MESKWAKI MESQUAKIE However you spell it, It’s All About The Generations

When white settlers came to the Iowa territory, they found 6 primary tribes. The Dakota (Sioux), the Iowa, the Mesquakie (united Sauk [Sac] and Fox), the Winnebago and the Potawatami. The Sioux inhabited the northwest area of Iowa; the Iowa were located along the Des Moines River. The Mesquakie, originally from the Illinois and Wisconsin territories remained in the east. The Winnebago, also from the Wisconsin territory were temporarily placed in the northeast corner of the Iowa territory prior to being moved into the Nebraska territory in the 1850s. The Potawatami, originally from the Lake Huron area, were moved to southwestern Iowa.

Meskwaki, "the people of red earth,” are of the Eastern Woodland Culture of Algonquian origin. Early French explorers mistook a clan name for that of the entire tribe and began referring to them as the "Renard" (French for Fox).

The woodland tribes of eastern Iowa lived in communities of wickiups. Made of tall flexible saplings driven into the ground, bent over, they are tied together near the top. This dome-shaped framework was covered with large overlapping mats of woven reeds or grasses. Women gardened, harvested fruits and nuts. Men hunted and fished. Because of this more rural and less transient lifestyle, the Mesquakie were able to withstand the advancing interference brought by settlers and the government.

However, due to an inability to comprehend land ownership, from 1824-1851, most Tribes sold all the land within the boundaries of the territory to the federal government for approximately 11 cents an acre. This land was then offered to white settlers for $1.25 per acre. (Iowa, the 29th state, was admitted to the Union December 28, 1846)

1,271 Meskwaki left Fort Des Moines for relocation on a reservation in the Kansas Territory. For the next 23 years they remained scattered. The tribe would not officially be back together as a single tribal entity until 1867.

Eighty Mesquakie petitioned to remain in Iowa rather than move to Kansas. Their persistent refusal to abandon their homes along with their rudimentary understanding of the legal and economic systems of the white settlers was unique among the Nations. In 1856 the State of Iowa gave permission for the them to remain in Iowa. At the same time in Kansas, the Government declared the Sauks and the Mesquakies were to move again, this time to an Oklahoma reservation. The Mesquakies felt they belonged in Iowa and decided to try to return.

In 1857, the Mesquakie Tribal Chief, with $735 raised from the his peoples, petitioned Iowa Governor James Grimes to allow the tribe to purchase their own land in Iowa. They purchased 80 acres in Tama County. (By my math, that’s about $9.19/acre – what happened to the 11 cents per acre price….end of editorial comment!)

Most Meskwaki were still in Kansas and over the next 10 years, small groups escaped back to Iowa before and during the Civil War. Iowa was more concerned about protecting its borders from Confederate soldiers roaming nearby Missouri and Kansas and didn’t "worry about a few Indians trying to return to Iowa.” The villages and tribal members that had remained hidden starting coming to Tama County, named for 19th century Meskwaki Chief Taimah.

In 1859, on the reservation, Moses Keokuk signed a treaty selling a large part of the Sauk and Mesquakie reservation. He failed to consult with the Mesquakie and a 125 year agreement between the Sauk and the Mesquaki failed. 300 Mesquaki sold their horses and went back to Iowa.

Now on land of their own, not a reservation, they struggled without government assistance for many years. They continued to farm in the summer, trap and hunt in the winter and trade their goods. This gave them freedom to continue and pass on their social and religious customs for the next generations.

The Iowa Legislature, in 1896, voted to turn trusteeship and responsibility for the tribe over to the U.S. Department of Interior.

By 1900 the Settlement along the Iowa River had grown to 3,000 acres, with 65 families.

After an outbreak of smallpox in 1901, the federal government quarantined the Meskwaki Settlement for six months, burning all of the dwellings, clothes, and possessions and forcing them to give up their village setting and spread the families apart.

This weakened the cohesion of the Tribe. However they continued to hold their annual celebrations. In 1905, a delegation from the State Historical Society of Iowa, found that life in the Settlement was basically unchanged. Though a few frame buildings had been built, most continued living in wickiups. The schools established by the government and the missionaries had little if any effect on the life of the settlement.

Still economically impoverished in the 1940s, the tribe maintained its rich heritage by preserving their language, customs, and ceremonies . Although there were no phones, electricity or indoor plumbing, approximately 420 Mesquakie lived in frame buildings with the traditional wickiup nearby. Most meals were still cooked over the open fire.

Younger members of the tribe scattered during the war, joining the military or moving to work in war industries. Young Meskwaki men joined the Army and were trained as code talkers and assigned to Company H, the heavy weapons company of the 168th, 34th Red Bull Division.

In 2000, the new Meskwaki Settlement School was established to not only prepare students educationally, but also to preserve the language and culture of the Meskwaki Tribe. In 2001, it opened for pre-kindergarten through 8th grade. In 2007 construction started on the Meskwaki High School. The Meskwaki Settlement School system offers training in language and culture and other programs geared to adults, talented and gifted students, and students with special needs.

Today the 1,300 Tribal members hold Settlement lands in excess of 7,000 acres and are governed by a seven member Council.