Lakota people
Yanktonai)[6] |
Lakota transl. "ally" or "friend" | |
---|---|
People | Lakȟóta Oyáte |
Language | Lakȟótiyapi Wíyutȟapi |
Country | Lakȟóta Makóce, Očhéthi Šakówiŋ |
The Lakota (pronounced
The seven bands or "sub-tribes" of the Lakota are:
- Sičháŋǧu (Brulé, Burned Thighs)
- Oglála("They Scatter Their Own")
- Itázipčho (Sans Arc, Without Bows)
- Húŋkpapȟa (Hunkpapa, "End Village", Camps at the End of the Camp Circle)
- Mnikȟówožu (Miniconjou, "Plant Near Water", Planters by the Water)
- Sihásapa ("Blackfeet” or “Blackfoot")
- Oóhenuŋpa (Two Kettles)
Notable Lakota persons include Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (Sitting Bull) from the Húnkpapȟa, Maȟpíya Ičáȟtagya (Touch the Clouds) from the Miniconjou; Heȟáka Sápa (Black Elk), Maȟpíya Lúta (Red Cloud), and Tamakhóčhe Theȟíla (Billy Mills) - all Oglála; Tȟašúŋke Witkó (Crazy Horse) from the Oglála and Miniconjou, and Siŋté Glešká (Spotted Tail) from the Brulé. Activists from the late twentieth century to present include Russell Means (Oglála).
History
In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, Dakota-Lakota speakers lived in the upper Mississippi Region in territory now organized as the states of
Early Lakota history is recorded in their
Around 1730
The Lakota population was estimated at 8,500 in 1805; it grew steadily and reached 16,110 in 1881. They were one of the few Native American tribes to increase in population in the 19th century, a time of widespread disease and warfare. By 2010 the number of Lakota had increased to more than 170,000,[11] of whom about 2,000 still spoke the Lakota language (Lakȟótiyapi).[12]
After 1720, the Lakota branch of the Seven Council Fires split into two major sects, the Saône, who moved to the Lake Traverse area on the South Dakota–North Dakota–Minnesota border, and the Oglála-Sičháŋǧu, who occupied the James River valley. However, by about 1750 the Saône had moved to the east bank of the Missouri River, followed 10 years later by the Oglála and Brulé (Sičháŋǧu).
The large and powerful
Initial United States contact with the Lakota during the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804–1806 was marked by a standoff. Lakota bands refused to allow the explorers to continue upstream, and the expedition prepared for battle, which never came.[14]
Some bands of Lakota became the first indigenous people to help the United States Army in an inter-tribal war west of the Missouri, during the Arikara War in 1823.[15]
In 1843, the southern Lakota attacked the village of Pawnee Chief Blue Coat near the Loup in Nebraska, killing many and burning half of the earth lodges.[16] The next time the Lakota inflicted a blow so severe to the Pawnee would be in 1873, during the Massacre Canyon battle near Republican River.[17]
Nearly half a century later, after the United States had built
The U.S. government did not enforce the treaty restriction against unauthorized settlement, and Lakota and other bands attacked settlers and even emigrant trains as part of their resistance to this encroachment. Public pressure increased for the U.S. Army to punish them. On September 3, 1855, 700 soldiers under U.S. Brevet Major General William S. Harney avenged the Grattan massacre by attacking a Lakota village in Nebraska, killing about 100 men, women, and children. A series of short "wars" followed, and in 1862–1864, as Native American refugees from the "Dakota War of 1862" in Minnesota fled west to their allies in Montana and Dakota Territory. After the American Civil War increasing illegal settlement by whites on the Plains resulted in war again with the Lakota.
The Black Hills were considered sacred by the Lakota, and they objected to
The Lakota attacks on settlers and miners were met by military force conducted by such army commanders as Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer. General Philip Sheridan encouraged his troops to hunt and kill the buffalo as a means of "destroying the Indians' commissary."[20]
The allied Lakota and
A week later they defeated the
The Lakota and their allies did not get to enjoy their victory over the U.S. Army for long. The U.S. Congress authorized funds to expand the army by 2,500 men. The reinforced U.S. Army defeated the Lakota bands in a series of battles, finally ending the
In 1877, some of the Lakota bands signed a treaty that ceded the Black Hills to the United States; however, the nature of this treaty and its passage were controversial. The number of Lakota leaders who backed the treaty is highly disputed. Low-intensity conflicts continued in the Black Hills. Fourteen years later,
Today, the Lakota are found mostly in the five reservations of western South Dakota:
- Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of the Oglála, the most numerous of the Lakota bands.
