 Charles Alex Eastman (1858–1939), physician, author, and co-founder of theBoy Scouts of America | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 20,460 (2010)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States (South Dakota,Minnesota,Nebraska,Montana,North Dakota), Canada (Manitoba,Saskatchewan) | |
| Languages | |
| Dakota,[1]English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (incl.syncretistic forms),Native American religions,Native American Church,Wocekiye | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Lakota,Assiniboine,Stoney (Nakota), and otherSioux |
| Dakota "ally / friend" | |
|---|---|
| People | Dakȟóta Oyáte |
| Language | Dakȟótiyapi Wíyutȟapi |
| Country | Dakȟóta Makóce,Očhéthi Šakówiŋ |
TheDakota (pronounced[daˈkˣota],Dakota:Dakȟóta orDakhóta) are aNative Americantribe andFirst Nationsband government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of theSioux people, and are typically divided into theEastern Dakota and theWestern Dakota.
The four bands of Eastern Dakota are theBdewákaŋthuŋwaŋ,Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ,Waȟpékhute, andSisíthuŋwaŋ and are sometimes referred to as theSantee (Isáŋyathi orIsáŋ-athi; 'knife' + 'encampment', 'dwells at the place of knife flint'), who reside in the easternDakotas, centralMinnesota and northernIowa. They have federally recognized tribes established in several places.
The Western Dakota are theYankton, and theYanktonai (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ andIháŋktȟuŋwaŋna; "Village-at-the-end" and "Little village-at-the-end"), who reside in the UpperMissouri River area. The Yankton-Yanktonai are collectively also referred to by theendonymWičhíyena ('Those Who Speak Like Men'). They also have distinct federally recognized tribes. In the past the Western Dakota have been erroneously classified asNakota, who are located in Montana and across the border in Canada, where they are known asStoney.[2]
The wordDakota means "ally or friend" in theDakota language, and theirautonyms includeIkčé Wičhášta ("Indian people") andDakhóta Oyáte ("Dakota people").[3]
The Eastern and Western Dakota are two of the three groupings belonging to theSioux nation (also called Dakota in a broad sense), the third being theLakota (Thítȟuŋwaŋ or Teton). The three groupings speak dialects that are still relativelymutually intelligible. This is referred to as a common language, Dakota-Lakota, orSioux.[4]
The Dakota include the following bands:
The Dakota language is a Mississippi Valley Siouan language, belonging to the greaterSiouan-Catawban language family. It is closely related to and mutually intelligible with theLakota language, and both are also more distantly related to theStoney andAssiniboine languages. Dakota is written in theLatin script and has a dictionary and grammar.[1]
Before the 17th century, the Santee Dakota (Isáŋyathi; "Knife" also known as the Eastern Dakota) lived aroundLake Superior with territories in present-day northern Minnesota and Wisconsin. They gathered wild rice, hunted woodland animals and used canoes to fish. Wars with theOjibwe throughout the 1700s pushed the Dakota into southern Minnesota, where the Western Dakota (Yankton, Yanktonai) and Teton (Lakota) were residing. In the 1800s, the Dakota signed treaties with the United States, ceding much of their land in Minnesota. Failure of the United States to make treaty payments on time, as well as low food supplies, led to theDakota War of 1862, which resulted in the Dakota being exiled from Minnesota to numerous reservations in Nebraska, North and South Dakota and Canada. After 1870, the Dakota people began to return to Minnesota, creating the present-day reservations in the state.
The Yankton and Yanktonai Dakota (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ andIháŋktȟuŋwaŋna; "Village-at-the-end" and "Little village-at-the-end"), collectively also referred to by theendonymWičhíyena, resided in theMinnesota River area before ceding their land and moving to South Dakota in 1858. Despite ceding their lands, their treaty with the U.S. government allowed them to maintain their traditional role in the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ as the caretakers of thePipestone Quarry, which is the cultural center of the Sioux people. They are considered to be the Western Dakota (also called middle Sioux), and have in the past been erroneously classified asNakota.[6] The actual Nakota are theAssiniboine andStoney ofWestern Canada andMontana.
Migrations ofOjibwe people from the east in the 17th and 18th centuries, who were armed with muskets supplied by the French and British, pushed the Dakota further into Minnesota and west and southward. The US gave the name "Dakota Territory" to the northern expanse west of theMississippi River and up to its headwaters.[7][failed verification]
After theDakota War of 1862, the federal government expelled the Santee (who included theMdewakanton) from Minnesota. Many were sent toCrow Creek Indian Reservation east of the Missouri River in what is now South Dakota. In 1864 some from the Crow Creek Reservation were sent to St. Louis and then traveled by boat up the Missouri River, ultimately to theSantee Sioux Reservation.
In the 21st century, the majority of the Santee live on reservations and reserves, and many in small and larger cities in Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Canada. They went to cities for more work opportunities and improved living conditions.
The Iháŋkthuŋwaŋ-Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna, also known by theanglicized spellingYankton (Iháŋkthuŋwaŋ: "End village") and Yanktonai (Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna: "Little end village") divisions consist of two bands or two of the seven council fires. According toNasunatanka andMatononpa in 1880, the Yanktonai are divided into two sub-groups known as the Upper Yanktonai and the Lower Yanktonai (Húŋkpathina).[7]
They were involved in quarryingpipestone. The Yankton-Yanktonai moved into northern Minnesota. In the 18th century, they were recorded as living in theMankato (Maka To – Earth Blue/Blue Earth) region of southwestern Minnesota along theBlue Earth River.[8]
Most of the Yankton live on theYankton Indian Reservation in southeastern South Dakota. Some Yankton live on theLower Brule Indian Reservation andCrow Creek Reservation, which is also occupied by the Lower Yanktonai. The Upper Yanktonai live in the northern part of theStanding Rock Sioux Reservation, and on theSpirit Lake Reservation, in areas within central North Dakota. Others live in the eastern half of theFort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana. In addition, they reside at several Canadian reserves, includingBirdtail,Oak Lake, and Whitecap (formerly Moose Woods).
The Dakota maintain many separate tribal governments scattered across several reservations and communities in North America: in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Montana in the United States; and inManitoba, southernSaskatchewan in Canada.
The earliest known European record of the Dakota identified them in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. After the introduction of the horse in the early 18th century, the Sioux dominated larger areas of land—from present day Central Canada to thePlatte River, from Minnesota to theYellowstone River, including thePowder River country.[9]
(*Reserves shared with other First Nations)
Contemporary Sioux people are also listed under the tribes to which they belong:
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