Tribe: Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa
Sec. 6-1101. Purpose.
The Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa has the inherent sovereign power to
regulate the family relations of its members. The authority granted to the State of Iowa to hear
private civil causes of action between members or other Indians on the Settlement does not affect
this power of the Tribe. No more important power is exercised by Indian Tribes than the power
to protect and govern the family relations of their members. The purpose of this Title is to
inform Sac & Fox Tribal members of that inherent sovereign authority and enable them to use
their own Tribal forum which will use Meskwaki values, beliefs and religion to resolve and bring
healing to Meskwaki families.
This law will remind people who come before the court and the judge hearing a matter of
the values that sustain Meskwaki life. Meskwaki people understand that we are all related. You
always have someone to turn to. Parents and children do not stand alone. We know that our
mothers’ sisters’ children are our brothers and sisters. We adopt a person into our family to take
someone’s place in our family when they have passed on. There are many ways to keep our
children in family. At birth a child is part of his father’s clan and he must learn the ways of the
clan. If a father has no name for his child, he will go to a clan leader for a name: it will be a clan
name which only can be given by the clan. Mothers have a duty to encourage children to learn
about their clan. In the case of a loss, separation or divorce a child can remain with its mother if
the clan ways will still be learned as they should by the child. These are reminders of the
foundations of Meskwaki values and beliefs.
Grandparents oftentimes have a lot to say to us about our relations and our respect for
each other. They instruct us thoroughly on what is right. If a pattern of neglect or strife develops
in a family, our grandparents have stepped in and taken their grandchildren to raise. They have
not forced the parents of those children to change, but have helped show them problems they are
facing. Things should be worked out without argument and fighting. We know that sometimes
this can take a long while; our main objective is to remove the pain from that family and preserve
that family by using our Tribal values, beliefs and religion.