View source for Lakota people

{{Short description|Indigenous people of the Great Plains}}
{{Other uses|Lakota (disambiguation){{!}}Lakota}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2018}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Lakota
| image            = En-chief-sitting-bull.jpg
| image_caption    = [[Sitting Bull]], a [[Hunkpapa]] Lakota chief and [[Sacred (comparative religion)|holy man]], {{circa|1831}}{{snd}}December 15, 1890
| total            = 115,000+ enrolled members
| total_year       = 2015 census
| total_ref        = <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bia.gov/regional-offices/great-plains/south-dakota/pine-ridge-agency |title=Pine Ridge Agency |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs |access-date=2019-04-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bia.gov/regional-offices/great-plains/south-dakota/rosebud-agency |title=Rosebud Agency |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs |access-date=2019-04-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bia.gov/regional-offices/great-plains/south-dakota/cheyenne-river-agency |title=Cheyenne River Agency |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs |access-date=2019-04-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bia.gov/regional-offices/great-plains/north-dakota/standing-rock-agency |title=Standing Rock Agency |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs |access-date=2019-04-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bia.gov/regional-offices/great-plains/south-dakota/lower-brule-agency |title=Lower Brule Agency |publisher=U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs |access-date=2019-04-07 }}</ref>
| popplace         = [[United States]]<br />([[North Dakota]] and [[South Dakota]])<br />[[Canada]]<br />([[Manitoba]] and [[Saskatchewan]])
| langs            = [[English language|English]], [[Lakota language|Lakota]]
| rels             = [[Wocekiye]], [[Lakota religion]]
| related          = Other [[Sioux]] peoples ([[Sioux#Santee (Isáŋyathi or Eastern Dakota)|Santee]], [[Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate]], [[Yankton Dakota|Yankton]], [[Yanktonai]])<ref>Pritzker, 328</ref>
}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|root=Lakota<br />{{small|{{translation|'ally' or 'friend}}}}|person=|people=Lakȟóta Oyáte|language=[[Lakota language|Lakȟótiyapi]]<br />[[Plains Indian Sign Language|Wíyutȟapi]]|country= Lakȟóta Makóce, [[Sioux|Očhéthi Šakówiŋ]]}}

The '''Lakota''' ({{IPA|lkt|laˈkˣota|}}; {{langx|lkt|Lakȟóta}} or {{lang|lkt|Lakhóta}}) are a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] people. Also known as the '''Teton Sioux''' (from {{lang|lkt|Thítȟuŋwaŋ}}), they are one of the three prominent [[subcultures]] of the [[Sioux]] people, with the Eastern Dakota (Santee) and Western Dakota ({{lang|dak|Wičhíyena}}). Their current lands are in [[North Dakota|North]] and [[South Dakota]]. They speak {{lang|lkt|Lakȟótiyapi}} — the [[Lakota language]], the westernmost of three closely related languages that belong to the [[Siouan languages|Siouan language]] family.

The seven bands or "sub-tribes" of the Lakota are:

* {{lang|lkt|[[Brulé|Sičháŋǧu]]}} ({{lang|fr|Brulé}}, Burned Thighs)
* {{lang|lkt|[[Oglala Lakota|Oglála]]}} ("They Scatter Their Own")
* {{lang|lkt|[[Sans Arc|Itázipčho]]}} ({{lang|fr|Sans Arc}}, Without Bows)
* {{lang|lkt|[[Hunkpapa|Húŋkpapȟa]]}} (Hunkpapa, "End Village", Camps at the End of the Camp Circle)
* {{lang|lkt|[[Miniconjou|Mnikȟówožu]]}} (Miniconjou, "Plant Near Water", Planters by the Water)
* {{lang|lkt|[[Sihasapa|Sihásapa]]}} ("Blackfeet" or "Blackfoot")
* {{lang|lkt|[[Two Kettles|Oóhenuŋpa]]}} (Two Kettles)

Notable Lakota persons include {{lang|lkt|Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake}} ([[Sitting Bull]]) from the {{lang|lkt|Húnkpapȟa}}, {{lang|lkt|Maȟpíya Ičáȟtagya}} ([[Touch the Clouds]]) from the Miniconjou; {{lang|lkt|Heȟáka Sápa}} ([[Black Elk]]), {{lang|lkt|Maȟpíya Lúta}} ([[Red Cloud]]), and {{lang|lkt|Tamakhóčhe Theȟíla}} ([[Billy Mills]]), all {{lang|lkt|Oglála}}; {{lang|lkt|Tȟašúŋke Witkó}} ([[Crazy Horse]]) from the {{lang|lkt|Oglála}} and Miniconjou, and {{lang|lkt|Siŋté Glešká}} ([[Spotted Tail]]) from the Brulé. Activists from the late 20th century to present include [[Russell Means]] (Oglála).

