Sioux
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The Sioux (pronounced /ˈsuː/) are a Native American and First Nations people. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many dialects. The Sioux comprise three major divisions based on dialect and subculture:
Today, the Sioux maintain many separate tribal governments scattered across several reservations, communities, and reserves in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and also in Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan in Canada. Oceti SakowinThe historical Sioux referred to the Great Sioux Nation as the Oceti Sakowin (Očhéti Šakówį [oˈtʃʰetʰi ʃaˈkʰowĩ]), meaning "Seven Council Fires". Each fire was symbolic of an oyate (people or nation). The seven nations that comprise the Sioux are: Mdewakanton, Wahpetowan (Wahpeton), Wahpekute, Sissetowan (Sisseton), the Ihantowan (Yankton), Ihanktowana (Yanktonai), and the Teton (Lakota).[3] The Seven Council Fires would assemble each summer to hold council, renew kinships, decide tribal matters, and participate in the Sun Dance.[4] The seven divisions would select four leaders known as Wicasa Yatapicka from among the leaders of each division.[4] Being one of the four leaders was considered the highest honor for a leader; however, the annual gathering meant the majority of tribal administration was cared for by the usual leaders of each division. The last meeting of the Seven Council Fires was in 1850.[4] Today the Teton, Isanti, or Ihantowan/Ihanktowana are usually known as either the Lakota, Dakota, or Nakota respectively.[3] In any of the three main dialects, "Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota" all translate to mean "friend," or more properly, "ally." Usage of Lakota, Dakota, or Nakota may then refer to the alliance that once bound the Great Sioux Nation together. Political organizationThe historical political organization was based on the participation of individuals and the cooperation of many to sustain the tribe’s way of life. Leaders were chosen based upon noble birth and demonstrations of bravery, fortitude, generosity, and wisdom.[4] Political leaders were members of the Naca Ominicia society and decided matters of tribal hunts, camp movements, whether to make war or peace with their neighbors, or any other community action.[5] Societies were similar to fraternities; men joined to raise their position in the tribe. Societies were composed of smaller clans and varied in number among the seven divisions.[4] There were two types of societies: Akicita, for the younger men, and Naca, for elders and former leaders.[4] Akicita ("warrior") societies existed to train warriors, hunters, and to police the community.[5] There were many smaller Akicita societies, including the Kit-Fox, Strong Heart, Elk, and so on.[5] Leaders in the Naca societies, per Naca Ominicia, were the tribal elders and leaders, who would elect seven to ten men, depending on the division, each referred to as Wicasa Itancan ("chief man"). Each Wicasa Itancan interpreted and enforced the decisions of the Naca.[5] The Wicasa Itancan would elect two to four Shirt Wearers who were the voice of the society. They settled quarrels among families and also foreign nations.[4] Shirt Wearers were often young men from families with hereditary claims of leadership. However, men with obscure parents who displayed outstanding leaderships skills and had earned the respect of the community might also be elected. Crazy Horse is an example of a common-born "Shirt Wearer".[4] A Wakincuza ("Pipe Holder") ranked below the "Shirt Wearers". The Pipe Holders regulated peace ceremonies, selected camp locations, and supervised the Akicita societies during buffalo hunts.[5] Image:A Sioux warrior 0041v.jpg
Wahktageli ("Coward Warrior"), a Yankton Sioux chief (Karl Bodmer)
Image:Funeral scaffold of a Sioux chief 0044v.jpg
Funeral scaffold of a Sioux chief (Karl Bodmer)
Image:Horse racing of the Sioux indians 0030v.jpg
Horse racing of the Sioux (Karl Bodmer)
Name originsThe name "Sioux" is an abbreviated form of Nadouessioux borrowed into French Canadian from Nadoüessioüak from the early Odawa exonym: naadowesiwag "Sioux".[6] It was first used by Jean Nicolet in 1640.[3] The Proto-Algonquian form *na·towe·wa, meaning "Northern Iroquoian", has reflexes in several daughter languages that refer to a small rattlesnake (massasauga, Sistrurus).[7] This information was interpreted by some that the Ottawa borrowing was an insult. However, this Proto-Algonquian term most likely is ultimately was derived from a form *-a·towe·, meaning simply "speak foreign language",[6] which was later extended in meaning in some Algonquian languages to refer to the massasauga. Thus, contrary to many accounts, the old Odawa word naadowesiwag did not equate the Sioux with snakes. This is not confirmed though, since usage over the previous decades has led to this term having negative connotations to those tribes to which it refers. This would explain why many tribes have rejected this term when referring to themselves. Some of the tribes have formally or informally adopted traditional names: the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is also known as the Sicangu Oyate, and the Oglala often use the name Oglala Lakota Oyate, rather than the English "Oglala Sioux Tribe" or OST. (The alternative English spelling of Ogallala is considered improper).