Sac (tribe) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Sacs or Sauks are a group of Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

s of the Eastern Woodlands culture group. Their autonym is (oθaakiiwaki in their own language, and their exonym is Ozaagii(-wag) in Ojibwe

Ojibwe language

Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...

. The latter is the source of their names in French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

Clan system

Originally, the Sauk had a patrilineal clan system

Totem

A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...

, in which descent was traced through the father. Clans which continue are: Fish, Ocean/Sea, Thunder, Bear, Fox, Potato, Deer, Beaver, Snow, and Wolf. The tribe was governed by a council of sacred clan chiefs, a war chief, the head of families, and the warriors. Chiefs fell into three categories: civil, war, and ceremonial, but only the civil chief was hereditary. The other two chiefs were determined by demonstrating their ability or their spiritual power.

This traditional manner of selecting historic clan chiefs and governance was replaced in the 19th century by United States appointees of the Sac and Fox Agency. In the 20th century, the tribe adopted a constitutional government patterned after the United States form. They elect their chiefs.

History

The Sac are believed to have had their original territory along the St. Lawrence River. They were driven by pressure from other tribes, especially the Iroquois

Iroquois

The Iroquois , also known as the Haudenosaunee or the "People of the Longhouse", are an association of several tribes of indigenous people of North America...

, to migrate to Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, where they settled around Saginaw Bay

Saginaw Bay

Saginaw Bay is a bay within Lake Huron located on the eastern side of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms the space between Michigan's Thumb region and the rest of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Saginaw Bay is in area...

. Due to the yellow-clay soils found around Saginaw Bay, their autonym was Oθaakiiwaki (often interpreted to mean "yellow-earth".) The Ojibwe

Ojibwa

The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...

and Ottawa

Ottawa (tribe)

The Odawa or Ottawa, said to mean "traders," are a Native American and First Nations people. They are one of the Anishinaabeg, related to but distinct from the Ojibwe nation. Their original homelands are located on Manitoulin Island, near the northern shores of Lake Huron, on the Bruce Peninsula in...

name for the tribe (exonym) was Ozaagii, meaning "those at the outlet". From the sound of that, the French derived Sac and the English "Sauk". Anishinaabe

Anishinaabe

Anishinaabe or Anishinabe—or more properly Anishinaabeg or Anishinabek, which is the plural form of the word—is the autonym often used by the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Algonquin peoples. They all speak closely related Anishinaabemowin/Anishinaabe languages, of the Algonquian language family.The meaning...

expansion and the Huron attempt to gain regional stability drove the Sac out of their territory. The Huron were armed with French weapons. The Sac moved south to territory in parts of what are now northern Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

and Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

.

A closely allied tribe, the Meskwaki
Meskwaki
The Meskwaki are a Native American people often known to outsiders as the Fox tribe. They have often been closely linked to the Sauk people. In their own language, the Meskwaki call themselves Meshkwahkihaki, which means "the Red-Earths." Historically their homelands were in the Great Lakes region...

(Fox), were noted for their hostility toward the French, having fought two wars

Fox Wars

The Fox Wars were two 18th-century wars between the Fox Indians and the French , which occurred in territories that are now the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, U.S.A.. The First Fox War broke out with the French when the Fox numbered some 3,500. After the Second Fox War , the remaining 1,500...

against them in the early 18th century. After the second war, Fox refugees took shelter with the Sac, making them subject to French attack. The Sac continued moving west to Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

and Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. Two important leaders arose among the Sac: Keokuk
Keokuk (Sauk chief)
Keokuk was a chief of the Sauk or Sac tribe in central North America noted for his policy of cooperation with the U.S. government which led to conflict with Black Hawk, who led part of their band into the Black Hawk War...

and Black Hawk

Black Hawk (chief)

Black Hawk was a leader and warrior of the Sauk American Indian tribe in what is now the United States. Although he had inherited an important historic medicine bundle, he was not one of the Sauk's hereditary civil chiefs...

. At first Keokuk accepted the loss of land as inevitable in the face of the vast numbers of white soldiers and settlers coming west. He tried to preserve tribal land and to keep the peace.

