Filed under: Indigenous peoples
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Article From: http://nativeamericanfirstnationshistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_black_hawk_war
“Seeing the Treaty of 1804 as illegal, the Sauk War Chief Black Hawk rebelled against American control of his homeland.”
Black Hawk (or Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak) was born in the Sauk village of Saukenuk (located near Rock Island, Illinois) in 1767. The Sauk (also spelled Sac) were both a nomadic nation (during the winter season) and a farming society (during the warm season). They maintained this duel existence and allied with other tribes to establish dominance in Illinois by the late 1700s. Among their principal allies were the Fox (also known as Meskwaki) and the Kickapoo. During the warm seasons, the Sauk lived in communities along the Rock River. In 1804, the Sauk and Fox nations were forced to leave their homelands in Illinois pursuant to a treaty signed in St. Louis. The treaty was negotiated by Indiana governor William Henry Harrison. Harrison demanded that the assembled chiefs turn over a Sauk warrior who had been accused of murdering three settlers in a border skirmish the previous year. The governor informed them that the accused warrior would be released just as soon as the tribe compensated the victims’ families, as was Sauk custom. However, Harrison then added the caveat that the tribes cede all land claims in Illinois and Wisconsin. Plying the leaders with alcohol and promising that they would be allowed to continue to use the land until settlement, Harrison won the day. In exchange for just over $2,000, the Sauk and Fox nations had surrendered their homeland. Incidentally, the warrior that was held as bond for this treaty was shot while attempting escape. As more white settlers moved into their newly acquired territory, many of the Sauk and Fox moved west to avoid them. Some, however, would not be moved.
Black Hawk did not believe that the treaty had any bearing on his people and their presence in Illinois. In his own words, “the land cannot be sold…the Great Spirit gave it to his children to live on.” This is in keeping with the belief among native groups that no one has a claim to the land; so long as it is occupied it belongs to those who work it. Furthermore, on legal grounds, Black Hawk insisted that the chiefs who signed the treaty were not empowered to do so. In response to constant demands that his remaining tribesman leave the region, Black Hawk and a dedicated group of warriors took up arms against what they viewed as an illegal occupation of their homeland. Seeing the presence of American military forces as a danger to his people, Black Hawk organized coordinated but unsuccessful attacks on Fort Madison in 1808 and again in 1811. Although he could not expel the Americans he remained steadfast in his insistence that the disputed territory was Sauk land.
A proponent of traditional Sauk religion, Black Hawk rejected the introduction of Christianity into native communities. He also had witnessed the negative impacts of alcohol, particularly with respect to the treaty of 1804, and advocated an abandonment of its use. He continued to exert his belief that the treaty was illegal and sought a means to guarantee his people’s claim on the territory in question. The War of 1812 presented an opportunity to achieve that goal. Allying with Tecumseh and the British, Black Hawk led the Sauk against the United States. Refusing to give up even after the British capitulation, he led an attack on Fort Howard in 1815, killing 15 Americans. The British withdrew from the region after word of the Treaty of Ghent reached America and Black Hawk was forced to accept defeat…but not for long. His desire to see his people once more in control of their traditional homeland would not be curtailed.
Mark C Carnes, Ed, U.S. History. (New York: MacMillan Library Reference, 1996).
Kenneth C. Davis, Don’t Know Much About History. (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2003).
UNIFIKATION MEDIA 