[3] LinguisticsThe earlier linguistic 3-way division of the Dakotan branch of the Siouan family identified Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota as dialects of a single language, where Lakota = Teton, Dakota = Santee and Yankton, Nakota = Yanktonai & Assiniboine. This classification was based in large part on each group's particular pronunciation of the autonym Dakhóta-Lakhóta-Nakhóta, meaning the Yankton-Yanktonai, Santee, and Teton groups all spoke mutually intelligible varieties of a Sioux idiom.[7] However, more recent study identifies Assiniboine and Stoney as two separate languages with Sioux being the third language that has three similar dialects: Teton, Santee-Sisseton, Yankton-Yanktonai. Furthermore, the Yankton-Yanktonai never referred to themselves using the pronunciation Nakhóta but rather pronounced it the same as the Santee (i.e. Dakhóta). (Assiniboine and Stoney speakers use the pronunciation Nakhóta or Nakhóda). The term Dakota has also been applied by anthropologists and governmental departments to refer to all Sioux groups, resulting in names such as Teton Dakota, Santee Dakota, etc. This was mainly because of the misrepresented translation of the Ottawa word from which Sioux is derived supposedly meaning "snake."[4] Modern geographic divisionsThe Sioux maintain many separate tribal governments scattered across several reservations and communities in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and also in Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan in Canada. The earliest known European record of the Sioux was in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin.[7] Furthermore, after the introduction of the horse, the Sioux dominated larger areas of land—from present day Canada to the Platte River, from Minnesota to the Yellowstone River, including the Black Hills and the Powder River country.[5] Isanti (Santee or Dakota)The Isanti people migrated north and westward from the south and east into Ohio then to Minnesota. In the past, they were a woodland people who thrived on hunting, fishing and subsistence farming. Migrations of Anishinaabe/Chippewa (Ojibwa) people from the east in the 17th and 18th centuries, with muskets supplied by the French and British, pushed the Dakota further into Minnesota and west and southward, giving the name "Dakota Territory" to the northern expanse west of the Mississippi River and up to its headwaters.[7] Ihanktonwan-Ihanktonwana (Nakota or Yankton-Yanktonai)The Ihanktowan-Ihanktowana, or the Yankton (Ihanktowan: "End village") and Yanktonai (Ihanktowana: "Little end village") divisions consist of two bands or two of the seven council fires. According to Nasunatanka and Matononpa in 1880, the Yanktonai are divided into two sub-groups known as the Upper Yanktonai and the lower Yanktonai (Hunkpatina).[7] Economically, they were involved in quarrying pipestone. The Yankton-Yanktonai moved into northern Minnesota. In the 18th century, they were recorded as living in the Mankato region of Minnesota.[8] Teton (Lakota)The Sioux likely obtained horses sometime during the seventeenth century (although some historians date the arrival of horses in South Dakota to 1720). The Teton (Lakota) division of the Sioux emerged as a result of this introduction. Dominating the northern Great Plains with their light cavalry, the western Sioux quickly expanded their territory further to the Rocky Mountains (or Heska, "white mountains"). The Lakota once subsided on the buffalo hunt and corn-trade with the eastern Sioux and their linguistic cousins the Mandan and Hidatsa along the Missouri.[7] Ethnic divisionsThe Sioux are divided into three ethnic groups, the larger of which are divided into sub-groups, and further branched into bands. The Yankton-Yanktonai, the smallest division, reside on the Yankton reservation in South Dakota and the Northern portion of Standing Rock Reservation. The Santee live on reservations, reserves, and communities in Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Canada. The Lakota are the westernmost of the three groups, occupying lands in both North and South Dakota. Today, many Sioux also live outside their reservations. Image:Sioux-Womendress.jpg
Womendress of the Sioux
Image:Sioux-Baby sling.jpg
Baby sling of the Sioux
Reserves and First NationsToday, one half of all enrolled Sioux in the United States live off the reservation. Also, to be an enrolled member in any of the Sioux tribes in the United States, 1/4 degree is required.[9] In Canada, the Canadian government recognizes the tribal community as "First Nations." The land-holdings of the these First Nations are called "Reserves". Modern Reservations, Reserves, and Communities of the Sioux
HistoryAlliance with French fur merchantsLate in the 17th century, the Dakota entered into an alliance with French merchants,[10] who were trying to gain advantage in the struggle for the North American fur trade against the English, who had recently established the Hudson's Bay Company. The Dakota were thus lured into the European economic system and the bloody inter-aboriginal warfare that stemmed from it. Dakota War of 1862
This drawing of the mass hanging in Mankato, Minnesota was long a familiar icon in Minnesota.
