Neighboring Powwows

MESQUAKIE POWWOW TAMA IOWA

The Sac & Fox claimed the entire Illinois River Valley going back to ancient times. They signed the treaties for the land we live on here. They were BlackHawk's People, and at the end of the BlackHawk War, they were removed to the Sac and Fox Reservation in Oklahoma. The Fox indians, or Mesquakie in their language, saved their

allotment monies, and with the help of a lawyer in Iowa, and neighbors who rallied to their support were able to buy back a portion of their land at Tama, Iowa, where their burial grounds were located. Their story is a fascinating one, they are the only tribe in the U.S. who ever bought back their land to live on it "in common". The Annual Powwow has been held for nearly 100 years, and is easy to reach from I-80, near Iowa City.

Pictured above is Allan Youngbear standing near the display of his uncle Ray Youngbears books and art work. Ray is the very famous Mesquakie writer, artist and poet. See links to him elsewhere on this site. Allan's Uncle George was Chief of the entire Lakota Nation at the time of the repatriation for the Black Hills. Allan was a teacher at Pine Ridge, S.Dakota, and later worked in Washington at the B.I.A. He has since retired and now runs the casino at the Tama Settlement. Allan was an excellent friend to the author, and a very fine person from an illustrious family.