Having failed to receive expected supplies from the Americans on credit, Black Hawk wanted to fight, saying his people were "forced into war by being deceived." Led by Black Hawk in 1832, the mainly Sac band resisted the continued loss of lands (in western Illinois, this time.) Their warfare with United States forces resulted in defeat at the hands of General Edmund P. Gaines

Edmund P. Gaines

Edmund Pendleton Gaines was a United States army officer who served with distinction during the War of 1812, the Seminole Wars and the Black Hawk War.-Early life:...

in the Blackhawk War

Black Hawk War

The Black Hawk War was a brief conflict fought in 1832 between the United States and Native Americans headed by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted soon after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis, and Kickapoos known as the "British Band" crossed the Mississippi River into the U.S....

.

About this time, one group of Sac moved into Missouri, and later to Kansas and Nebraska. In 1869 the larger group of Sac moved into reservations in Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, where they merged with the Meskwaki as the federally recognized Sac and Fox Nation

Sac and Fox Nation

The Sac and Fox Nation is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Sac and Meskwaki Native Americans. They are located in Oklahoma and are predominantly Sac....

. A smaller number returned to the Midwest from Oklahoma (or did not go) and became the Mesquakie tribe in Iowa (Meswaki Settlement, Iowa).

Today the federally recognized Sac and Fox tribes are:

Sac and Fox Nation
Sac and Fox Nation
The Sac and Fox Nation is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Sac and Meskwaki Native Americans. They are located in Oklahoma and are predominantly Sac....

, headquartered in Stroud, Oklahoma
Stroud, Oklahoma
Stroud is a city in Creek and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 2,758 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Stroud is located at ....

;
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
The Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa is one of three federally recognized Native American tribe of Sac and Meskwaki peoples. Their name for themselves is Meshwaki. They are Algonquian peoples and Eastern Woodland culture....

, headquartered in Tama, Iowa
Tama, Iowa
Tama is a city in Tama County, Iowa, United States. The population was 2,731 at the 2000 census. Tama is located a few miles from the Meskwaki Settlement, Iowa's only significant Native American community. Tama was located on the historic Lincoln Highway and is home to an original Lincoln Highway...

; and
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska is one of three federally recognized Native American tribe of Sac and Meskwaki peoples. Their name for themselves is Nemahahaki and they are an Algonquian people and Eastern Woodland culture....

, headquartered in Reserve, Kansas
Reserve, Kansas
Reserve is a city in Brown County, Kansas, United States. The population was 100 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Reserve is located at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....

.

Language

Sauk (or Sac) is a part of the Algonquin language

Algonquian languages

The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...

family, and so is closely related to Fox

Fox language

Fox is an Algonquian language, spoken by around 1000 Fox, Sauk, and Kickapoo in various locations in the Midwestern United States and in northern Mexico...

, Miami-Illinois, Kickapoo, Ojibwa

Ojibwe language

and Ottawa. Although the languages of these groups are considered to be separate (they are not just dialects of each other), they do share some words in common, and they have some similar rules in their respective grammars - perhaps survivals from a Proto-Algonquin language.
•Some linguists, however, argue that Sauk, Fox and Kickapoo are all dialects of the same Algonquin language. Each of the dialects contains “archaisms and innovations” that distinguish them from each other, and Sauk and Fox appear to be the most closely related of the three (Goddard 1978). Sauk is also considered to be mutually intelligible, to a point, with Mesquakie.
In their own language, the Sauk at one time referred to themselves as asakiwaki [a-‘sak-i-wa-ki], “people of the outlet. (Bonvillain 1995)”

The Sauk people have a syllabic orthography for their language and there exists a Primer Book which was printed in 1977 (based on a “traditional” syllabary which existed in 1906), so that the modern-day Sauk people may learn to write as well as speak their ancestral tongue. A newer orthography was proposed around 1994 to better aid in language revival, since the former syllabary was targeted towards the few remaining native speakers of Sauk; the more recent orthography was presented with native English speakers in mind (Müller 1994).

Sauk has so few speakers that it is considered one of the many endangered languages native to North America.

Phonology

Sauk does not have a lot of phonemes, compared to many other languages: four vowels, two semi-vowels, and eight consonants.

