The Lakota's own name for themselves was Ocheti Shakowin, the
"Seven Council Fires" or seven tribes who originally made up
their nation: The Mdewakanton, Walpeton, Wahpekute, Sisseton, Yankton,
Yanktonai and Teton. In time these groups became separated by dialect
and geography into three distinct divisions.

A Group of
Sioux, 1851. Reproduced from an Original Möllhausen Sketch
The
easternmost group, comprising the first four became the Dakota or
Santee retaining their agricultural tradition between the forks of the
Missouri and Mississippi. The second group moved west and lived
between the Missouri and James rivers. These were the Yankton and
Yanktonai who became the Nakota. The Teton or Lakota moved even
further west onto the Great Plains and divided into a further seven
sub tribes: Oglalas (Those Who Scatter Their Own), Brule (Burnt
Thighs), Miniconjou (Those Who Plant By The Stream), Sans Arcs (No
Bows) , Oohenopa (Two Kettles), Sihasapa (Blackfoot) and Hunkpapa
(Those Who Camp By The Entrance). Ideally the seven tribes united each
summer to renew the nation's unity but each tribe was self ruling and
independent.
The
word Sioux is totally meaningless and is a corruption of Nadouessioux,
a Chippewa word meaning adders or enemies. This word was corrupted by
the early French settlers to Sioux.

The
Sioux originated from the woodlands east of the Mississippi, where
they hunted, grew corn and foraged for wild nice in the lakes and
streams of the region. Their neighbours and enemies the Chippewa
acquired guns through trade with the white man through the Hudson's
Bay Company set up in 1670. With the balance of power increased in the
Chippewa's favour the Sioux found themselves pushed slowly westward,
in turn pushing the Cheyenne before them. Eventually the Lakota
arrived at the edge of the Great Plains and ventured onto them. This
meant a huge change in culture and also that the tribes already living
on the plains had to be moved out of the way. The Sioux were very
aggressive and soon pushed tribes such as the Crows west and the
Kiowas south. By the early 1700's the Sioux were firmly established on
the Great Plains.
When
the Lakota first ventured onto the plains they had no horse and walked
everywhere. Their belongings were either carried by themselves or on
small "A" shaped frames, called travois, pulled by dogs.
With the acquisition of the horse travel became quicker, hunting for
food was easier and the travois could become bigger, meaning that the
lodge poles of the tipi
could be kept and transported with the band, instead of having to
make new ones each time they camped.

Lakota Sioux
The Lakota
are the westernmost of the three Sioux
groups, occupying parts of Montana, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming.
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Fast Facts:
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Population: 70,000
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Region: Montana, North and South
Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming
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Languages: Lakota, English
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Related tribes/groups: Nakota and
Dakota Sioux
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Also called Teton, Tetonwan
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In
December 2007, Lakota activists
informed the United States State
Department of their withdrawal from
treaties signed with the U.S.
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Key Figures
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Red Cloud
Oglala
Lakota Sioux chief who battled U.S.
forces in 1860s in effort to prevent
them from establishing forts on
Bozeman Trail in Montana. Red Cloud
succeeded in forcing the United
States to honour previous treaties,
and the chief later visited
Washington, D.C.
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Crazy
Horse
Oglala
Lakota Sioux warrior who wiped out
General George A. Custer's 7th
Cavalry at the Battle of the Little
Big Horn in 1876.
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Sitting Bull
Chief of Lakota whose resistance to
United States encroachment on tribal
lands. Sitting Bull later performed
as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West
Show. He was assassinated in
December 1890 by police who
attempted to suppress the Ghost
Dance movement. Only two weeks
later, the Wounded Knee Massacre
resulted in the deaths of 153 Lakota
men, women, and children.