Yankton Sioux Tribe
Western Dakota people |
The Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota is a
Historically, the tribe is known for being the protectors of the sacred Pipestone Quarry for the Oceti Sakowin (Dakota).
The tribe maintains a free-ranging bison herd.[6]
Government
The tribe's headquarters are in Wagner, South Dakota,[6] and it is governed by a democratically elected non-Indian Reorganization Act tribal council. Its original constitution was ratified in 1891.[8]
It is the only Dakota/Lakota tribe in South Dakota that did not agree to comply with the Indian Reorganization Act and retains its traditional government.
Officially, the Yankton Sioux Tribe is called "Ihanktonowan Dakota Oyate" in the local dialect. The Yankton Sioux, or Dakota people, adopted a unique tribal symbol on September 24, 1975. With minor alterations this symbol serves as seal, logo and flag.
Crossing the yellow portions of the flag approximately one-third from the bottom is an undulating red line. This symbolizes a "prayer" to bind the home in love and safety. Red was chosen by designer Gladys L. Moore, a Yankton Sioux from Union Lake (Ibid), Michigan, because it is a symbol of life. The color red was painted around the lower parts of tepees to indicate that those that visited would be fed or that that particular tepee was one of several in which a feast was to be held.
Reservation
The tribe's reservation is the Yankton Indian Reservation, established in 1853 in Charles Mix County, South Dakota. The tribe has a land base of 36,741 acres (148.69 km2).[9] Most of the tribe moved onto the reservation in the 1860s.[10]
The Yankton treaty of 1858 created a Yankton Sioux Reservation one mile square at the Pipestone quarry in Minnesota. The Yankton people are credited with protecting the quarry from white settlement and the creation of the Pipestone National Monument that now exists where the reservation once was.
Economic development
The tribe owns and operates the Fort Randall Casino and Hotel in Pickstown, South Dakota, and Lucky Lounge and Four Directions Restaurant.[11]
Other major employers include
Treaties and land cession
The first treaty the United States signed with the Yankton people took place at
For about 11.5 million acres (47,000 km2), a payment of approximately $1.6 million ($43.9 million in modern dollars
In the 1990s a dispute between the tribe and the state led to the reservation's reduction to its current size. The state had issued a permit for a new
Archery
Archery reached an equital technology with the Yankton Sioux. Made from local materials, the tribe used bows and arrows to hunt deer, antelope and small game. Reportedly, the Yankton could kill a bison with each arrow in a quiver.[19]
Bows
Another example of a Yankton bow
Arrows The
Quivers and case A Sioux quiver and bow case was donated to the archives in 1892.[22] It is brain tanned buckskin with beadwork at the top and bottom. There is fringe as well at the top and bottom, and they are sewn with sinew. The quiver is 26.5 inches long, and the bow case is 46 3/8 inches long.[19]
Transportation system
Headquarters | Wagner, South Dakota |
---|---|
Locale | bus service, paratransit |
Stops | 17 |
Fleet | 3 (2020) |
Website | www |
YST Transit, short for Yankton Sioux Tribe Transit, and otherwise known as Ihanktowan Transit is the provider of
Fixed route ridership
The ridership and service statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response.[24]
Ridership | Change | |
---|---|---|
2014 | 25,125 | n/a |
2015 | 12,055 | 52.02% |
2016 | 12,541 | 4.03% |
2017 | 12,840 | 2.38% |
2018 | 15,040 | 17.13% |
2020 | 7,319 | n/a |
History
19th century
According to local legend, when Meriwether Lewis learned that a boy had been born near the expedition's encampment in southeastern South Dakota. He sent for the child and wrapped the newborn in an American flag during the council at Calumet Bluff in late August 1804. Lewis declared the baby an American. This boy grew up to become a headman (chief) of the Ihanktonwan Dakota (Yankton Sioux), known as Struck By-the-Ree. However, the journals of the expedition make no mention of this incident.[citation needed]
