1. A Whirlwind Tour of SD Native American History and Government
July 1, 2008

2. Nation distribution
Seven Councils named after 7 divisions of the Nation:
Mdewakantonwon
Wahpeton
Wahpekute
Sisseton
Yankton
Yanktonai
Teton
Dakota, Nakota, Lakota
Evolved from one main group
Three variations on one main dialect
Arranged by size of population

3. Dakota Santee Largest Originally east of the Mississippi (Minnesota)
Four bands:
Mdewakantonwon
Wahpeton
Wahpekute
Sisseton

4. Nakota Yanktonai/Yankton
Moved into the prairies that are now southeastern SD
Divided into 3 bands:
Yankton
Upper Yanktonai
Lower Yanktonai

5. Lakota Tetonwan “Dwellers on the Plains” Western SD Became the largest
Developed Plains Indian Culture (1600’s)
Seven bands:
Ogalala
Sicangu/Brule
Hunkpapa
Miniconjous
Sihasapa/Blackfoot
Itazicapola/Sans Arc
Oohenupa/Two Kettle

6. Nine “Tribes” of SD

7. DAKOTA Mdewakantonwon
Minnesota, Canada, Flandreau, SD and Santee Reservation in NE.
19th Century- railroads killed out buffalo to drive Native Americans onto reservations
Historical government-
Current government- 5 tribal council members, rotating 4 year terms
Famous- Gerome Big Eagle:

8. Dakota Mdewakantonwon
“Spirit Lake People”
Governed by Soldiers Lodge
Originally in MN, Mille Lac and headwaters of the Mississippi
Currently on Crow Creek Reservation
Chiefs include Redwing, Jerome Big Eagle, Shakopee, Mankato

9. DAKOTA Wahpeton “Dwellers among the leaves”
Devil’s Lake, ND, Flandreau and Sisseton SD
Other Day- Son of Red Bird, worked for Gen. Sibly as a scout.

10. DAKOTA Wahpekute Shooters among the leaves Means ‘leaf’ and ‘to shoot’
Flandreau, Santee Res in NE
Minnesota in 1600s- Redwood and Des Moines River
Chief Little Crow
Red Lakes-Hayeetechah monanie
4 Executive committee members

11. DAKOTA Sisseton
Sisseton-Wapheton Oyate- people of the fish village/marsh and people on Lake Traverse
Originally governed by Soldier’s Lodge; rejected BIA
Constitution 1946
7 council members; 2 year terms
7 districts, Chairman Mike Salvage
Woodrow Keeble- Korean and WWII Vet
1st Sioux to receive Medal of Honor (Died 1982, received after death 2008)

12. NAKOTA Yankton Yankton- End Village
“Village of the quarry of red stone”
Initially had 13 million acres of land- now 440,000 (3.4%)
Originally in Sioux City, IA and along the Vermillion River
Yankton Reservation, Fort Randall, SD & Share Crow Creek w/Upper & Lower Yanktonai (along Missouri River)
Among the Yankton the Keepers of
Pa-la-ne-a-pa pe (The Man that Was)
Famous for trying to keep peace w/whites and maintain dignity for people
Nakota means strong friend
1932 First tribal constitution
Currently casinos major source of $

13. NAKOTA Upper Yantonai Little End Village Same dialect as the Yankton,
believed to be the elder tribe
By LeSuer MN in 1700s
Standing Rock and Devil’s Lake ND

14. NAKOTA Lower Yanktonai
“Hunkpatina”
SE SD Yankton split between Crow Creek and MT
5 committee members and 4 executive members

15. LAKOTA Ogalala ‘To scatter ones own’ Move further west
Originally N of Brule
Now on Pine Ridge
2 million acres of land
Become very involved in fur trade
Bull Bear moves 4000 Ogalala to Ft. Laramie Wy to make this a center of activity for Sioux
Tribal government
Tribal council w/18 representatives
Constitution 1936
38,000
Current President John Steele
Red Cloud- famous Chief/Bozeman trail/Jesuit school
Billy Mills- First American to win an Olympic gold in the 10,000m 1964
Rich history
Wounded Knee, Sand Creek, Battle of Little Big Horn

16. LAKOTA Sicangu/Brule
‘Burnt thigh nation’ possibly from fleeing a grass fire
Rosebud Reservation, SW SD and Lower Brule, west of Missouri River
Divided in the 1700s into two separate bands
William Clark came through in contact with Brule
Agrarian: beans, corn, etc. (lost to flood in 1950’s & 1960’s)
Sinte Gleske- ‘Spotted Tail’; declined to participate in Red Cloud’s war; famous state’s man
Little Thunder- Chief, fought Harney,6’6’’ intelligent
Lower Brule Constitution 1936
6 member council w/2 year terms
Rosebud- highest suicide rate in the country

17. LAKOTA Hunkpapa Also Honkpapa or Humkpapa or Hunknapa
1870’s fought w/Sitting Bull
Standing Rock Reservation
‘Gate Keepers or Head of the Circle’
Sitting Bull- Holy Man killed on Standing Rock Reservation by police in the attempt to prevent him from supporting the Ghost Dance movement
Two Moons, Black Moon, Running Antelope, Chief Gall
Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council
14 council people
Vine Deloria, Jr. - author

18. LAKOTA Miniconjous/Minneconjous
Those who plant by the stream
Formerly from Black Hills to Platte River, combined tribe w/Hunkpapa
Currently in West Central SD
Joseph White Bull- prior to being confined to reservation there were hereditary leaders: Makes Room, Black Shield, Lone Horn, White Hollow Horn, White Swan and Comes Flying
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council- 15 council people

