Originating from Algonquian roots within the Eastern Woodland Culture regions, the Meskwaki people share a linguistic connection with the Sauk and Kickapoo tribes and actively work to safeguard their language.
In earlier historical periods in Iowa, the Ioway (located in northern, central, and eastern Iowa) and the Sioux (found in northwest Iowa) were the primary tribes. During the 18th century, with French assistance, the Ojibwa displaced the Sauk and Meskwaki from their ancestral lands in eastern Wisconsin.
Engaged in the Fox Wars (1701-1742), the Meskwaki resisted French forces, and by 1735, they had formed an alliance with the Sauk to repel European and other indigenous tribes. Following their displacement, they resettled along the Mississippi River in western Illinois and eastern Iowa. The forced relocation of the Sauk to the western side of the Mississippi River played a pivotal role in the Black Hawk War of 1832.
Despite the federal government's attempts to relocate them to a Kansas reservation alongside the Sauk, the Meskwaki resisted. In the 1840s, some chose to settle with the Pottawatomi in southwestern Iowa, while others remained in central Iowa along the Iowa, Cedar, and Skunk rivers.
By 1800, the Meskwaki had established a strong presence in Iowa but lost their land through a series of treaty cessions in 1845. Although the majority were relocated to reservations in Kansas and Oklahoma, some opted to remain concealed in Iowa.
On July 13, 1857, the Meskwaki officially acquired their initial 80 acres in Tama County, gaining formal federal recognition as the "Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi In Iowa." A decade later, in 1867, the United States government granted the Meskwaki residing in Iowa federal annuity payments for the first time.
Meskwaki History: Resilience and Preservation
