| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 3,794[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (Oklahoma) | |
| Languages | |
| English,Sauk | |
| Religion | |
| Drum Society,Native American Church, andChristianity[2][3] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| otherSauk people,Meskwaki,Kickapoo, and otherAlgonquian peoples |
TheSac and Fox Nation (Sauk language:Thâkîwaki) is the largest of threefederally recognized tribes ofSauk andMeskwaki (Fox)Indian peoples. They are based in centralOklahoma.[3]
Originally from theLake Huron andLake Michigan area, they were forcibly relocated toOklahoma in the 1870s and are predominantly Sauk.[3] The Sac and Fox Oklahoma Tribal Statistical Area (OTSA) is theland base in Oklahoma governed by the tribe.
The two other Sac and Fox tribes are theSac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa and theSac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska. The Sac and Fox tribes have historically been closely allied, and continue to be in the present day. They speak very similarAlgonquian languages, which are sometimes considered to be two dialects of the same language, rather than separate languages.
Their autonym, Thâkîwaki, is also written Thakiwaki, Othâkîwaki, and Sa ki wa ki. It translated as "people coming forth from the water".[3]
The Sac and Fox Nation is headquartered inStroud, Oklahoma,[2] and theirtribal jurisdictional area coversLincoln,Payne, andPottawatomie counties. Their Principal Chief is Audrey R. Lee.[1] A council of five elected officials, each elected for a four-year term, governs the tribe. Elections are held in August in odd-numbered years.[3]
As of 2025[update], the current administration is:[2]
Of the 3,794 enrolled tribal citizens in 2011, 2,557 live in Oklahoma. Citizenship in the tribe requires a minimum 1/8blood quantum, with proven descent to ancestors on recognized rolls.[1]
The tribe's housing authority is located inShawnee, Oklahoma. They issue their owntribal vehicle tags and operate eleven smoke shops and two casinos,[1] the Black Hawk Casino in Shawnee and the Sac and Fox Nation Casino in Stroud. The Stroud casino features the Center Sky Stage, a live entertainment venue.[4]
The Sac or Thakiwaki lived nearLake Huron andLake Michigan at the time of European contact. In 1832 they participated in theBlack Hawk War against the United States. Military leaderBlack Hawk remains a cultural hero today. After the war, the tribe relocated several times fromIllinois toIowa,Kansas, and finallyIndian Territory in the 1870s.[3]
Their current lands were part of the larger, historical Sac and Fox Reservation of 1867–1891, which was 480,000 acres (1,900 km2) and established by the United States to provide land to the tribes.[3] But by the late 19th century, U.S. policy changed again. Under theDawes Act of 1887, these tribal land holdings were divided into 160-acre allotments for individual households, intended to encourage the Native Americans to establish subsistence farming according to the European-American cultural ways. Not only did the act not recognize Native American culture, but in many places in this arid land, the allotments were too small to be farmed successfully. Their land was allotted under a June 12, 1890 agreement with theCherokee Commission. (Individual commissions were set up to manage the allotment of lands of various tribes in Native American Territory. Land remaining after the allotments was declared "surplus" by the US and sold, primarily to non-Natives.[5] Under the relatedCurtis Act of 1898, the tribal government and its institutions were dismantled.
The tribe was previously known as the Sac and Fox Tribe of Indians of the Mississippi River.[3] The Sac and Fox tribe had historically occupied large portions of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri, which they gradually ceded to the US by treaties forced by European-American encroachment. By an October 11, 1842 treaty they wereremoved out of the Midwest to a reservation in Kansas.[6] Noted diplomatJeffrey Deroine, a formerly enslaved man, served as an interpreter for this treaty.[7]
By 1889 519 of the tribe were located in Indian Territory, what is now central Oklahoma.[8] On June 10, 1890, they ceded theseIndian Territory lands to the federal government.[9]
The administration of PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt established what was called an "Indian New Deal", passing a law to encourage tribes to re-establish self-government. TheOklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1934 was passed by its legislature in a similar effort. In 1937, the Sac and Fox organized Under these laws and gained federal recognition as a tribe, with an independent relationship to the federal government. They have areas of tribal jurisdiction in Oklahoma, while no longer having a reservation.
Under their constitution, they established tribal citizenship as applying to everyone listed on the tribalDawes Rolls and their descendants, as long as individuals had a minimumblood quantum of one-eighth Sac and Fox blood (equivalent to one great-grandparent). They recognize that descendants may be brought up as culturally Sac and Fox while having mixed ancestry.[10]
The tribe has become increasingly active in asserting its sovereignty since the late 20th century. In 1983, the tribal government established its own system for registering vehicles and issuing license plates for tribal citizens. The state of Oklahoma tried to collect registration fees anyway, and the tribe sued. The US Supreme Court ruled in the tribe's favor of its independent sovereignty on May 17, 1993, inOklahoma Tax Commission v. Sac & Fox Nation. Other tribes have since established their own systems for vehicle registration on tribal lands. The Sac and Fox Nation celebrate May 17 as "Victory Day."[3]
Tribal officials have concentrated on the federal management of trust land fees and environmental issues on their land that has been leased for oil production. On May 16, 1989, a tribal representative group that included Elmer Manatowa, Principal Chief; Truman Carter, Treasurer; William Rice, Attorney General; James L. Welsh III, Director of Real Estate; and Curtis Cunard, Petroleum Consultant, testified before the 101st Congress, Special Committee on Investigations of the Select Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. The testimony examined the federal government's management of water and natural resources of the Sac and Fox Nation. They testified to the extensive surface damage and permanent contamination of the tribal drinking water, which was destroyed by waterflooding techniques and the injection well process used by the oil companies. These officers also testified to the lack of federal oversight and trust management responsibilities, including fraudulent real estate appraisals of their lands. This historic testimony by the tribe's representatives, the result of their internal investigations, revealed the extensive mismanagement of theBureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and its failure in carrying out trust responsibilities.
This was one of a series of suits by tribes against the government on the financial management of trust land fees. As a result, the BIA has made significant trust management changes. Through the courts, the US and the Sac and Fox Nation came to historic financial settlements in compensation for some of the damage.[citation needed]
The Sauk and Foxes signed a number of treaties with the United States Government in the nineteenth century, often signed with other tribal nations and involved relocation.
