Sac and Fox Nation
The Sac (Sauk) and Meskwaki (Fox) are two closely allied Algonquian-speaking nations whose combined territory spanned the upper Mississippi River valley, including present-day Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri. Though distinct peoples, they formed a powerful confederation through intermarriage and military alliance. The Sac and Fox signed numerous treaties with the United States, beginning with the controversial 1804 Treaty of St. Louis, which the nations later disputed as unauthorized. These treaties ceded vast territories in the upper Midwest and ultimately led to the Black Hawk War of 1832. Today, the Sac and Fox maintain tribal governments in Oklahoma, Iowa, and Kansas-Nebraska.
Portrait: George Catlin, "Múk-a-tah-mish-o-káh-kaik, Black Hawk, Prominent Sac Chief," 1832. Smithsonian American Art Museum.
