The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska is one of three

federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

Native American tribes of Sac and Meskwaki (Fox) peoples. Their name for themselves is Nemahahaki ( sac, Nîmahâhaki) and they are an

Algonquian people The Algonquian are one of the most populous and widespread North American native language groups. Historically, the peoples were prominent along the Atlantic Coast and into the interior along the Saint Lawrence River and around the Great Lakes. T ...

and

Eastern Woodland The Eastern Woodlands is a cultural area of the indigenous people of North America. The Eastern Woodlands extended roughly from the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern Great Plains, and from the Great Lakes region to the Gulf of Mexico, which is now p ...

culture."Tribal History."
''Sac & Fox Casino.'' (retrieved 11 April 2010)

Government and economic development

The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri is headquartered in

Reserve, Kansas Reserve is a city in Brown County, Kansas, Brown County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 67. It is located approximately 1.5 miles south of the Nebraska-Kansas border. His ...

. Their tribal chairman is Tiauna Carnes, and their acting environmental director is Lisa Montgomery. The Sac and Fox Casino, the Boat Bar, the Chop House steak restaurant, the Deli and the Lodge buffet are all owned by the tribe and located in

Powhattan, Kansas Powhattan is a city in Brown County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 69. History Powhattan was founded about 1877. The city was named for the father of Pocahontas who resided in Jamestown, Virgin ...

Museum

The tribe operates the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri Tribal Museum, located in

. Founded in 1996, the museum exhibits tribal regalia and serves as a research center.

History

Original two distinct tribes, the Sac and Fox joined forces during the 18th century to resist attacks by the French. The Sac traditionally referred to themselves as "People of the Yellow Earth," while the Foxes called themselves "Red Earth People." Over fifty million acres of the Mississippi Valley were ceded to the United States in the Treaty of St Louis of 1804. The five signers were given a small amount of goods, were not the principal chiefs of the Sac or Fox tribal councils, and had apparently been given alcohol and were likely drunk when they signed. The Treaty was thus disputed, including through warfare, for several decades. The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri was established by an 1815 treaty, and they relocated from

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 the ...

and

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

to northeastern

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. In 1824, they moved again to the Platte Valley. Sac leader, Black Hawk led his people in a war against the United States in 1832. An 1837 treaty relocated the tribe to the Great Nemaha Reservation in Doniphan and

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

counties in

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

. After several treaties ceded more land, the

Dawes Act The Dawes Act of 1887 (also known as the General Allotment Act or the Dawes Severalty Act of 1887) regulated land rights on tribal territories within the United States. Named after Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts, it authorized the Pre ...

broke tribal lands into individual allotments. In the 1880s, 360 members lived on the

Sac and Fox Reservation The Sac and Fox Reservation of Sauk (Sac) and Meskwaki (Fox) people is a 23.639 sq mi (61.226 km²) tract located in southeastern Richardson County, Nebraska, and northeastern Brown County, Kansas. It governed by the Sac and Fox Nation of Mi ...

, consisting of a 61.226 km² (23.639 sq mi) tract in southeastern

Richardson County, Nebraska Richardson County is the easternmost county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,363. Its county seat is Falls City. In the Nebraska license plate system, Richardson County is represented by the prefix 1 ...

and northeastern

Brown County, Kansas Brown County (county code BR) is a county located in the northeast portion of the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the county population was 9,508. Its county seat and most populous city is Hiawatha. Brown County is the location of ...

, near

Falls City, Nebraska Falls City is a city and county seat of Richardson County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 4,133 at the 2020 census, down from 4,325 in 2010 and 4,671 in 2000. History Falls City was founded in the summer of 1857 by James Lane, John ...

. The tribe organized in 1934 under the

Indian Reorganization Act The Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) of June 18, 1934, or the Wheeler–Howard Act, was U.S. federal legislation that dealt with the status of American Indians in the United States. It was the centerpiece of what has been often called the "Indian ...

