The Meskwaki Settlement is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Tama County Tama County is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 17,135. Its county seat is Toledo. The county was formed on February 17, 1843 and named for Taimah, a leader of the Meskwaki Indians. Geog ...

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, United States, west of Tama. It encompasses the reservation lands of the Meskwaki Nation (federally recognized as the

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 tribes of Sac and Meskwaki (Fox) peoples in the United States. The Fox call themselves ''Meskwaki'' and because they are the dominant people i ...

), one of three Sac and Fox tribes in the United States. The others are located in Oklahoma and Kansas. The settlement is located in the historic territory of the

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...

(Fox), an Algonquian people. Meskwaki people established the settlement in 1857 by privately repurchasing a small part of the land they had lost in the Sac and Fox treaty of 1842.

Government

The Nation operates a tribal school, tribal courts, public works department, and police force. As of 2009, there were about 1,300 members of this Meskwaki Tribe, of whom about 800 live on the settlement; non-tribal members, including spouses, also live on the settlement. The Meskwaki Casino Resort is located on the settlement and generates revenue for the welfare of the tribe. The tribe holds a large pow-wow at the settlement each year. Legislation in 2018 restored the Meskwaki Nation's legal jurisdiction over tribal members within the settlement boundaries. The state of Iowa continues to exercise jurisdiction over pre-2018 legal cases and non-tribal citizens on tribal land.

History

The Meskwaki traded with French colonists of the Illinois Country but were forced west by competition in the 18th-century fur trade and later United States development pressures. In the early decades of the 19th century, the Meskwaki and Sac were being forced to cede land in Iowa and nearby areas to the United States and to move west of the Missouri River, culminating in the Sac and Fox treaty of 1842. Some Meskwaki people resisted Indian removal, but they were initially unable to buy property because they were not considered citizens under Iowa law. In 1856, the Iowa state legislature passed a law permitting the Meskwaki to reside in Tama County, and Meskwaki people began to purchase land in 1857 with the state governor acting as a legal trustee. Over the following 150 years, the Meskwaki gradually expanded the settlement by purchasing nearby lands. The lands entered into federal trust in 1896. As the settlement was never formally incorporated as a city it has no official name, and was commonly called "Indian Town" or “Indian Village” into the 20th century. The anthropologist Duren Ward suggested the settlement be named "Meskwakia," but this name never caught on. The total lands owned by the tribe is called "Meskwakenuk" by the Meskwaki tribal government. In the 21st century, there are two other federally recognized Sac and Fox tribes, who have independent reservations and governments in present-day states of Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

Geography

The Meskwaki Nation owns more than in parts of Indian Village Township, Toledo Township, Tama Township, and Columbia Township. The settlement did not begin as an Indian reservation in the traditional sense, because it was privately purchased by Meskwaki people rather than being reserved by treaty or federal legislation. However, a portion of the area gained federal reservation status after 1896. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, of the Meskwaki Settlement had legal reservation status in 2020, and an additional were

off-reservation trust land In the United States, off-reservation trust land refers to real estate outside an Indian reservation that is held by the Interior Department for the benefit of a Native American tribe or a member of a tribe. Typical uses of off-reservation trust ...

. The combined reservation and off-reservation trust land had a total area of , all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census of 2020, the population of Meskwaki Settlement (including both reservation and off-reservation trust land) was 1,142. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was . There were 345 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the settlement was 85.9% Native American, 2.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.3% Asian, 0.2%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.3% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 10.5% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 8.8%

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race.

Education

The community is within the South Tama County Community School District. There is also the Sac and Fox Tribe-operated Meskwaki Settlement School (MSS), a PK-12 school. It was formed in 1938 as a merger of two Native American day schools. Typically settlement students attend the tribal school or South Tama County High School.

Notable Meskwaki

* Ray Young Bear, writerElias Ellefson, "What it Means to be a Meskwaki": Ray Young Bear interview
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Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junctio ...

,'' 4 September 1994

References

{{authority control Sac and Fox Unincorporated communities in Tama County, Iowa Unincorporated communities in Iowa Algonquian peoples 1857 establishments in Iowa Populated places established in 1857