An Analysis of Migration Patterns

The Tribal Migrations of the Sauk

MigrationDefinition:

• The permanent change of residence by an individual or group

Types of Migration

1) Voluntary: undertaken in search of better economic opportunities or housing

2) Forced: people expelled out of their residence usually by government and transported somewhere else

Extreme Forced Migrations• Coerced movements of some people

– Diaspora– Transatlantic Slave Trade– The United States Internal Slave Trade– U.S. Indian Removal– Immigrant Deportation

• Patterns of African American, Native American, and Mexican American Migrations– Runaway Slaves– African American Colonization– Movements from and back to Indian reservations– Mexican American Sojourners

Types of Voluntary Migration• Divides factors causing migrations into two

groups:

1) Push factors

2) Pull factors• Push factors represent unappealing aspects of life

where one lives; things pushing you away

• Pull factors attract one to another area; things pulling you to a new location

Three Factors for Analysis• Force…> Was the migration coerced or

freely chosen?

• Push Factors…> Why did people want to leave?

• Pull factors…> What drew people to a new place?

Examples of Push/Pull FactorsPush factors

• War• Conscription• Not enough jobs• Desertification, Drought,

Natural disasters, Pollution, Condemned housing, Famine

• Political fear or persecution• Slavery or forced labor• Poor medical care, Poor

housing• Loss of wealth• Lack of political or religious

freedom• Discrimination• Poor chances of marrying

Pull factors• Job opportunities

• Better living conditions

• Political and/or religious freedom

• Enjoyment

• Education

• Better medical care

• Attractive climates

• Security

• Family links

• Industry

• Variables- - - - - ++- - - - - +- - - - - +

+ + + + + _+ + + - + ++ + - + + +

Destination Origin

Intervening

History of the Sauk and Mesquakie Tribes

Early Migrations

Pre-European Contact

According to Sauk and Mesquakie oral traditions, their tribes originally lived on the east coast, possibly in the modern-day Massachusetts-New Jersey area.

Prior to 1600 The Sauk &

Mesquakie tribes had migrated to the area near the present-day Michigan-Canadian border.

Was the migration forced or voluntary? What are the push/pull factors?

Iroquois Wars

By the end of the 1640’s, pressure from the powerful Iroquois Confederacy over the fur trade pushed the Sauk and Mesquakie tribes west near present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin. Was the migration forced or voluntary? What are the push/pull factors?

Fox Wars 1712-1738 During these wars

against the French, the Sauk were greatly weakened & the Mesquakie nearly annihilated. By 1738, the Sauk & Mesquakie had intermingled & moved near the Wisconsin River. Was the migration forced or voluntary? What are the push/pull factors?

French and Indian War In the mid 1760’s, shortly

after siding with the losing French against the British in the French and Indian War, Sauk scouts reported favorable lands to the south with only the weak Kaskaskia tribe to overcome.Was the migration forced or voluntary? What are the push/pull factors?

Saukenuk: City of the Sauk

The Sauk and Mesquakie tribes quickly moved into the Rock River Valley and pushed the Kaskaskia out. They established a major village, Saukenuk, at the confluence of the Rock and Mississippi rivers. Although the Sauk and Mesquakie had many villages in the area, Saukenuk became their people’s population center and the tribes’ spiritual home.

Saukenuk: Center of the World

Saukenuk was located on the north bank of the Rock River where it flows into the Mississippi River, about 2 miles from present day Rock Island, IL. The land was extremely fertile and the area rich in resources.Was this migration forced or voluntary? What are the push/pull factors?

Summer Lead Mining Many women moved

north, near present-day Galena, IL, to mine lead. Since the 1700’s, lead mining had become an important part of Sauk and Mesquakie economics. Much of the lead would be traded to white traders.

Was this migration forced or voluntary? What are the push/pull factors?

Leaving Saukenuk After the fall trading

was completed, the Sauk and Mesquakie hid their food caches, packed, and left Saukenuk. They moved west of the Mississippi for their winter hunting and trapping grounds on the upper Iowa and Des Moines rivers.

Was this migration forced or voluntary? What are the push/pull factors?

United States Creates the Northwest Territory

After the American victory over the British in the American Revolution, the U.S. government organized it’s new territory, including Saukenuk and other Sauk and Mesquakie lands, into the Northwest Territory.

Lost Way of Life of the Sauk• Treaty of 1804: U.S. took control of millions of acres of Sauk

& Mesquakie lands, including Saukenuk & all lands in IL.

• 1822, Sauk lead mines lost to Col. James Johnson under federal mining grant

• 1822, Fur trade monopolized by Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company, took control of fur trade & put Sauk in debt

• Indian agent, Thomas Forsyth, told Sauk not to return to Saukenuk and to join the Missouri band of Sauk, west of the Mississippi River

• 1829, U.S. sold Saukenuk and 3,000 acre lands around it to fur agent, George Davenport

Was the migration forced or voluntary? What are the push/pull factors?

Triumph of Keokuk In September of 1832,

Keokuk & other Sauk and Mesquakie leaders signed another treaty at Ft. Crawford. They gave away six million more acres in present-day Iowa. The U.S. gov’t officially proclaimed Keokuk to be head civil chief of the Sauk and Fox, now banished from Illinois & Wisconsin.Was this migration forced or voluntary? What are the push/pull factors?

Descendants of Black Hawk Live On

There are currently 3 bands of Sauk and Mesquakie recognized by the U.S. government. The Missouri band has a very small reservation on the Kansas-Nebraska state line(A). There is a group that bought land in Iowa in 1859. That group now owns 5,000 acres there(B). The main Sauk and Mesquakie reservation is in Oklahoma, east of Oklahoma City(C). In these places the people, and true legacy, of Black Hawk continue.

AB

C

Aftermath of Sauk

• At the end, were the Sauk forced or voluntarily migrated? What were some push and pull factors throughout their entire move from Massachusetts to the Central Plains?