Consonants

(Figure 1: Sauk Consonant Chart - adapted from Müller (1994))
The voiceless glottal fricative /h/

Voiceless glottal fricative

The voiceless glottal transition, commonly called a "fricative", is a type of sound used in some spoken languages which patterns like a fricative or approximant consonant phonologically, but often lacks the usual phonetic characteristics of a consonant...

had been omitted in the 1977 syllabary, but it has been added back into later editions, because it is an important distinctive sound in the Sauk language (Müller 1994). It may be of interest to note that all of the Sauk consonants are voiceless, with the exception of both nasals

Nasal consonant

A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...

.

All three stops are recognized to have at least two allophones each, as follows (adapted from Müller 1994):

/p/

Voiceless bilabial plosive

The voiceless bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is p...

→ [p, b

Voiced bilabial plosive

The voiced bilabial plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is b. The voiced bilabial plosive occurs in English, and it is the sound denoted by the...

]

/t/

Voiceless alveolar plosive

The voiceless alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiceless dental, alveolar, and postalveolar plosives is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is t...

→ [t, d

Voiced alveolar plosive

The voiced alveolar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents voiced dental, alveolar, and postalveolar plosives is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is d.-Features:Features of the voiced...

]

/k/

Voiceless velar plosive

The voiceless velar stop or voiceless velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is k....

→ [k, g

Voiced velar plosive

The voiced velar plosive is a type of consonantal sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is g. Strictly, the IPA symbol is the so-called "opentail G" , though the "looptail G" is...

]

Semi-Vowels (Glides)

(Figure 2: Sauk Semi-vowel chart - adapted from Müller (1994))
Please note that Müller (1994) uses the American Phonetic transcription of the palatal glide, /y/, in her article, but the International Phonetic Alphabet is used for the above chart, transcribing the phoneme as /j/

Palatal approximant

The palatal approximant is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is '...

Vowels

(Figure 3: Sauk vowel chart - adapted from Müller (1994))
Vowel length is important in the Sauk language. Müller presents four vowels, each with two allophones (1994):

/ɑ/ → [ɑ, ɑː]

/e/

Close-mid front unrounded vowel

The close-mid front unrounded vowel, or high-mid front unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ....

→ [e, eː]

/i/

Close front unrounded vowel

The close front unrounded vowel, or high front unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ....

→ [i, iː]

/o/ → [o, oː]

(Müller 1994)

Syllables & Morphology

Sauk is a polysynthetic language

Polysynthetic language

In linguistic typology, polysynthetic languages are highly synthetic languages, i.e., languages in which words are composed of many morphemes. Whereas isolating languages have a low morpheme-to-word ratio, polysynthetic languages have extremely high morpheme-to-word ratios.Not all languages can be...

– affixes are used to modify words. Because of this, in the Sauk orthography, words are written by separating out each syllable, to aid in language learning.

Both the Sac and Fox languages are known for “swallowing” syllables that are in word-final position, which can make identification of individual sounds more difficult for the language learner. (Müller 1994)

Orthography

Two samples of written Sauk language, as they appear in Müller (1994):
Ho! Ne nu ta ma!

'Hi! I speak Sauk!'
Ni swi me cli ke a ki a la se te ke wa ki a la te ki ki

e ka ta wi ke mi yak i e we li ke mi ya ki ne ko ti

me cle ke a e cla gwe ne mo tti wi ne li wi tti cle we na

li ta ske wa ne li se ke

"Two turtles were sunning on a bank when a thunderstorm approached. When it began to rain, one turtle said to the other, 'I don’t want to get wet,' and jumped into the lake."

Geographical names

Lake Osakis

Lake Osakis is a lake in Todd and Douglas counties in west-central Minnesota. The town of Osakis is situated on the southwest shore of the lake.-Name:...

in west-central Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, the Sauk River

Sauk River (Minnesota)

The Sauk River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 90 mi long in central Minnesota in the United States. It drains small lakes in Stearns County...

, which flows from Lake Osakis, and the towns of Osakis, Sauk Centre, and Sauk Rapids all were named for association historically with a small party of Sac who made camp on the shores of Lake Osakis. They had been banished from their tribe for murder. According to Ojibwa

Ojibwa

oral tradition, these five Sac were killed by local Dakota

Sioux

The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...

in the late 18th century.

Place names with "Sauk" references include:

Iowa: Sac City
Sac City, Iowa
Sac City is a city in and the county seat of Sac County, Iowa, United States, located in the rolling hills along the valley of the North Raccoon River, in one of America's prime agricultural regions. U.S. Route 20 bisects the city, forming its Main Street, and the city is one of 45 designated Main...

