10 YEARBOOK, PUBLIC MUSEUM, MILWAUKEE [Vol. II. 



ciled or adjusted the old beliefs to the new, and do not seem so anxious 

 to discard the paraphernalia of "paganism" as they were a few years 

 ago. 



The Sauk, according to the Handbook of the American Indians, 

 formerly numbered about 3,500. In 1909 there were 536 Sauk in Okla- 

 homa and 87 in Kansas. The period of greatest population of the tribe 

 was probably about 1650, when they first encountered the whites. 



The name "Sauk" is variously translated. The sign used in the sign 

 language means "something sprouting up," which is frequently given as 

 the meaning of the name. However, the more popular translation is 

 "Yellow Earth" as opposed to "Red Earth," the proper name of the 

 Muskwaki or Fox. Some even say that in former times the Sauk 

 painted in yellow ochre and the Fox in red, just as the moieties of the 

 Sauk today paint in black and white. The translation "Yellow Earth" 

 agrees with the explanation given by the Menomini and others .of their 

 Algonkian neighbors. 



The Indian informant from whom most of the data concerning cus- 

 toms of the tribe were gathered, was the writer's interpreter and field 

 assistant, the Reverend Wm. Harris, or Mesiwuk, ("Tree-Stripped-of- 

 Limbs,") a Sauk of the Bear gens, a nephew of Chief Keokuk, and, up 

 to within a few years, a "pagan" member of Mokohoko's band, but 

 now a convert to Christianity and Pastor of "The Only Way" Baptist 

 Church near Avery, Oklahoma. Mr. Harris is well informed upon the 

 rites of his people, having been born 77 years ago in Kansas, and hav- 

 ing been brought up as a member of a conservative family. He was 

 long an attendant or waiter at the meetings of the Medicine Lodge 

 fraternity, although not actually a member, and is, in consequence, 

 well posted as to the beliefs of the society, although naturally not so 

 deeply acquainted with its mysteries as one of the leaders. 



Additional material, especially on the rites of the Medicine Lodge, 

 was given by one ,of the chief priests or masters named "Frank Smith," 

 who resides near Shawnee, Oklahoma, and from whom several cere- 

 monial articles, among them a number of animal skin medicine bags of 

 considerable antiquity, were obtained. Some further data were added 

 by Kishamak, or "Already-Fish" of the Kwaskwami band, located near 

 Reserve, Kansas, on what was formerly the Great Nemaha Reservation. 



While now progressive in many respects, the Sauk are unusually 

 difficult to approach with regard to selling certain of their sacred ob- 

 jects, particularly the otterskin medicine bags and paraphernalia of the 

 Medicine Lodge, and their sacred war-bundles, or portable shrines con- 



