Membership to the tribe requires a minimum 1/8 blood quantum.

Sauk

Sauk may refer to:

Persons with the surname Sauk

See also