==History==
===Early history===
[[File:VOALoguetipidetail300.jpg|thumb|Scenes of battle and horse raiding decorate a [[Calico|muslin]] Lakota [[tipi]] from the late 19th or early 20th century]]
Early Lakota history is recorded in their [[winter counts]] ([[Lakota language|Lakota]]: ''waníyetu wówapi''), pictorial calendars painted on hides, or later recorded on paper. The Battiste Good winter count records Lakota history to 900&nbsp;CE when [[White Buffalo Calf Woman]] gave the Lakota people the White Buffalo Calf Pipe.<ref>[http://wintercounts.si.edu/html_version/html/thewintercounts.html "Lakota Winter Counts."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120302222234/http://wintercounts.si.edu/html_version/html/thewintercounts.html |date=March 2, 2012 }} ''Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.'' Retrieved May 28, 2012.</ref>

[[Siouan languages|Siouan language]] speakers may have originated in the lower [[Mississippi River]] region and then migrated to or originated in the [[Ohio Valley]]. They were agriculturalists and may have been part of the [[Mound builder (people)|Mound Builder civilization]] during the 9th–12th centuries CE.<ref name=p329>Pritzker 329</ref> Lakota legend and other sources state they originally lived near the [[Great Lakes]]: 
"The tribes of the Dakota before European contact in the 1600s lived in the region around [[Lake Superior]]. In this forest environment, they lived by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild rice. They also grew some corn, but their locale was near the limit of where corn could be grown."<ref>{{Cite web|title=History of the Dakota Tribes|url=https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/lakota.htm|access-date=2020-12-10|website=www.sjsu.edu}}</ref>

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 [[Minnesota]], [[Wisconsin]], [[Iowa]], and [[the Dakotas]]. Conflicts with [[Anishnaabe]] and [[Cree people]]s pushed the Lakota west onto the [[Great Plains]] in the mid- to late-17th century.<ref name=p329/> Around 1730 [[Cheyenne people]] introduced the Lakota to [[horse]]s,<ref name="cheyenne">{{cite web| last =Liberty | first =Dr. Margot | url = http://www.friendslittlebighorn.com/cheyenneprimacy.htm| title = Cheyenne Primacy: The Tribes' Perspective As Opposed To That Of The United States Army; A Possible Alternative To 'The Great Sioux War Of 1876'| publisher = Friends of the Little Bighorn| access-date =January 13, 2008}}</ref> which they called ''šuŋkawakaŋ'' ("dog [of] power/mystery/wonder"). After they adopted [[horse culture]], Lakota society centered on the [[American Bison|buffalo]] hunt on horseback.<ref name=p329>Pritzker 329</ref>

In 1660, French explorers estimated the total population of the Sioux (Lakota, [[Santee Dakota|Santee]], [[Yankton people|Yankton]], and [[Yanktonai]]) at 28,000. In 1805, the Lakota population was estimated at 8,500.  In 1881, it reached 16,110. They were one of the few Native American tribes to increase in population in the 19th century, a time of widespread disease and warfare. In 2010, the Lakota population was more than 170,000,<ref>[https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-10.pdf]. Census.gov. Retrieved on May 4, 2016.</ref> of whom about 2,000 still spoke the [[Lakota language|Lakota language (''Lakȟótiyapi'')]].<ref>[http://lakhota.org/lakota-language-critically-endangered/] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160502145955/http://lakhota.org/lakota-language-critically-endangered/|date=May 2, 2016}}. Lakhota.org. Retrieved on May 4, 2016.</ref>

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 (Dakotas)|James River]] valley. 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 [[Arikara]], [[Mandan]], and [[Hidatsa]] villages had long prevented the Lakota from crossing the [[Missouri River]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Kiowas|url=http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.na.055|encyclopedia= Encyclopedia of the Great Plains|access-date=2013-06-23|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