In December 1862 Little Crow met for a month with the leaders of the Yankton and Yanktonai. Chief Struck By-the-Ree refused to join the Mdewakanton and sent warriors to protect Fort Pierre when Little Crow talked of attacking it.[25][13] When Struck By-the-Ree learned that some of Sleepy eye's band and White Lodge's band had captives on Yankton land he paid their encampment a visit. He offered to trade a horse for each prisoner, two women, and five children, and was scoffed at. The chief informed his visitors they were on Yankton land and would be attacked if they refused his generosity.[13] One source says he was given the prisoners.[13] However, warriors of the Two Kettle Lakota secured their release.[26]
In the spring of 1863, a member of Little Crow's band, Red Cloud, was captured. He reported that Little Crow had wanted to attack Fort Pierre, but had not because the Yankton were providing the fort security.[27]
Notable tribal members
- Indigenous (band)[6]
- Ella Cara Deloria (linguist, ethnologist)
- Jacqueline Keeler (writer, activist)
- Maria Pearson (activist, "Rosa Parks of NAGPRA")
- Faith Spotted Eagle (elder, activist, and first Native American to receive an electoral vote for president)
- Struck by the Ree (Chief, Headman, Treaty Signer)
- Zitkala-Sa (writer, editor, musician, teacher and political activist)
- Heather Keeler (politician)
Gallery
-
1858 Yankton Treaty monument in disrepair
-
Probably Yankton, Sioux. Bow, Bow Case, Arrows and Quiver at the Brooklyn Museum[4]
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Running Bull - Yankton Sioux Chief signed 1858 treaty
-
Smutty Bear in 1857 also signed 1858 Yankton treaty
Notes
- ^ Pritzker 329
- ^ Pritzker 331
- ^ Pritzker 335
- ^ a b The Jarvis Collection of Native American Plains Art Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn New York
- ^ Yankton, Place Names Connected to the Chicago North Western Railway (Chicago, 1908), p. 172
- ^ a b c d e "Yankton Sioux Tribe." South Dakota Department of Tourism. 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- doi:10.16890/rstpr.
- ^ Pritzker 341
- ^ BIA website
- ^ Pritzker 340-1
- ^ "Fort Randall Casino." 500 Nations. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
- ^ a b MANAGING THE SACRED AND THE SECULAR: An Administrative History Of Pipestone National MonumentPipestone Administrative History, CHAPTER II: CLEARING FEDERAL TITLE 1858-1928, Hal K. Rothman and Daniel J. Holder, National Park Service Midwest Region (MWR-1-0015-002), Hal K. Rothman and Associates Publishing, 2809 Barrel Cactus Road, Henderson, NV, September 10, 1992 MANAGING THE SACRED AND THE SECULAR: An Administrative History Of Pipestone National MonumentPipestone Administrative History, CHAPTER II: CLEARING FEDERAL TITLE 1858-1928
- ^ a b c d The Dakota War of 1862, Columns of Vengeance, Paul N. Beck, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman OK, p.47
- ^ Pipestone Indian Reservation, National Park Service, Department of Interior, Washington D.C. updated August 29, 2020
- ^ Yankton Sioux Tribe of Indians vs. United States, 272 U.S. 351 (1926).
- Gross Domestic Product deflatorfigures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
- ^ South Dakota v. Yankton Sioux Tribe, 522 U.S. 329 (1998).
- ^ Yankton Reservation not disestablished, LAKOTA TIMES, July 2011, Lakota Times, 29263 SD Hwy 73, Box 386, Martin, SD [1]
- ^ a b c d Berger, Billy. 2010. "Treasures of the Smithsonian. Part IV. Archery of the Northern Plains: Sioux." Primitive Archer. Volume 18 (4). August–September 2010. Pages 22-29.
- ^ Smithsonian Institution Catalogue number E-8385
- ^ Smithsonian Institution Catalogue Number E-8385
- ^ Smithsonian Institution Catalogue Number E-154017
- ^ "YST Transit". Retrieved June 28, 2022.
- ^ "The National Transit Database (NTD)". Retrieved June 27, 2022.
- ^ Struck by Ree, Lives of the Chiefs and other Biographies, Witness, A Hunkpapha Strong Heart Josephine Waggoner, University Of Lincoln Press, 2013, p.657
- ^ The Wisdom of the Fool Soldiers, Michael Zimny, South Dakota Maagazine.com, Feb.6, 2019, [2]
- ^ Indian War, The Goodhue Volunteer, 22 Apr 1863, p.2, Newspapers.com, 2023,[3]
References
- Pritzker, Barry M. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-19-513877-1
External links
- Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, official website
- Yankton Sioux Reservation, Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center
- YST Transit
- "Yankton Sioux Indians". PBS.
- "Yankton Sioux Tribe Official insignia". 1998.
- "Brownfields Assessment Pilot Fact Sheet – Yankton Sioux Tribe, SD". United States Environmental Protection Agency. May 2000.