Language Information

The Fox Indians, who number only about 500, live in eastern Iowa, near the village of Tama. neither the Sauk (Mesquakie) or the Fox live on a reservation, in fact the state of Iowa does not have a reservation. The property where they live is a settlement - which is land that is owned and purchased by them starting in the1850's. About two centuries ago they merged with the neighboring Sac, or Sauk, tribe who spoke the same language, and thus the language is sometimes referred to as Fox and Sac. The Sac Indians now live in central Oklahoma and number about 1,000. The Fox language is of the Algonkian family.

Family: North American Indian
Subgroup: Algonkian

Writing Sample

Translation

A man was lost when hunting, when hunting deer. He had just been married and he was a fine-looking man. And the woman was beautiful. Both were beautiful. It was in the fall when they married. When they had been married a short time, then it is said he went out and was lost. Soon he ceased to know whence he had come. It is a fact, so it is said, that the reason why he did not know whence he had come was because his eyes had been turned upside down by the moon. He felt terrible when he was lost. He was missed.

The One Whom the Moons Blessed