The great [[smallpox]] [[epidemic]] of 1772–1780 destroyed three-quarters of the members of these tribes. The Lakota crossed the river into the drier, short-grass prairies of the High Plains. These newcomers were the Saône, well-mounted and increasingly confident, who spread out quickly. In 1765, a Saône exploring and raiding party led by Chief [[Standing Bear]] discovered the [[Black Hills]] (the ''[[Paha Sapa]]''), then the territory of the [[Cheyenne]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Kiowas|url=http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.na.055|encyclopedia= Encyclopedia of the Great Plains|access-date=2013-06-23|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Ten years later, the Oglála and Brulé also crossed the Missouri. Under pressure from the Lakota, the Cheyenne moved west to the Powder River country.<ref name="cheyenne" /> The Lakota made the Black Hills their home.

===Treaties and conflicts with the United States===
[[File:P15390 Peace Negotiations Fort Laramie.tif|thumb|Native peace commissioners in council with the Northern Cheyenne and Northern Arapaho, Fort Laramie, Wyoming, 1868]]

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.<ref>''The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition'', University of Nebraska.</ref>

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.<ref>Meyer, Roy W.: ''The Village Indians of the Upper Missouri. The Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras.'' Lincoln and London, 1977, p. 54.</ref> In 1843, the southern Lakota attacked the village of Pawnee Chief Blue Coat near the [[Loup River|Loup]] in Nebraska, killing many and burning half of the earth lodges.<ref>Jensen, Richard E.: "The Pawnee Mission, 1834–1846", ''Nebraska History'', Vol. 75, No. 4 (1994), pp. 301–310, p. 307, column III.</ref> 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.<ref>Riley, Paul D.: "The Battle of Massacre Canyon", in ''Nebraska History'', Vol. 54, No. 2 (1973), pp. 221–249.</ref>

[[File:Lakota 1851 treaty territory. (Area 408, 516, 584, 597, 598 and 632).png|thumb|The 1851 Lakota  treaty territory. Areas 408, 516, 584, 597, 598 and 632]]

Nearly half a century later, after the United States had built [[Fort Laramie]] without permission on Lakota and Arapaho land, it negotiated the [[Fort Laramie Treaty (1851)|Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851]] to protect European-American travelers on the [[Oregon Trail]].<ref name="v213">{{cite web | last=Cutlip | first=Kimbra | title=In 1868, Two Nations Made a Treaty. The U.S. Broke It, and Plains Indian Tribes Are Still Seeking Justice | website=Smithsonian Magazine | date=November 7, 2018 | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/1868-two-nations-made-treaty-us-broke-it-and-plains-indian-tribes-are-still-seeking-justice-180970741/ | access-date=December 19, 2024}}</ref> The Cheyenne and Lakota had previously attacked emigrant parties in a competition for resources, and also because some settlers had encroached on their lands.<ref>Brown, Dee (1950) ''Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee''Macmillan {{ISBN|0-8050-6669-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-8050-6669-2}}</ref> The Fort Laramie Treaty acknowledged Lakota sovereignty over the [[Great Plains]] in exchange for free passage for European Americans on the [[Oregon Trail]] for "as long as the river flows and the eagle flies".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-09-07 |title=Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) |url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/fort-laramie-treaty |access-date=2024-02-02 |website=National Archives |language=en}}</ref> 

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 [[mining]]. Between 1866 and 1868 the U.S. Army fought the Lakota and their allies along the [[Bozeman Trail in Wyoming|Bozeman Trail]] over U.S. forts built to protect miners traveling along the trail. Oglala Chief Red Cloud led his people to victory in [[Red Cloud's War]]. In 1868, the United States signed the [[Fort Laramie Treaty (1868)|Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868]], exempting the Black Hills from all white settlement forever. But four years later [[gold]] was discovered there, and prospectors descended on the area. 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."<ref>Winona LaDuke, ''All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life'', (Cambridge, MA: [[South End Press]], 1999), 141.</ref>

The allied Lakota and [[Arapaho]] bands and the unified [[Northern Cheyenne]] were involved in much of the warfare after 1860. They fought a successful delaying action against General [[George Crook]]'s army at the [[Battle of the Rosebud]], preventing Crook from locating and attacking their camp. A week later they defeated the [[U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment|U.S. 7th Cavalry]] in 1876 at the [[Battle of the Little Bighorn]] at the [[Crow Indian Reservation]] (1868 boundaries).<ref>Kappler, Charles J.: ''Indian Affairs. Laws and treaties''. Washington, 1904. Vol. 2, pp. 998–1004.</ref> Custer attacked an encampment of several tribes, which was much larger than he realized. Their combined forces, led by Chief [[Crazy Horse]], killed 258 soldiers, wiping out the entire Custer battalion and inflicting more than 50% casualties on the regiment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Dakota Tribes |url=https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/lakota.htm |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=www.sjsu.edu}}</ref> 