- Rosebud Indian Reservation, home of the Upper Sičhánǧu or Brulé.
- Lower Brule Indian Reservation, home of the Lower Sičhaŋǧu.
- Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, home of several other of the seven Lakota bands, including the Mnikȟówožu, Itázipčho, Sihásapa, and Oóhenumpa.
- Standing Rock Indian Reservation, home of the Húŋkpapȟa and to people from many other bands.
Lakota also live on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation of northwestern North Dakota, and several small reserves in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. During the Minnesota and Black Hills wars, their ancestors fled for refuge to "Grandmother's [i.e. Queen Victoria's] Land" (Canada).
Large numbers of Lakota live in
Government
United States
Legally[22] and by treaty classified as a "domestic dependent nation" within the United States, the federally recognized Lakota tribes are represented locally by officials elected to councils for the several reservations and communities in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Nebraska. These tribes have government-to-government relationships with the United States federal government, primarily through the Bureau of Indian Affairs in the Department of Interior.
As semi-autonomous political entities, tribal governments have certain rights to independent of state laws. For instance, they may operate Indian gaming on their reservation based on the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. They operate with the federal government. These relationship are negotiated and contested.[23]
Most Lakota tribal members are also citizens of the United States. They can vote in local, state/provincial and federal elections. They are represented at the state and national level by officials elected from the political districts of their respective states and Congressional Districts.[24]
Tribal members living both on and off the individual reservations are eligible to vote in periodic elections for that tribe. Each tribe has its own requirements for citizenship, as well its own constitution, bylaws, and elections.
- The current President of the Oglala Sioux, the majority tribe of the Lakota located primarily on the Pine Ridge reservation, is Kevin Killer.
- The President of the Sičháŋǧu Lakota at the Rosebud reservation is Rodney M. Bordeaux.
- The Chairwoman of the Standing Rock reservation, which includes peoples from several Lakota subgroups including the Húŋkpapȟa, is Janet Alkire.
- The Chairman of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe at the Cheyenne River reservation, comprising the Mnikȟówožu, Itázipčho, Sihá Sápa, and Oóhenuŋpa bands of the Lakota, is Harold Frazier.
- The Chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe (also known as the Lower Sicangu Lakota), is Boyd I. Gourneau.
Canada
Nine bands of Dakota and Lakota reside in Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan, with a total of 6,000 registered members. They are recognized as First Nations but are not considered "treaty Indians". As First Nations they receive rights and entitlements through the Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada department. But because they are not recognized as treaty Indians, they did not participate in the land settlement and natural resource revenues.[27] The Dakota rejected a $60-million land-rights settlement in 2008. [28]
Independence movement
The Lakota are among tribal nations that have taken actions, participated in occupations, and proposed independence movements, particularly since the era of rising activism since the mid to late 20th century. They filed land claims against the federal government for what they defined as illegal taking of the Black Hills in the nineteenth century.
In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled in their favor and decided in
In September 2007, the United Nations passed a non-binding Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Canada,[31] the United States, Australia, and New Zealand refused to sign.[32]
On December 20, 2007, a small group of people led by American Indian Movement activist Russell Means, under the name Lakota Freedom Delegation, traveled to Washington D.C. to announce a withdrawal of the Lakota Sioux from all treaties with the United States government.[33] These activists had no standing under any elected tribal government.
Official Lakota tribal leaders issued public responses to the effect that, in the words of
Means declared "The Republic of Lakotah", defining it as a sovereign nation with property rights over thousands of square miles in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana.[36] The group stated that they do not act for or represent the tribal governments "set up by the BIA or those Lakota who support the BIA system of government".[37]
"The Lakota Freedom Delegation" did not include any elected leaders from any of the tribes.[34][35] Means had previously run for president of the Oglala Sioux tribe and twice been defeated. Several tribal governments – elected by tribal members – issued statements distancing themselves from the independence declaration. Some said that they were watching the independent movement closely.[34][35] No elected tribal governments endorsed the declaration.[34][35]
Current activism
The Lakota People made national news when
A short film, Lakota in America, was produced by Square. The film features Genevieve Iron Lightning, a young Lakota dancer on the Cheyenne River Reservation, one of the poorest communities in the United States. Unemployment, addiction, alcoholism, and suicide are all challenges for Lakota on the reservation.
