- For the abbreviation or acronym SAC, please see SAC.
The Sauks or Sacs (Asakiwaki in their own language) are a group of Native Americans whose original territory may have been along the St. Lawrence River. Pressure from other tribes drove them to Michigan around Saginaw Bay from whence they were driven by the Hurons armed with French weapons. They then occupied territory in parts of what is now Illinois and Wisconsin. Their closely allied tribe, the Fox, were noted for their hostility towards the French and fought two Fox Wars . After the second war, the Sac sheltered the remaining Fox in their camp and were subject to French attack themselves. The Sac continued moving west to Iowa and Kansas. The refusal of a band of Sac under the chief Black Hawk in 1832 to accept the continued loss of lands (in western Illinois, this time) led to their reduction in importance at the hands of General Edmund Gaines in the Blackhawk War. The Sac later moved into reservations in Oklahoma where they merged with the Fox as the Sac and Fox Nation.