Although the Lakota beat Custer's army, 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, ending the [[Great Sioux War]] in 1877. The Lakota were eventually confined to reservations, prevented from hunting buffalo beyond those territories, and forced to accept government food distribution. They were largely dispersed throughout North and South Dakota, as well as other places around the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Dakota Tribes |url=https://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/lakota.htm |access-date=2024-04-30 |website=www.sjsu.edu}}</ref>

[[File:Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses (Tashun-Kakokipa), an Oglala Sioux, standing in front of his lodge, Pine Ridge, South Dak - NARA - 530813.jpg|thumb|right|January 17, 1891: [[They Even Fear His Horses]] at camp of Oglala band of Lakota at [[Pine Ridge, South Dakota]], 3 weeks after the [[Wounded Knee Massacre]], when 153 Lakota Sioux and 25 U.S. soldiers died]]

[[File:Pine Ridge Flag.svg|thumb|upright=1|Oglala Sioux tribal flag]]

In 1877, some of the Lakota bands signed a treaty that ceded the Black Hills to the United States. 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, [[Sitting Bull]] was killed at [[Standing Rock]] reservation on December 15, 1890. The U.S. Army attacked Spotted Elk (aka Bigfoot)'s Minicoujou band of Lakota on December 29, 1890, at Pine Ridge, killing 153 Lakota (tribal estimates are higher), including numerous women and children, in the [[Wounded Knee Massacre]].

===Reservation era===
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 [[Rapid City, South Dakota|Rapid City]] and other towns in the Black Hills, and in metro [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]]. Lakota elders joined the [[Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]] (UNPO) to seek protection and recognition for their cultural and land rights.

==Government==

===United States===
[[File:America, Native North American, Plains, Lakota (Sioux) people, Post contact - Storage Bag - 1937.850 - Cleveland Museum of Art.tif|thumb|
Lakota beaded storage bag, late 19th century, {{cvt|15|in|cm}} wide, [[Cleveland Museum of Art]]]]
[[File:Nord o sud dakota, lakota, scalpo di bufalo, 1890 ca.jpg|thumb|Lakota [[parfleche]], {{circa|1890}}, [[Speed Art Museum ]]]]
Legally and by treaty classified as a "domestic dependent nation" within the United States,<ref name="autogenerated1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.infca.org/tribes/IRA.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20060923155305/http://www.infca.org/tribes/IRA.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=2006-09-23|title=The Indian Reorganization Act}}</ref> 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 [[autonomy|semi-autonomous]] political entities, tribal governments have certain rights that are independent of state laws. For instance, they may operate [[Native American gaming|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/indiancountry/history/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070504185620/http://www.pbs.org/indiancountry/history/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 4, 2007 |title=Indian Country Diaries . History |publisher=PBS |access-date=January 26, 2012}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianz.com/News/2004/005762.asp |title=> News > Oglala Sioux Tribe inaugurates Cecilia Fire Thunder |publisher=Indianz.Com |date=December 13, 2004 |access-date=January 26, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321200219/http://indianz.com/News/2004/005762.asp |archive-date=March 21, 2013 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov/constitution.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106172400/http://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov/constitution.htm |url-status=dead |title=Official Site of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe|archive-date=November 6, 2008}}</ref><ref>[http://www.sioux.org/our_const_by_laws.html Our Constitution & By-Laws] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704052850/http://www.sioux.org/our_const_by_laws.html |date=July 4, 2008 }}</ref> or [[articles of incorporation]]. Most follow a multi-member [[Tribal council (United States)|tribal council]] model, with a chairman or president elected [[at-large]], directly by the voters.