19. LAKOTA Sihasapa/Blackfoot
Western SD
Black moccasins
Home of the White Calf Buffalo Pipe
John Grass-
Constitution 1959
17 council people, all elected
Retained a lot of sovereignty

20. LAKOTA Itazicapola/Sans Arc
Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe
Eagle Butte
1.4 million acres
15 council members
Big Foot- killed in 1890 Wounded Knee massacre- under white flag (in pictures of Wounded Knee

21. LAKOTA Oohenupa/Two Kettle
“Two boilings”
South side of the Missouri running up and down the Cheyenne River
Now on Cheyenne River Reservation
Plains- good hunters and shrewd traders
Chiefs: Four Bears, White Hawk and Spotted Horse

22. History of SD Indigenous People
BCE -- Paleolithic period -- Paleoindian hunters lived by hunting now extinct animals like mammoths and ice-age bison.
BCE -- Archaic period -- Archaic peoples gathered wild plants and hunted more kinds of animals, living better off the land.
1000 BCE -- Woodland period -- People became more efficient at killing game like bison and deer.  They could therefore live in larger groups. 
200 BCE -- Woodland period -- People along the Missouri River built burial mounds and made pottery. 
The bow and arrow came into use, replacing darts and spears.
Plains Village people (predecessors to the Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa peoples) began to plant corn, and sunflowers, in addition to hunting.  They lived in earth lodges within villages protected by ditches and log palisades. 
Plains Village people were living all along the Missouri River valley.  There is also archaeological evidence of their hunting camps all throughout the state.

23. History of SD Indigenous People
1600’s tribes move west & receive horses from Spanish
Trading w/Spanish and French
Pre The Sioux Indians, having been pushed out of Minnesota by the Chippewa, first reach the Missouri River. On their way to the Missouri, the Sioux drove the Omaha Indians from the Big Sioux and James River valleys. Sioux arrival at the Missouri ignites a long war with the Arikara for control of the Missouri Valley in central South Dakota.
1800s- Great Sioux Nation presides over plains (SD, ND, MT, WY, NE)
1803 Louisiana Purchase Treaty
1804: Sioux meet the Louis & Clark expedition
Trading posts established through out the west & fur trading becomes part of Ogalala life
Ogalala & Lakota move into North and South Dakota
1849 U.S. purchase Ft. Laramie

24. History of SD Indigenous People
1851 Laramie Treaties signed
1858 Treaty with Yankton Sioux opening most of eastern SD to settlement
1861 Dakota Territory is ‘officially’ opened- SD, ND, WY and MT
War/ The War of the Outbreak occurs.
1862 Homestead Act-
August 1862 Santee December 1862 Hanging
Massacre at Sand Ceek
By % of Santee and many Teton dead or in prison
1865--The Edmunds Commission
April 1865 Civil War ends & Lincoln assassinated
Connor organizes soldiers and begins series of Battles from Paha Sapa to Montana- begins a series of massacres and treaties (
1868 Sitting Bull becomes head chief of the Lakota
1868 Red Cloud leads fight to close Bozeman trail
Treaty signed to end the Red Cloud War, creates the Great Sioux Reservation (which includes Black Hills) reservations
1871 Congress approves the Indian Appropriations Act,
The war started in Minnesota with the Santee uprising of 1862 and spread into Dakota. Several towns, including Sioux Falls, were evacuated until the end of hostilities. The war resulted in several forts being built in Dakota. Dakota's contribution to the war against the Indians consisted of two troops of volunteer cavalry and a number of militia units.
Indian Appropriations Act which ends the practice of treating Indian tribes as sovereign nations by directing that all Indians be treated as individuals and legally designated "wards" of the federal government. The act is justified as a way to avoid further misunderstandings in treaty negotiations, where whites have too often wrongly assumed that a tribal chief is also that tribe's chief of state. In effect, however, the act is another step toward dismantling the tribal structure of Native American life

25. History of SD Indigenous People
1873- Custer enters the scene &
1874 Gold found in Black Hills
1875 Beginning of the Lakota War
1876 – Government orders Lakota chiefs to their reservations by January 31. Sitting Bull organizes greatest gathering of Indians
Battle of Little Big Horn
October Manypenny Commission demands surrender of Paha Sapa
May End of Great Sioux Wars
Crazy Horse assassinated
1889 Agreement signed opening Great Sioux Reservation to white settlers; limiting Native Americans to designated areas
1890 Sitting Bull killed over Ghost Dance
1891 Wounded Knee
1875- But the Lakota refuse to alter the terms of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, and declare they will protect their lands from intruders if the government won't.
Battle of Little Big Horn-

26. History of SD Indigenous People
1898 Spanish-American War
1904 Rosebud opened for white settlement; National Guard sent in
1909 Cheyenne River and Standing Rock Reservations opened for white settlement
1917 WWI
1924 Citizen Act of 1924 makes Indians citizens
1930s Depression
1934 Indian Reorganization Act-
1941 WWII
1947- Plans made for Crazy Horse Monument in Black Hills

27. History of SD Indigenous People
1973- Wounded Knee II and Custer Courthouse Riots
1990- Governor Mickelson and 9 tribal leaders announce a ‘Year of Reconciliation’
Wounded knee II occupied by AIM members (for 71 days) and Riots during trials of several sioux in Custer