The History of the Sac and Fox Nation

The Sac and Fox Nation are a people with rich and diverse history. The Sac and Fox is composed of three federally recognized bands:

The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri, owners and operators of the Sac & Fox Casino, consist of 442 enrolled Tribal members who reside in 25 states. The Nations owns approximately 1,446 acres of land primarily used for farming. The Sac and Fox Casino uses some of this land base just off of Highway 75 in northeast Kansas.

The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri is governed by a Tribal Council of five Tribal members who are elected by the General Council. The Nation is also governed by its own Constitution. Each year, the Nation celebrates its history and the future by hosting the annual Pow-Wow the last weekend in August at the Sac and Fox Casino.

The Sac (Sauk) and Fox were originally two distinct groups. The Sauk were called the “People of the Yellow Earth which distinguished them from the Foxes who were called “Red Earth People. During the 1700's, a French attack on the Foxes encouraged the alliance and unification of the two tribes thus forming the Sac and Fox Nation.

Many significant events have changed the course of the Sac and Fox Nation through the years:

• 1804

  The Treaty of 1804 ceded Sac and Fox land to the United States

• 1815

  The Treaty of 1815 officially named the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri as a distinct Tribe and they were removed to northeast Missouri from Iowa and Illinois

• 1824

  The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri was removed to the Platte Valley northwest of the Missouri River along with the Iowa, Potawatomi and Kickapoo tribes

• 1832

  The famous Sauk, Black Hawk, led part of the Sac and Fox into war against the United States

• 1837

  The Treaty of 1837 removed the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri into Kansas, across the Missouri River to the Great Nemaha reservation in Doniphan and Brown Counties. The Missouri band became officially known as the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska

• 1854

  The Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri ceded half of the tract assigned to them to the United States government, further reducing the reservation land base

• 1893

  The Dawes Act divided the reservation land into individual allotments