CULTURE:
The Great Sioux Nation is also called The Lakota/Dakota/Nakota Nation. The people of the Sioux Nation refer to themselves as Lakota or Dakota which means friend or ally. The United States government took the word Sioux from (Nadowesioux), which comes from a Chippewa (Ojibway) word which means little snake or enemy. The French traders and trappers who worked with the Chippewa( Ojibway) people shortened the word to Sioux.
The Oglala Sioux Tribal members are descendants of the Tetonwan Division of the Great Sioux Nation. The Lakota Nation includes Oglala, Brule, Hunkpapa, Blackfoot, Minnecoujou, No Bows and Two Kettle. The Lakotas speak an "L" dialect of Siouan language and were expert horsemen and buffalo hunters on the plains. The Yankton and Yanktonais are called the Wiceyala or Middle Sioux. Four bands of the Isanti, or Stone Knife People, including the Mdewankanton, Wahpetonwan, Wahpekute, and Sissetonwan comprise the Eastern Division of the Sioux Nation. The Yanktonias speak the "N" dialect and the Isanti speak the "D" dialect of Siouan language. The Yanktonais and the Isanti were a river-plains people who did some farming as well as buffalo hunting.
The government identified all the Tribes with similar languages as the Sioux people. The oral tradition of our people state that the Lakota and Dakota people were one nation. The Lakota people moved away and formed their own nation. The Lakota/Dakota/Nakota people still practice their sacred and traditional ceremonies which encompass the seven rites of Lakota religion brought by the White Buffalo Calf Woman.
Social activities such as powwow, rodeos, and races are celebrated in the summer months. Special powwows held for individuals who accomplished a stage in their lives such as graduation or acceptance into the armed forces with traditional honoring ceremonies, give away, and feasts to celebrate the accomplishments. The oral tradition is still passed down from the elders to the youth.
The future of our people is in the hands of our children. The children of the Great Sioux Nation will bring us into the 21st century with pride.
HISTORY:
The Oglala Sioux Tribe is part of the Great Sioux Nation of the Titowan Division.. The Great Sioux Nation recognizes our land base in accordance with the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. The Great Sioux Nation extended from the Big Horn Mountains in the west to the eastern Wisconsin. The territory extended from Canada in the north to the Republican River in Kansas in the south. The Great Sioux Nation was reduced in the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty from the Big Horn Mountains in the west to the east side of the Missouri River, the Heart River in North Dakota in the north and the Platte River in Nebraska to the south. This includes the entire western half of South Dakota.
The Black Hills are located in the center the Great Sioux Nation. The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota/ Dakota people and today considered an important part of our spiritual lives. A direct violation of the 1868 Treaty was committed in 1874 by General George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry. The 7th Cavalry entered the Black Hills, the center of the Great Sioux Nation and found gold in the Black Hills. The Gold Rush started the conflict between the United States and Great Sioux Nation. The Great Sioux Nation opposite this violation of the treaty. The United States Government wanted to buy or rent the Black Hills from the Lakota people. The Great Sioux Nation refused to sell or rent their sacred lands.
The 7th Cavalry under General George A. Custer was requested to bring the Sioux bands in and place them on the reservation lands. On June 15, 1876, the Battle of the Little Big Horn between the 7th Cavalry and Lakota Nation with their allies Cheyenne and Araphoes at Greasy Grass, Montana took place. The Sioux Nation won a victory over General George A. Custer and his 7th Cavalry.
The Great Sioux Nation scattered, some to Canada and others surrendered to the reservations. The United States Government demanded that the Lakota nation move to the reservations. The people finally surrendered after being cold and hungry and moved on the reservations. The government still insisted buying the Black Hills from the Lakota people. The Sioux (Lakota) Nation refused to sell their sacred lands. The United States Government introduced the Sell or Starve Bill or the Agreement of 1877. The Lakota people starved but refused to sell their sacred land so the U.S. Congress illegally took the Black Hills from the Great Sioux Nation. The Allotment Act of 1888 allotted Indian lands into 160-acre lots to individuals to divide the nation. The Act of 1889 broke up the Great Sioux Nation into smaller reservations, the remainder of which exist today at about one half their original size in 1889.
Many of the Lakota people began believed in the Ghost Dance experiences as the movement spread to the reservations. The U. S. Army feared the unity through prayer among the Tribes and ordered the arrest of Sitting Bull on the Standing Rock Reservation. In the process of the arrest Sitting Bull was shot by Indian Police on December 15, 1890.
The Hunkpapa who lived in Sitting Bull's camp and relatives fled to the south onto the Cheyenne River Reservation. They joined the Big Foot Band in Cherry Creek, South Dakota then traveled to the Pine Ridge reservation to meet with Chief Red Cloud. The 7th Cavalry caught them at a place called Wounded Knee on December 29, 1890. The 7th Cavalry took all the weapons from the Lakota people. The 7th Cavalry massacred 300 people at Wounded Knee and left the bodies to freeze in the snow. The people of the Great Sioux Nation slowly recovered from this injustice and continue to survive in their homeland.
Of all the reservations in the Dakotas, Pine Ridge is the one most noted on the National level. Several possible explanations for this recognition exist. First, in early reservation history Pine Ridge was the site of the 1890 tragedy at Wounded Knee Creek in which most of Chief Big Foot's band of Minneconjou Teton Sioux were annihilated by the Seventh Cavalry. In more recent history, National media attention was focused on the 1973 armed occupation of the community of Wounded Knee by members of the American Indian Movement (AIM). Despite all the adversity encountered by the Oglala they remain a people of vitality, hopefulness, and with their cultural identity intact.[b/]
I've got his aunt's phone # in SD, going to call her tomorrow & tell her how much I liked him. I've had hundreds of patients die, this one hurt.
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