Ethnonyms
This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2020) |
The name Lakota comes from the Lakota autonym, Lakota "feeling affection, friendly, united, allied". The early French historic documents did not distinguish a separate Teton division, instead grouping them with other "Sioux of the West,"
The names Teton and Tetuwan come from the Lakota name thítȟuŋwaŋ, the meaning of which is obscure. This term was used to refer to the Lakota by non-Lakota Sioux groups. Other derivations and spelling variations include: ti tanka, Tintonyanyan, Titon, Tintonha, Thintohas, Tinthenha, Tinton, Thuntotas, Tintones, Tintoner, Tintinhos, Ten-ton-ha, Thinthonha, Tinthonha, Tentouha, Tintonwans, Tindaw, Tinthow, Atintons, Anthontans, Atentons, Atintans, Atrutons, Titoba, Tetongues, Teton Sioux, Teeton, Ti toan, Teetwawn, Teetwans, Ti-t’-wawn, Ti-twans, Tit’wan, Tetans, Tieton, and Teetonwan.
Early French sources call the Lakota Sioux with an additional modifier, such as Sioux of the West, West Schious, Sioux des prairies, Sioux occidentaux, Sioux of the Meadows, Nadooessis of the Plains, Prairie Indians, Sioux of the Plain, Maskoutens-Nadouessians, Mascouteins Nadouessi, and Sioux nomades.
Today many of the tribes continue to officially call themselves Sioux. In the 19th and 20th centuries, this was the name which the US government applied to all Dakota/Lakota people. However, some tribes have formally or informally adopted traditional names: the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is also known as the Sičháŋǧu Oyáte (Brulé Nation), and the Oglala often use the name Oglála Lakȟóta Oyáte, rather than the English "Oglala Sioux Tribe" or OST. (The alternate English spelling of Ogallala is deprecated, even though it is closer to the correct pronunciation.) The Lakota have names for their own subdivisions. The Lakota also are the most western of the three Sioux groups, occupying lands in both North and South Dakota.
Reservations
Today, one half of all enrolled Sioux live off reservations.
Lakota reservations
- Oglala (Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota and Nebraska)
- Sicangu (Rosebud Indian Reservation, South Dakota) & (Lower Brule Indian Reservation, South Dakota)
- Hunkpapa (Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota and South Dakota)
- Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, South Dakota)
- Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, South Dakota)
- Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, South Dakota)
- Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, South Dakota)
Some Lakota also live on other Sioux reservations in eastern South Dakota, Minnesota, and Nebraska:
- Santee Indian Reservation, in Nebraska
- Crow Creek Indian Reservation in Central South Dakota
- Yankton Indian Reservation in Central South Dakota
- Flandreau Indian Reservation in Eastern South Dakota
- Lake Traverse Indian Reservation in Northeastern South Dakota and Southeastern North Dakota
- Lower Sioux Indian Reservation in Minnesota
- Upper Sioux Indian Reservation in Minnesota
- Shakopee-Mdewakanton Indian Reservationin Minnesota
- Prairie Island Indian Reservationin Minnesota
In addition, several Lakota live on the
See also
Notes
- ^ "Pine Ridge Agency". U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Rosebud Agency". U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Cheyenne River Agency". U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Standing Rock Agency". U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ "Lower Brule Agency". U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
- ^ Pritzker, 328
- ^ a b Pritzker 329
- ^ "History of the Dakota Tribes". www.sjsu.edu. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
- ^ "Lakota Winter Counts." Archived March 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
- ^ a b Liberty, Dr. Margot. "Cheyenne Primacy: The Tribes' Perspective As Opposed To That Of The United States Army; A Possible Alternative To 'The Great Sioux War Of 1876'". Friends of the Little Bighorn. Retrieved January 13, 2008.