, Sac County
Sac County, Iowa
-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 10,350 in the county, with a population density of . There were 5,429 housing units, of which 4,482 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, and Sac Township.

Illinois: Sauk Village
Sauk Village, Illinois
Sauk Village is a village in Cook County and small parcel south of 231st St. in Will County, Illinois. The population was 10,411 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Sauk Village is located at ....

; Sauk Valley: The cities of Dixon
Dixon, Illinois
Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 at the 2000 census. Named for its founder, John Dixon , it is the county seat of Lee County. Located on the Rock River, Dixon was the boyhood home of former U.S...

, Sterling
Sterling, Illinois
Sterling is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,370 at the 2010 census, down from 15,451 at the 2000 census. Formerly nicknamed "The Hardware Capital of the World", Sterling has long been associated with manufacturing and the steel...

, Rock Falls
Rock Falls, Illinois
Rock Falls is a city in Whiteside County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,266 at the 2010 census, down from 9,580. The city is located on the Rock River.- Geography :Rock Falls is located at ....

and the surrounding area; Sauk Trail
Sauk Trail
Sauk Trail began as a Native American trail running through Illinois, Indiana and Michigan in the United States. From west to east, the trail ran from Rock Island on the Mississippi River to the Illinois River near modern Peru then along the north bank of that river to Joliet, and on to Valparaiso,...

, a winding road south of Chicago, said to follow an old Indian trail.

Michigan: The name of Saginaw is believed to mean "where the Sauk were" in Ojibwe; Saginaw Trail
Saginaw trail
Saginaw Trail is the collective name for a set of connected roads in Southeastern Michigan that runs from Detroit to Saginaw through Pontiac and Flint. It was originally a tribal foot trail. On December 7, 1818 the Michigan Territorial government authorized the building of a road from Detroit to...

is said to follow an ancient American Indian trail.

Minnesota: City of Sauk Centre
Sauk Centre, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,930 people, 1,616 households, and 1,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,057.2 people per square mile . There were 1,709 housing units at an average density of 459.7 per square mile...

, Le Sauk
Le Sauk Township, Minnesota
Le Sauk Township is a township in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,880 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water. The residents have a St...

and Little Sauk
Little Sauk Township, Minnesota
Little Sauk Township is a township in Todd County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 769 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.8 square miles , of which, 34.2 square miles of it is land and...

townships.

Missouri: Sac Township.

North Dakota: Sauk Prairie and Sauk Valley Township.

Wisconsin: Prairie du Sac
Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin
Prairie du Sac is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,231 at the 2000 census. The village is surrounded by the Town of Prairie du Sac, the Wisconsin River, and the village of Sauk City; together, Prairie du Sac and Sauk City are referred to as Sauk...

, Sauk City
Sauk City, Wisconsin
Sauk City is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,109 at the 2000 census. The first incorporated village in the state, the community was founded by Agoston Haraszthy and his business partner, Robert Bryant...

, Saukville, Sauk County
Sauk County, Wisconsin
Sauk County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 55,225. Its county seat and largest city is Baraboo. Sauk County is included in the Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area and in the Madison Combined Statistical Area....

and Ozaukee County.

Notable people

Black Hawk
Black Hawk (chief)
Black Hawk was a leader and warrior of the Sauk American Indian tribe in what is now the United States. Although he had inherited an important historic medicine bundle, he was not one of the Sauk's hereditary civil chiefs...
Keokuk
Keokuk (Sauk chief)
Keokuk was a chief of the Sauk or Sac tribe in central North America noted for his policy of cooperation with the U.S. government which led to conflict with Black Hawk, who led part of their band into the Black Hawk War...
Do-Hum-Me
Do-Hum-Me
Do-Hum-Me was the daughter of the chief of the Sac Native American tribe.In 1843, she accompanied her father in a trip east to Princeton, New Jersey for treaty negotiations. While there, she met and fell in love with an Iowa tribe representative named Cow-Hick-Kee. They married and soon...
Quashquame
Quashquame
Quashquame was a Sauk chief; he was the principal signer of the 1804 treaty that ceded Sauk land to the United States government...
Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...

External links

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