Making their mark: Sac and Fox Tribes
By Mark Lane Submitted to Corner Post
Occasionally, we learn something about a neighbor, friend, co-worker, or acquaintance that reminds us that there’s much about people around us we don’t know. The revelation of qualities we failed to recognize, or achievements we were unaware of, can change our perception of (or respect for) those people and may even leave us astonished.
In this brief article, and others to follow, I will introduce you to people from our area whose story may surprise you. No doubt, many of their neighbors, friends, co-workers, and acquaintances had no idea the mark that they would make in the world.
Haven’t you wondered what it would be like to go back in time to see things as they were 100, 200 or more years ago? Sure, you have. If you were to have traveled 200 years ago around the region where Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas connect today, you’d have probably done so on horseback, on foot or by canoe. No doubt, you would have come across people of the Sauk (Sac) tribe and the Fox tribe hunting, gathering or trading with frontiersmen or one another.
The Sauks trace their ancestry to Algonquins in the northern part of present-day New York state. They came into being as a distinct tribe in the southern Great Lakes area, moving westward over time to Michigan, Wisconsin, and then southward to Illinois and Iowa. French trappers referred to people of this tribe as “Sauk” (their interpretation of a portion of the native name). English-speakers took the pronunciation to be “Sac”, and that is how we come to the common reference today.
Tribal history of the Fox also goes back to Algonquin roots. They gained prominence in the area along the Fox River in east-central Wisconsin, but later moved southwestward to what is now Iowa. Encroachment by French settlers in their homelands led to intense fighting, and the Fox fled to present-day Iowa. In time they also occupied parts of Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas. An alliance with the Sauk tribe led to the creation of the Sac & Fox Nation for a level of unified protection, while each tribe maintained their unique identities.
Important figures from these proud tribes include Chief Black Hawk (a college, a number of sports teams, including the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks and NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, as well as several military vessels, helicopter types and fighting units were named after him), Chief Wapello (a city and a county in Iowa, as well as a U.S. Navy vessel were named after him), and Chief Appanoose (a county in Iowa, townships in Illinois and Kansas, and a U.S. Navy ship were named after him). Yet, most of us are unfamiliar with any significant Sac & Fox heroes. Perhaps the following about one man and a group of men will ring a bell for you, however.
Jim Thorpe, considered by many to be the greatest known American athlete of all time, was a member of the Sac & Fox tribe. He set collegiate, amateur and professional records in multiple sports and multiple track & field events. He was a celebrated Olympic medalist, and was a standout player in professional baseball, football and basketball.
During the 1912 Olympics, Thorpe, competed in 15 events that included short-, medium- and long-distance races, as well as hurdles, long-jump, high-jump, pole vault, javelin, discus, and shot put. The fact that he won eight of those is made even more impressive considering he had never competed in some of those before and he was facing top competitors in those events from around the world. If that was not enough, his shoes were stolen during the Olympic games, so he wore two mismatched shoes for some of the competitions!
As our country was drawn into war with Germany and its Axis partners, men of the Fox tribe who enlisted in the U.S. Army were called upon to serve as “code talkers”. Using their native Meskwaki language to confound German interceptors and code-breakers, their efforts, along with those of Navajo “code talkers”, had an astounding 100% success rate and were said by many to have been one of the vital keys to Allied success in the war.
