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Lakota(Sioux) Indian Tribe

LOCATION OF TRIBE

The Sioux were located in the northern plains of North America. Northern-central Minnesota, around Mille Lacs, and parts of Wisconsin. They migrated to the West of the Dakotas, northern Nebraska, northeastern Wyoming, and southeastern Montana. Also East Iowa.

GOVERNMENT 

The Lakota people did not farm because when they were around back then, farming was hard in the Great Plains except for wild rice and corn. They mostly hunted and gathered all they needed for their existence. They relied on horses most of all for transportation and hunting for game. They hunted with bows and arrows. The Lakota relied on the buffalo on basically everything. They were also big family people because they did everything with their families such as hunt. A "good family" was judged by wealth in horses, success in hunting, membership in fraternal societies and the sponsorship of multiple religious ceremonies. A woman was expected to adhere to these four cardinal virtues: bravery, truthfulness, childbearing, and generosity.  Horses were introduced to the Lakota by the Cheyenne about 1730.

HOMES

IMPORTANT PRODUCTS

CULTURE 

The Lakota would travel to the Arknasas' hot springs to gether together with other tribes to hunt, trade, and take the healing waters that they would get from the Earth that they thought were special. Even at war, they would come here and be at peace. Horses played a huge impact on the Lakota people. When the Cheyanne introduced horses to the Lakota, they used them for hunting, traveling, and trading. Lakota Sioux women were in charge of the house. Besides cooking and cleaning, women built the home and carried it whenever the tribe would migrate to another location. The home was the main role of the women of the Lokota tribe. Men, on the other hand, were hunters and warriors. They were responsible for feeding and defending their families.  Usually men only became chiefs, but both genders took part in storytelling, artwork, music, and traditional medicines.  The Sioux Sun Dance takes place in a sacred circle. They believed in the " GReat Spirit" the supreme creator of the universe. Its purpose is to renewal of the relationship with land and all beings, including those in the spirit world. They also believed in certain symbols that they would put on war clothing when they went to battle. The Lakota visionary Black Elk expresses this sense of oneness in his vision of a "mighty flowering tree." They moved west for three reasons: conflict with other tribes, to follow the buffalo, and to avoid whites. 

 

The Lakota people lived in tipi's made of buffalo hide and stood about 14 feet tall. The tribe migrated with the buffalo because they dependended on them so they are nomadic. Woman of the tribe would make and put up the tipi's in about 15 minutes. The women were also responsible for moving the tipi's when the tribe would migrate. They would face the tipi towards the East so that the westerly winds could draw the fire. There was a smoke hole usually in the center of the tipi so that you could have a fire inside. A tipi would last about 10 years, and could last through harsh winters and damaging storms. The buffalo hide would insulate the inside by 50 degrees. 

Sioux women

The Lakota had a branch of governament called "Seven Council Fires." After 1720 this branch split into two major sections, the Saone who moved to the Lake Traverse area on the South Dakota , North Dakota, and Minnestoa border, and the Ogtalaesicangu who occupied the James River region. Each village consisted of family groups called tiyospaye. Each tiyospaye consisted of thrity households, was led by one or more headman, or leaderby fully living a spirtual existence and demostrating the values of his people- bravery, fortitude, generpsity, and wisdom. Sitting Bull was the most famous chief of the Lakota tribe. If a leader didn't suit the tribe, he was replaced. All members of the tiyospaye contributed to who got to lead the group. Various tiyospaye came together they functioned as a tribal council called the Naca Omniciye. Seven to ten of the Naca Omniciye who were thought to possess the greatest wisdom and maturity were appointed as Wicasa Itancan.

 

 

 

Sitting Bull Tribal Council

War Dance 

Ghost Dance 

ALTERED ENVIRONMENT 

RELATIONS W/ OTHER TRIBES 

RELATIONSHIP W/ EUROPEANS

SPECIAL

My tribe is unique because they have a unique style of governement and didn't roles of each family member. I wouldv'e thought that women wouldv'e just cooked, clean, and take care of the family but they also had to build homes and carry them whenever the tribe migrated. I wouldn't of thought also that the Lakota tribe would have partnered with the French. Most indians don't accept outsiders during this time period but I guess they saw the French as friends. This tribe also lived in tipis unlike the rest of the tribes we are studying. 

The Lakota Tribeirrigated the land by planting corn and finding wild rice. During this time where the indian reservations were, the land was not very suitable for farming except corn . The Lakota relyed on the buffalo for almost everything. They used buffalo for housing, food, tools, pots, weapons, arrow heads, clothing, and tools. Without the buffalo, these indians probably would have died off and would probably be forgotten. Although the buffalo was their main animal, they also hunted deer and small game. Basically any edible animal and plant they could find. The Lakota lived near/in the Black Hills where they collected clay to make handcrafted pottery and decorated with designs and symbols important to their culture.  Clothing were made of different animal skins such as buffalo, deer, or elk. Infants were carried in cradleboards which were made of wood, animal skin, and sometimes decorated. They wore shoes made of leather and decorated with beads and they were called moccasins. Women wore lond deer or elk skinned dresses and men wore shirts and leggings made of buckskin. Paint was made of different natural resources such as flowers, plants, blood, or animal fat. These indians would use birch-bark to make canoes for transportation along the rivers and lakes.

Wild Rice

The Lakota were ancient enemies of the Fox and the Anishianbe. Seasonal warfare was constant in the area west of the Great Lakes. The Huron were being driven from their homeland into Lakota country on the northern Mississippi. The Lakota drove them into Wisconsin. The French supplied the Lakota's with guns to fight with and the Fox tribe protested. Warriors on horseback wielded small shields painted with powerful symbols to protect them in battle such as the medicine bear and birds to protect them from Indian fire. The Lakota traded shirts,leggings, and animal skinned robs with the Mandan-Hidatsa for squash, corn, beans, tobacco, and guns. 

 

With more whites moving into the plains and into Lakota country, they were forced to alter their way of life.  The Lakota first made contact with the Europeans in the early 1700s. The French and Lakota were Allies. The Lakota helped the French gain power in North America. White settlers began to push west as so did the Lakota. 

Lakota Dream Song

Bibliography

  • Corbusier, William H.

        The Corbusier Winter Counts. 4th Annual Report of the         Bureau of American Ethnology for 1882-83, pp. 127-47.           Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1886. Sept.9, 2015

  • Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Pritzker, Barry.

        Native Americans: an encyclopedia of history,                         culture, and peoples/ Barry M. Pritzker 1998. Sept 9,2015

        http://www.bigorrin.org/lakota_kids.htm

 

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