When 1862 arrived shortly after a failed crop the year before and a winter starvation, the federal payment was late. The local traders would not issue any more credit to the Santee and one trader, Andrew Myrick, went so far as to tell them that they were 'free to eat grass or their own dung'. As a result, on August 17, 1862 the Dakota War began when a few Santee men murdered a white farmer and most of his family, igniting further attacks on white settlements along the Minnesota River. The Santee then attacked the trading post, and Myrick was later found among the dead with his mouth stuffed full of grass.[11] On November 5, 1862 in Minnesota, in courts-martial, 303 Santee Sioux were found guilty of rape and murder of hundreds of American settlers and were sentenced to a hanging. No attorneys or witness were allowed as a defense for the accused, and many were convicted in less than five minutes of court time with the judge.[12] President Abraham Lincoln remanded the death sentence of 284 of the warriors, signing off on the execution of 38 Santee men by hanging on December 26, 1862 in Mankato, Minnesota, the largest mass-execution in U.S. history.[13] Afterwards, annuities to the Dakota were suspended for four years and the monies were awarded to the white victims. The men who were pardoned by President Lincoln were sent to a prison in Iowa, where more than half died.[12] During and after the revolt, many Santee and their kin fled Minnesota and Eastern Dakota to Canada, or settled in the James River Valley in a short-lived reservation before being forced to move to Crow Creek Reservation on the east bank of the Missouri.[12] A few joined the Yanktonai and moved further west to join with the Lakota bands to continue their struggle against the United States military.[12] Others were able to remain in Minnesota and the east, in small reservations existing into the 21st century, including Sisseton-Wahpeton, Flandreau, and Devils Lake (Spirit Lake or Fort Totten) Reservations in the Dakotas. Some ended up eventually in Nebraska, where the Santee Sioux Tribe today has a reservation on the south bank of the Missouri. Those who fled to Canada now have descendants residing on eight small Dakota Reserves, four of which are located in Manitoba (Sioux Valley, Long Plain [Dakota Tipi], Birdtail Creek, and Oak Lake [Pipestone]) and the remaining four (Standing Buffalo, Moose Woods [White Cap], Round Plain [Wahpeton], and Wood Mountain) in Saskatchewan. Red Cloud's WarRed Cloud's War (also referred to as the Bozeman War) was an armed conflict between the Sioux and the United States in the Wyoming Territory and the Montana Territory from 1866 to 1868. The war was fought over control of the Powder River Country in north central Wyoming, which lay along the Bozeman Trail, a primary access route to the Montana gold fields. The war is named after Red Cloud, a prominent chief of Oglala Sioux who led the war against the United States following encroachment into the area by the U.S. military. The war ended with the Treaty of Fort Laramie, resulting in a complete victory for the Sioux and the temporary preservation of their control of the Powder River country.[14] Black Hills WarBetween 1876 and 1877, the Black Hills War took place. The Lakota and their allies fought against the United States military in a series of conflicts. The earliest being the Battle of Powder River, and the final battle being at Wolf Mountain. Included are the Battle of the Rosebud, Battle of the Little Bighorn, Battle of Warbonnet Creek, Battle of Slim Buttes, Battle of Cedar Creek, and the Dull Knife Fight. Wounded Knee MassacreImage:Woundedknee1891.jpg
Mass grave for the dead Lakota after massacre of Wounded Knee.
