The Meskwaki (Fox) occupied ancestral territory in the western Great Lakes region. Like most other ALGON-QUIANS, they are classified as a Woodland people of the Northeast Culture Area (see NORTHEAST INDIANS). They typically located their villages along river valleys where the soil was rich enough for crops. Their Native name, Meskwaki (also spelled Mesquaki or Mesquakie), pronounced mes-KWAK-ee, means “red earth people,” after the reddish soil in their homeland. (The name of their neighbors and allies, the SAC, is derived from an Algonquian word for “yellow earth people.”) Their alternate, more widely known, name—after the animal and pronounced as spelled—possibly was the symbol of a particular clan and mistakenly applied to the entire tribe by Europeans.
Meskwaki courting flute
The Meskwaki are also sometimes classified as PRAIRIE INDIANS, because they lived near the prairies of the Mississippi valley, with its tall, coarse grasses and few trees and its herds of buffalo.
Being seminomadic, the Meskwaki could take advantage of both forests and prairies. During the summer, they lived in villages of bark-covered houses and raised corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, and tobacco; during the winter, they tracked herds of game and lived in portable wigwams.
The Meskwaki and other tribes of the western Great Lakes region sometimes are referred to as the “people of the calumet” because they used calumets, or sacred pipes, in their ceremonies. The Indians placed tobacco, or kin-nikinnik, a mixture of tobacco and willow bark, in the pipe bowls carved from pipestone (catlinite); then they inhaled the burning matter through long wooden or reed stems.
The Meskwaki had three kinds of leader: the peace chief, the war chief, and the ceremonial leader. The first position was the only one that was hereditary, passed on from father to son. The peace chief kept peace within the tribe and was in charge at councils when village matters were discussed. On these occasions, the calumets were decorated with white feathers and were truly “peace pipes,” the popular name for the long Indian pipes.
A war chief was chosen for each military campaign by his peers on the basis of fighting skills and visions. He would be in charge at councils when matters of war were discussed. On these occasions, the calumets would be decorated with red feathers.
The ceremonial leader, or shaman, instructed others in religious rituals. These ceremonies had many purposes, such as making game plentiful, or helping crops grow, or curing the sick. On these occasions, participants would smoke sacred pipes.
Historically, the Meskwaki are most closely associated with Wisconsin. The territory where they first had contact with non-Indians in the 1600s, along the Fox River named after them, is now part of that state. But the Meskwaki might have earlier lived east of Lake Michigan in what is now the state of Michigan.
The Meskwaki were the only sizable Algonquian tribe to make war on the French during the early part of the French and Indian wars, especially in the 1720s and 1730s. Most of the other Algonquians sided with the French against the British. The Meskwaki followed a different path, however, because they were traditional enemies of the CHIPPEWA (ojibway), who maintained close ties with the French. The Meskwaki demanded tolls in the form of trade goods from any outsiders who passed along the Fox River, which angered the French. The French and Chippewa launched a campaign against them and drove them down the Wisconsin River to new homelands.
It was during this period, in 1734, that the Meskwaki joined in an alliance with the Sac, one that has lasted to present times. Starting in 1769, the two tribes plus others drove the ILLINOIS from their lands, and some Meskwaki moved farther south into what has become the state of Illinois. In 1780, Meskwaki also formed a temporary alliance with the SIOUX (DAKOTA, LAKOTA, NAKOTA) to attack the Chippewa at St. Croix Falls, but in this conflict they were defeated.
After the American Revolution and the birth of the United States, Meskwaki history closely follows that of their permanent allies, the Sac. The Meskwaki were active in Little Turtle’s War of 1790—94 (see MIAMI) and Tecumseh’s Rebellion of 1809—11 (see SHAWNEE). Meskwaki warriors also fought alongside the Sac under the Sac chief Black Hawk in the famous Black Hawk War of 1832, the final Indian war for the Old Northwest. Today, the two tribes share reservations and trust lands in Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma under the official name of the Sac and Fox. The Sac and Fox of the Mississippi in Iowa also use the name Meskwaki Nation since most of their people are Meskwaki.
When the Meskwaki were moved from their ancestral lands, many of their traditions and teachings were lost. The government implemented the Sac and Fox
Agency that encouraged modern farming and created Christian missionary schools where they were not allowed to practie their Native religion or speak their Native language. A constitutional government replaced the traditional clan leadership. Yet family gatherings, sporting events, arts, and crafts are still a part of everyday life and help preserve tribal identity.
World History