- ^ [1]. Census.gov. Retrieved on May 4, 2016.
- ^ [2] Archived May 2, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Lakhota.org. Retrieved on May 4, 2016.
- ^ "Kiowas". Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Retrieved June 23, 2013.
- ^ The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, University of Nebraska.
- ^ Meyer, Roy W.: The Village Indians of the Upper Missouri. The Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras. Lincoln and London, 1977, p. 54.
- ^ Jensen, Richard E.: "The Pawnee Mission, 1834–1846", Nebraska History, Vol. 75, No. 4 (1994), pp. 301–310, p. 307, column III.
- ^ Riley, Paul D.: "The Battle of Massacre Canyon", in Nebraska History, Vol. 54, No. 2 (1973), pp. 221–249.
- ISBN 978-0-8050-6669-2
- ^ "Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868)". National Archives. September 7, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2024.
- ^ Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life, (Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1999), 141.
- ^ Kappler, Charles J.: Indian Affairs. Laws and treaties. Washington, 1904. Vol. 2, pp. 998–1004.
- ^ "The Indian Reorganization Act".
- ^ "Indian Country Diaries . History". PBS. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ^ "> News > Oglala Sioux Tribe inaugurates Cecilia Fire Thunder". Indianz.Com. December 13, 2004. Archived from the original on March 21, 2013. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
- ^ "Official Site of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe". Archived from the original on November 6, 2008.
- ^ Our Constitution & By-Laws Archived July 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Ottawa rejects claims by Dakota, Lakota First Nations, CBC News, August 1, 2007
- ^ Dakota Nations reject $60.3 M settlement offer from Ottawa Archived September 4, 2015, at the Wayback Machine, The Brandon Sun, June 26, 2008
- ^ "Race: The Price of Penance". Time. May 8, 1989. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2010.
- ^ Streshinsky, Maria. "Saying No to $1 Billion". The Atlantic. Retrieved November 25, 2017.
- ^ "Canada votes 'no' as UN native rights declaration passes". CBCNews. September 13, 2007.
Canada's UN ambassador, John McNee, said Canada had "significant concerns" over the declaration's wording on provisions addressing lands and resources
- ^ "UBB Message – ReaderRant". Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2008.
- ^ "Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US" Archived June 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Agence France-Presse news Archived August 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d Gale Courey Toensing (January 4, 2008). "Withdrawal from US treaties enjoys little support from tribal leaders". Indian Country Today. Archived from the original on May 4, 2016. Retrieved March 28, 2016.
- ^ The Daily Kos; December 23, 2007; accessed March 28, 2016
- ^ Bill Harlan, "Lakota group secedes from U.S." Archived August 23, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Rapid City Journal, December 20, 2007.
- ^ "Lakota group pushes for new nation", Argus Leader, Washington Bureau, December 20, 2007
- ^ "Native Foster Care: Lost Children, Shattered Families". NPR.org. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
References
- Andersson, Rani-Henrik & David C. Posthumus (2022). Lakĥóta: An Indigenous History, Norman: University of Oklahoma press.
- Beck, Paul N. (2013). Columns of Vengeance: Soldiers, Sioux, and the Punitive Expeditions, 1863–1864. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press.
- Christafferson, Dennis M. (2001). "Sioux, 1930–2000". In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 2, pp. 821–839). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.
- DeMallie, Raymond J. (2001a). "Sioux until 1850". In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 2, pp. 718–760). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.
- DeMallie, Raymond J. (2001b). "Teton". In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 2, pp. 794–820). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 0-16-050400-7.
- ISBN 978-0-300-21595-3.
- Matson, William and Frethem, Mark (2006). Producers. "The Authorized Biography of Crazy Horse and His Family Part One: Creation, Spirituality, and the Family Tree". The Crazy Horse family tells their oral history and with explanations of Lakota spirituality and culture on DVD. (Publisher is Reelcontact.com)
- Parks, Douglas R.; & Rankin, Robert L. (2001). "The Siouan Languages". In R. J. DeMallie (Ed.), Handbook of North American Indians: Plains (Vol. 13, Part 1, pp. 94–114). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. ISBN 978-0-16-050400-6.
- Pritzker, Barry M. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-19-513877-1.