Editing Sauk people (section)

=== Precontact to 17th century ===
The Sauk, an [[Algonquian languages]] people, are believed to have developed as a people along the [[St. Lawrence River]], which is now northern New York. The precise time is unknown, but around the time of the year 1600, they were driven from the area of the [[St. Lawrence River]]. Some historians believe that the Sauk migrated to what is now eastern [[Michigan]], where they settled around [[Saginaw Bay]] (Ojibwe: ''Zaagiinaad-wiikwed'' – "Of the Outlet Bay"). For many years, the Sauk are believed to have prospered in the fertile valley of Saginaw thereafter. They had been driven west by pressure from other tribes, especially the powerful [[Haudenosaunee]], which sought control over hunting grounds in the area.

Some Ojibwe [[oral histories]] also place the Sauk in the Saginaw Valley some time before the arrival of Europeans.<ref name=umich>{{cite book|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/BAD1164.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext|title=History of Saginaw county, Michigan; together with ... portraits ... and biographies ... History of Michigan ...|last1=Leeson|first1=Michael A.|last2=Clarke|first2=Damon|date=n.d.|publisher=Michigan County Histories|access-date=October 5, 2018|archive-date=May 18, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240518142140/https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/micounty/BAD1164.0001.001/?view=toc|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.castlemuseum.org/saginaw-valley|title=Saginaw Valley|publisher=Castle Museum of Saginaw County History|access-date=2022-08-21|archive-date=August 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821235806/https://www.castlemuseum.org/saginaw-valley|url-status=live}}</ref> Sauk traditions state that the tribe occupied the vicinity of Saginaw river. (In this tradition, the name 'Saginaw' comes from the Ojibwe "O-Sauk-e-non," meaning "land of the Sauks" or "where the Sauks were.") Approximately from the years 1638 to 1640, it is believed that a fierce battle ensued, nearly annihilating the entire Sauk Tribe. According to the legend, the Ojibwe inhabited the lands north of the Saginaw Bay, and the harsher northern climate caused more difficulty in prosperity compared to that of the Sauk occupying the area of Saginaw Valley. The Ojibwe allied with the Odawa, who resided south of the Sauk, and sprung a series of attacks on the Sauk, which practically decimated their people. One such attack, the Battle of Skull Island, occurred on a peninsula in the Saginaw River, which then was called Skull Island. (Its name came from the many skulls and bones supposedly found in mounds on that island over the years.) <ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mycitymag.com/battle-of-the-flint-river-fact-or-fiction/|title=Battle of the Flint River – Fact or Fiction?|last=Hinterman|first=Peter|date=1 November 2018|access-date=March 20, 2021|archive-date=November 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108145303/http://www.mycitymag.com/battle-of-the-flint-river-fact-or-fiction/|url-status=live}}</ref> In this battle, it is said that the Sauk had used their boats to cross part of the river, escape to the island, and were temporarily free from their attackers. But when morning came, ice had solidified the river enough for the Ojibwe to cross. They killed every member of the Sauk tribe who had fled to that island besides 12 women whom they later sent west of the Mississippi River.<ref name=umich/>

But later Europeans may have mistakenly recorded the Sauk as once dwelling at this location near [[Lake Huron]]. There is little archaeological evidence that the Sauk lived in the Saginaw area.<ref name="kilar">{{cite book|last=Kilar|first=Jeremy W.|title=Saginaw's Changeable Past: An Illustrated History|location=St. Louis, Missouri, USA|publisher=G. Bradley Publishers|date=1994|page=15}}</ref> In the early 17th century, when natives told French explorer Samuel de Champlain that the Sauk nation was located on the west shore of Lake Michigan, Champlain mistakenly placed them on the western shore of [[Lake Huron]]. This mistake was copied on subsequent maps, and future references identified this as the place of the Sauk. Champlain never visited what is now Michigan.<ref name="kilar"/>

[[Anishinaabe]] expansion and the [[Wyandot people|Huron]] attempting to gain regional stability drove the Sac out of their territory. The Huron were armed with guns supplied by their French trading partners. The Sac moved south to territory in parts of what are now northern [[Illinois]] and [[Wisconsin]]. In the 17th century the Sauk also maintained close relations with the [[Potawatomi]] (Pehkînenîha or Shîshîpêhinenîha). This relation has been found by borrowings of Sauk vocabulary that appear in the [[Potawatomi language]].

In a loose coalition of tribes – including [[Dakota people|Dakota]] (Ashâha), [[Ho-Chunk people|Ho-Chunk]], Ojibwe, Odawa, Potawatomi, [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]] (Kîkâpôwa), Meskwaki (Fox), and Sauk, along with the [[Shawnee]] (Shâwanôwa), [[Cherokee]] (Shanahkîha), and [[Choctaw]] (Châkitâha) from the Southeast – they attacked the tribes of the [[Illinois Confederation]] (Mashkotêwa) and tried to invade their tribal areas. The Illinois (Inoca) became their worst common enemies. The coalition warred for years until they destroyed the Illinois Confederation.

Later they moved out on the [[prairie]] (Mashkotêwi) along the Mississippi and adopted the semi-sedentary lifestyle of [[Plains Indians]] (Mashkotêwineniwa). In addition to [[American bison|hunting buffalo]], they lived in villages, raised crops, and actively traded with other tribes. The Sauk and allied eastern tribes had to compete with tribes who already occupied this territory. Disputes and clashes arose with the Dakota, [[Pawnee people|Pawnee]] (Pânîha) and, most of all, the powerful [[Osage Nation|Osage]] (Washâsha).