The Battle at Wounded Knee Creek was the last major armed conflict between the Lakota and the United States, subsequently described as a "massacre" by General Nelson A. Miles in a letter to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs.[15] On December 29, 1890, five hundred troops of the U.S. 7th Cavalry, supported by four Hotchkiss guns (a lightweight artillery piece capable of rapid fire), surrounded an encampment of the Lakota bands of the Miniconjou and Hunkpapa [16] with orders to escort them to the railroad for transport to Omaha, Nebraska. By the time it was over, 25 troopers and more than 150 Lakota Sioux lay dead, including men, women, and children. Some of the soldiers are believed to have been the victims of "friendly fire" because the shooting took place at point blank range in chaotic conditions.[17] Around 150 Lakota are believed to have fled the chaos, many of whom may have died from hypothermia. Usage of the Ghost Dance reportedly instigated the massacre. Forced relocationImage:Sioux01.png
Traditional location of Sioux tribes (dark green and prior to 1770) and their current reservations (orange)
Later in the 19th century, as the railroads hired hunters to exterminate the buffalo herds, their primary food supply, the Santee and Lakota were forced to accept white-defined reservations in exchange for the rest of their lands, and domestic cattle and corn in exchange for buffalo, becoming dependent upon annual federal payments guaranteed by treaty. In Minnesota, the treaties of Traverse des Sioux and Mendota in 1851 left the Sioux with a reservation twenty miles (32 km) wide on each side of the Minnesota River. Wounded Knee incidentThe Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota was seized by followers of the American Indian Movement. The occupiers controlled the town for 71 days while the U.S. Marshals Service laid siege. Republic of LakotahThe Lakotah Freedom Delegation, a group of Native American activists, declared on December 19, 2007 the Lakotah were withdrawing from all treaties signed with the United States to regain sovereignty over their nation. One of the activists, Russell Means, claims that the action is legal and cites Natural, International and U.S. law.[18] The group consider Lakotah to be a sovereign nation, although as yet the state is generally unrecognized. The proposed borders reclaim thousands of square kilometres of North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana.[19] Derived namesThe U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota are named for the Sioux. The name for Minnesota originated as the name of a river in the heart of Isanti territory: Mnisota (mni translates to "water" and sota means "hazy or smoky"). Several Midwestern municipalities utilize Sioux in their names, including Sioux City, Iowa, Sioux Center, Iowa, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Midwestern rivers include the Little Sioux River in Iowa and Big Sioux River along the Iowa/South Dakota border. Many smaller towns and geographic features in the northern Great Plains retain their Sioux names (some are heavily Anglicized) or English translations of those names. These are: Wasta (from "Waste" meaning "good"), Owanka, Oacoma, Rapid City (Mne luza: "cataract" or "rapids"), Sioux Falls/Minnehaha County (Mne haha: "waterfall"), Inyan Kara, Sisseton (derived from the orgiinal tribal name "Sissetowan"), Winona ("first daughter"), etc. Frontwoman Siouxsie Sioux of the postpunk band Siouxsie and the Banshees also derived her stage name from the "Sioux." The University of North Dakota's athletic team is known as the "Fighting Sioux." While there is a local desire to retain the mascot, numerous Sioux tribes have issued resolutions asking the university to abolish it.[20][21] Derived names from other Siouan languagesThe name Nebraska comes from the related Chiwere language of the Siouan language family. Furthermore, the names of the states Kansas, Iowa, and Missouri derive from the names of other tribes within the Siouan language family: Kansa, Iowa, and Missouri, respectively. The names of the cities of Omaha, Nebraska and Ponca City, Oklahoma also derive from the Omaha and Ponca tribes. The names vividly demonstrate the wide dispersion of the Siouan language family across the Midwestern United States. Though they are considered part of the Siouan language family, none of these tribes or their languages are considered Sioux. Media
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