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Sioux living in the Great Lakes Region
Sioux Living in the Great Lakes RegionIn the 1500s and 1600s, Sioux people were still living around the Great Lakes; that's where they were in 1667 when they first met French fur traders. The people were allied in what was known as the Seven Council Fires or Oceti Sakowin. This was comprised of Dakota speakers, Nakota speakers, & Lakota speakers originally consisting of one group. These subdivisions were not culturally different. -
Moving Westward
Moving Westward In the 17th century the Sioux were pushed westward by tribes, particularly the Ojibwa and Cree, who obtained guns through the French fur trade. The Teton and Middle Sioux began a trek westward with the Teton in the lead. With the emergence onto the Plains the people became almost totally involved in a buffalo hunting economy. The buffalo supplied the main source of food as well as many material needs such as housing, clothing, and implements. -
Acquiring the Horse
Acquiring the Horse Once the people acquired the horse, in the mid 1700s, there was an impact on the material culture as well as the social customs of the people. Tepees became larger, there was greater mobility, and hunting became more productive. The horse had a direct impact on the integration of the warfare in the fabric of the people’s lives. Plains Indian warfare focused on raiding other tribes’ camps for horses and acquiring honors connected with capturing horses. Warfare emphasized out-smarting the enemy. -
Gold Rush
Gold Rush Lifeways and warfare customs were stable until the discovery of gold in California in 1848. Up until this time the U.S. government considered the west a “permanent Indian frontier”—an inhospitable land with little economic value inhabited by Indians. In the early 1850s, overland travelers enroute to gold fields began to cross through Lakota territory. The discovery of mineral wealth in the west caused the U.S. to extend its boundaries to the Pacific Ocean, encroaching on the Indian lands. -
Ft. Laramie and broken promises
Ft. Laramie and Broken Promises Set aside a 25 million acre tract of land for the Lakota and Dakota with all the land in South Dakota west of the Missouri River, to be known as the Great Sioux Reservation;Permit the Dakota and Lakota to hunt in areas of Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, and North Dakota until the buffalo were gone; Provide for an agency, grist mill, and schools to be located on the Great Sioux Reservation; Provide for land allotments to be made to individual Indians; and provide clothing, blankets, and food.