*  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".<!-- Why not? --> 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.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/ottawa-rejects-claims-by-dakota-lakota-first-nations-1.669072 Ottawa rejects claims by Dakota, Lakota First Nations], CBC News, August 1, 2007</ref> The Dakota rejected a $60-million land-rights settlement in 2008. <!-- Give more explanation --><ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/brandon-sun-the/mi_8087/is_20080626/dakota-nations-reject-603-settlement/ai_n50742556/ Dakota Nations reject $60.3 M settlement offer from Ottawa] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904060736/http://findarticles.com/p/news-articles/brandon-sun-the/mi_8087/is_20080626/dakota-nations-reject-603-settlement/ai_n50742556/ |date=September 4, 2015 }}, ''The Brandon Sun'', June 26, 2008</ref>

===Independence movement===
{{See also|Republic of Lakotah proposal}}
[[File:Suscol Intertribal Council 2015 Pow-wow - Stierch 14.jpg|thumb|upright|Mildred "Midge" Wagner, a Lakota woman, singing at a pow wow in 2015]]
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[File:Lakotanation.jpg|thumb|right|Map of possible location of Lakota Nation if cession from the United States is successful.<ref>http://ishgooda.org/oglala/1868lnd.htm {{Bare URL inline|date=February 2022}}</ref>]] -->
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 ''[[United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians]]'' to award [[US$]]122 million to eight bands of Sioux Indians as compensation for their [[Black Hills Land Claim|Black Hills land claims]]. The Sioux have refused the money, because accepting the settlement would legally terminate their demands for return of the Black Hills. The money remains in a [[Bureau of Indian Affairs]] account, accruing [[compound interest]]. As of 2011, the account has grown to over $1 billion.<ref>{{Cite news| url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957595,00.html?promoid=googlep | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204101457/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957595,00.html?promoid=googlep | url-status=dead | archive-date=December 4, 2008 | magazine=Time | title=Race: The Price of Penance | date=May 8, 1989 | access-date=May 7, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/03/saying-no-to-1-billion/308380/|title=Saying No to $1 Billion|last=Streshinsky|first=Maria|work=The Atlantic|access-date=November 25, 2017|language=en-US}}</ref>

In September 2007, the [[United Nations]] passed a non-binding [[Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples]]. <!-- Explain what these are -->Canada,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Canada votes 'no' as UN native rights declaration passes
|date= September 13, 2007
|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/canada-votes-no-as-un-native-rights-declaration-passes-1.632160
|publisher=CBCNews
|quote=Canada's UN ambassador, John McNee, said Canada had "significant concerns" over the declaration's wording on provisions addressing lands and resources
}}</ref> the United States, Australia, and New Zealand refused to sign.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://readerrant.capitolhillblue.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number |title=UBB Message – ReaderRant<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=January 1, 2008 |archive-date=March 3, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303124055/http://readerrant.capitolhillblue.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In December 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.<ref>[http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVC1KMTOgwiSoMQyT2LwZc9HyAgA "Descendants of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse break away from US"]  {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070609092458/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVC1KMTOgwiSoMQyT2LwZc9HyAgA |date=June 9, 2007 }}, [http://afp.com ''Agence France-Presse'' news] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821112631/http://www.afp.com/ |date=August 21, 2008 }}</ref> 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 [[Rosebud Sioux Tribe|Rosebud Lakota]] tribal chairman Rodney Bordeaux, "We do not support what Means and his group are doing and they don't have any support from any tribal government I know of. They don't speak for us."<ref name=toensing>{{cite news |url=http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2008/01/04/withdrawal-us-treaties-enjoys-little-support-tribal-leaders-79806 |title=Withdrawal from US treaties enjoys little support from tribal leaders |author=Gale Courey Toensing |publisher=[[Indian Country Today]] |date=January 4, 2008 |access-date=March 28, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504091145/http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2008/01/04/withdrawal-us-treaties-enjoys-little-support-tribal-leaders-79806 |archive-date=May 4, 2016 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref name=cos>[http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/23/425848/- ''Lakota Sioux Have NOT Withdrawn From the US'']; in [[The Daily Kos]]; December 23, 2007; accessed March 28, 2016</ref>

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.<ref>Bill Harlan, [http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/20/news/local/doc476a99630633e335271152.txt "Lakota group secedes from U.S."] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823081033/http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/12/20/news/local/doc476a99630633e335271152.txt |date=August 23, 2009 }}, ''[[Rapid City Journal]]'', December 20, 2007.</ref> 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".<ref>[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20080111065452/http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071220/NEWS/712200347/1001 "Lakota group pushes for new nation"], ''Argus Leader'', Washington Bureau, December 20, 2007</ref>