. The reservation had a resident population of 217 people at the 2000 census. During the period from the 1940s - 1960s, in which the

Indian termination policy Indian termination is a phrase describing United States policies relating to Native Americans from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. It was shaped by a series of laws and practices with the intent of assimilating Native Americans into mainstream ...

was enforced, four

tribes, including the Sac and Fox Nation were targeted for termination. One of the first pieces of legislation enacted during this period was the

Kansas Act of 1940 The Kansas Act of 1940 addressed the means by which Congress could use its power under the Indian Commerce Clause to authorize a state's ability to exercise jurisdiction in certain instances. Because the inherent sovereignty of Indian nations genera ...

which transferred all jurisdiction for crimes committed on or against Indians from federal jurisdiction to the State of Kansas. It did not preclude the federal government from trying native people, but it allowed the state into an area of law in which had historically belonged only to the federal government. On 1 August 1953, the

US Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washingto ...

passed

House Concurrent Resolution 108 House concurrent resolution 108 (HCR-108), passed August 1, 1953, declared it to be the sense of Congress that it should be policy of the United States to abolish federal supervision over American Indian tribes as soon as possible and to subjec ...

which called for the immediate termination of the Flathead,

Klamath Klamath may refer to: Ethnic groups *Klamath people, a Native American people of California and Oregon **Klamath Tribes, a federally recognized group of tribes in Oregon *Klamath language, spoken by the Klamath people Places in the United States * ...

Menominee The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

, and

Turtle Mountain Chippewa The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians (Ojibwe language: ''Mikinaakwajiw-ininiwag'') is a Native American tribe of Ojibwa mixed heritage people, who would be considered Metis if they were Canadian, based on the Turtle Mountain Indian Res ...

, as well as all tribes in the states of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

. Termination of a tribe meant the immediate withdrawal of all federal aid, services, and protection, as well as the end of reservations. A memo issued by the Department of the Interior on 21 January 1954 clarified that the reference to "Potawatomi" in the Resolution meant the

, the Kickapoo, the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska and the

tribes in Kansas. Because jurisdiction over criminal matters had already been transferred to the State of Kansas by the passage of the

the government targeted the four tribes in Kansas for immediate termination. In February, 1954 joint hearings for the Kansas tribes were held by the House and Senate Subcommittees on Indian Affairs. The

Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation ( pot, Mshkodéniwek, formerly the Prairie Band of Potawatomi Indians) is a federally recognized tribe of Neshnabé (Potawatomi people), headquartered near Mayetta, Kansas. History The ''Mshkodésik'' ("People of t ...

tribal leader,

Minnie Evans Minnie Eva Evans (December 12, 1892 – December 16, 1987) was an African American artist who worked in the United States from the 1940s to the 1980s. Evans used different types of media in her work such as oils and graphite, but started with us ...

(Indian name: Ke-waht-no-quah Wish-Ken-O) led the effort to stop termination. Tribal members sent petitions of protest to the government and multiple delegations went to testify at congressional meetings in Washington, DC. Tribal Council members Vestana Cadue, Oliver Kahbeah, and Ralph Simon of the

Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas The Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas is one of three Federally recognized tribes of Kickapoo people. The other Kickapoo tribes in the United States are the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas and the Kickapoo Tribe ...

traveled at their own expense to testify as well. The strong opposition from the Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes helped them, as well as the Sac & Fox and the

Iowa Tribe The Iowa, also known as Ioway, and the Bah-Kho-Je or Báxoje (English: grey snow; Chiwere: Báxoje ich'é) are a Native American Siouan people. Today, they are enrolled in either of two federally recognized tribes, the Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma an ...

, avoid termination.

Notes

External links

Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri
{{authority control Sac and Fox Great Lakes tribes Native American tribes in Kansas Native American tribes in Nebraska Federally recognized tribes in the United States

Government and economic development

Museum

History

See also

Notes

External links