"The Lakota Freedom Delegation" did not include any elected leaders from any of the tribes.<ref name=toensing/><ref name=cos/> 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.<ref name=toensing/><ref name=cos/> No elected tribal governments endorsed the declaration.<ref name=toensing/><ref name=cos/>

== Current activism ==
The Lakota People made national news when [[NPR]]'s "Lost Children, Shattered Families" investigative story aired regarding issues related to foster care for Native American children.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Native Foster Care: Lost Children, Shattered Families|url=https://www.npr.org/series/141763531/native-foster-care-lost-children-shattered-families|access-date=2020-12-10|website=NPR.org|date=October 25, 2011 |language=en}}</ref> It exposed what many critics consider to be the "kidnapping" of Lakota children from their homes by the state of South Dakota's Department of Social Services (D.S.S.). It was noted by [[NPR Music|NPR]] that over half of the children in foster care in South Dakota were of Native descent. 

Lakota activists such as [[Madonna Thunder Hawk]] and [[Chase Iron Eye]]s, along with the ''Lakota People's Law Project'', have alleged that Lakota grandmothers are illegally denied the right to foster their own grandchildren. They are working to redirect federal funding away from the state of South Dakota's D.S.S. to new tribal foster care programs. This would be a historic shift away from the state's traditional control over Lakota foster children.

A short film, ''Lakota in America'', was produced by Square. The film features Genevieve Iron Lightning, a young Lakota dancer on the [[Cheyenne River Indian Reservation|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.{{Citation needed|date=September 2025}}

==Ethnonyms==
{{more citations needed section|date=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", [[Sioux#Santee (Isáŋyati or Eastern Dakota)|Santee]] and [[Yankton Sioux|Yankton]] bands.

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.

[[File:Lakota Beaded Saddle Belt 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Lakota beaded saddle belt, made {{circa|1850}}]]

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. 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==
[[File:AktaLakotaMuseum.jpg|thumb|Akta Lakota Museum in [[Chamberlain, South Dakota]]]]

Today, one half of all enrolled Sioux live off [[Indian reservation|reservations]].

Lakota reservations [[Federally recognized tribe|recognized by the U.S. government]] include:
* [[Oglala Lakota|Oglala]] ([[Pine Ridge Indian Reservation]], South Dakota and Nebraska)
* [[Sicangu]] ([[Rosebud Indian Reservation]], South Dakota) & ([[Lower Brule Indian Reservation]], South Dakota)
* [[Hunkpapa]] ([[Standing Rock Indian Reservation|Standing Rock Reservation]], North Dakota and South Dakota)
* [[Miniconjou]] ([[Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation]], South Dakota)
* [[Sans Arc|Itazipco]] ([[Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation]], South Dakota)
* [[Sihasapa|Siha Sapa]] ([[Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation]], South Dakota)
* [[Two Kettles|Ooinunpa]] ([[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 Reservation]] in Minnesota
* [[Prairie Island Indian Reservation]] in Minnesota

Several Lakota live on the [[Wood Mountain First Nation]] reserve, near [[Wood Mountain Regional Park]] in Saskatchewan, Canada.

==See also==
* [[Lakota mythology]]
* [[List of Lakota people]]
* [[Native American tribes in Nebraska]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*Andersson, Rani-Henrik & David C. Posthumus (2022). L''akĥóta: 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.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;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.&nbsp;794–820). W. C. Sturtevant (Gen. Ed.). Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution. {{ISBN|0-16-050400-7}}.
* [[Pekka Hämäläinen (historian)|Hämäläinen, Pekka.]] (2019). ''Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power'', New Haven, CT: [[Yale University Press]]. {{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.&nbsp;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}}.

==External links==
{{Incubator|code= lkt}}
{{Commons category|Lakota people}}
* [http://lakotadictionary.org/phpBB3/index.php The Official Lakota Language Forum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122121848/http://lakotadictionary.org/phpBB3/index.php |date=January 22, 2021 }}
* [http://www.lakhota.org Lakota Language Consortium]
* [http://www.sioux.org Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802111648/http://www.sioux.org/ |date=August 2, 2011 }}

{{Native Americans in the Black Hills}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Lakota| ]]
[[Category:Sioux]]
[[Category:Plains tribes]]
[[Category:Native American history of North Dakota]]
[[Category:Native American history of South Dakota]]
[[Category:Siouan peoples]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in North Dakota]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in South Dakota]]
[[Category:People from South Dakota| ]]
[[Category:Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Montana]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]