Standing Rock

Parts of the Collage

"Lakȟóta" is what the people of the Lakota subdivision of the Sioux tribe call themselves in the Lakota language.

The person in the center is Sitting Bull, a Lakota chief who united the Sioux tribes against the white settlers taking their tribal land.

The person on the left is Kevin Killer, the current Oglala Sioux Tribe president.

The person on the right is named Brittany Poor Bear, a member of the Yankton Sioux tribe.

In the upper left is an example of painted buffalo hide art, a practice exclusive to the Sioux tribe.

I am representing the Sioux as a homogenous group for the purposes of contrasting this tribe with other tribes, but there are most certainly differences across the subgroups of the Sioux people that I have not fully explored. Here is some background information:

"The appropriate name for the Sioux is the People of the Seven Council Fires (Oceti Sakowin Oyate). They speak one of the three dialects of the same language, Siouan. Within the Oceti Sakowin are seven bands: Wahpekute, Sistonwan, Ihanktown, Ihanktowana, Tetonwan, Wahpetonwan, and Mdewankanton. There are now various groups who descend from the original seven and maintain autonomy over the governing of their oyate (tribe).

The terms 'Lakota,' 'Nakota,' and 'Dakota' are often used interchangeably with 'Sioux,' and they are the three largest subsets of the Great Sioux Nation.

The Dakota, also called the Santee, were historically woodland people who thrived on fishing, hunting, and some agriculture. They consist of five bands: Mdewankanton, Wahpetonwan, Wahpekute, Hunkpati, and Sisitonwan.

The Lakota, also known as the Teton, form the largest and most well-known band of the Sioux Nation (Oceti Sakowin). Renowned for being a strong and fierce tribe of warriors, they led much of the resistance against settlers encroaching on their land and were one of the last tribes to settle on a reservation. The Teton are divided into seven tribes: the Mniconjou, Itazipo/Sans Arc, Shiasapa, Oohenumpa, Oglala, Sicangu, and Hunkpapa.

Consisting primarily of the Yankton and Yanktonai tribes, the Nakota people split from the Dakota and settled in South Dakota's prairies; thus, the Nakota culture closely mirrors the Dakota. Today, they live in parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, and Canada" ("Sioux Native Americans: Their History, Culture, and Traditions").

Land Occupation

The current reservation lands of the Sioux are significantly smaller and more fractured than their original homelands, but unlike the Cherokee and other Indigenous groups, they did not experience any major forced relocation across the country. The interactive map on the right depicts a rough outline of the original homelands as well as the current reservation lands.

The means by which their land was forcibly fragmented from a large and prominent territory to a collection of small and disconnected reservations is in direct contrast to the Indigenous conception of land and nature as connected. There have been efforts to continue weakening them, for example the Dakota Access company attempting to build a pipeline through the Lakota people’s river, but their powerful aim of protecting the sacredness of the river has allowed them to successfully continue to maintain hold over their land and its connectedness. Even so, it is important to also recognize that a large portion of Sioux people are living outside of the reservation.

Interactions with and Views of Nature

This is my own interpretation and synthesis of what I have read of the writings of Sioux indigenous people and I have specifically included information such that it highlights the differences between the three tribes. In order to avoid having my writing, the writing of an onlooker, being that which shapes the knowledge of the reader, I strongly encourage you to scroll to the bottom and read the original writing that I used to inform this project.

Like other North American Indigenous groups, they see humans as being part of nature and coming from nature, not just "close" to it. Black Elk, a member of the Oglala Sioux tribe, describes Wakȟáŋ Tháŋka ("Great Spirit") as:

"We should understand well that all things are the works of the Great Spirit. We should know that He is within all things: the trees, the grasses, the rivers, the mountains, and all the four-legged animals, and the winged peoples; and even more important, we should understand that He is also above all these things and peoples. When we do understand all this deeply in our hearts, then we will fear, and love, and know the Great Spirit, and then we will be and act and live as He intends."

The Dakota people have a deep-rooted culture that intricately weaves together their surroundings and artistic expressions. They master crafts, weaponry, and music, drawing inspiration from their Great Plains landscape. Using locally sourced materials like pounded clay and crushed stones, they create pottery, incorporating flint knives, scrapers, arrow points, and bone-made objects. Their wooden bowls, adorned with carved animal heads, are reserved for sacred ceremonies.

The Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota people greatly revere the horse for its help in hunting and traveling. While the other tribes value all animals, the uniquely significant role of the horse for the Sioux tribe is due to their situation on the Great Plains, a reflection of the distinct landscapes of the tribes on their distinct cultural perspectives.

Also due to being located across the Great Plains, the Sioux people have a strong connection with the buffalo. They utilized everything that the buffalo could provide from food to shelter, clothing, and tools. In addition to its physical presence, the buffalo fostered a profound spiritual bond with the earth and sky, while also shouldering significant responsibilities for the community.

One use of buffalos is to create buffalo hide paintings. These painted hides served both practical and ceremonial purposes, providing protection against winter's harsh cold. Additionally, the Lakota believed that buffalo possessed potent medicine, leading them to wear painted buffalo hides during times of illness. Different members of the tribe had distinct uses for buffalo hide painting. Women utilized it to encourage motherhood, while political and spiritual leaders adorned themselves with hides depicting tribal history or the bravery of warriors.

Remap of Reservation

In this image, I have symbolically mapped nature onto their territory; I merge the fixed spatiality of their territory with the cyclical and dynamic nature of the four directional colors, which both expands the presence of the territory outwards and blurs its boundaries.

The preeminent symbol of Sioux religion is the Čhaŋgléska Wakȟaŋ ("sacred hoop" or medicine wheel), which visually represents the concept that everything in the universe is intertwined using the following colors:

North = white = the mind, winter, and night.

East = red = emotions, spring, and morning.

South = yellow = the spirit, summer, and noon.

West = black = the body, autumn, and evening.

Sources/Additional Resources

Official Standing Rock Sioux Tribe website: https://standingrock.org/

Official Yankton Sioux Tribe website: https://www.yanktonsiouxtribe.net/

Official Rosebud Sioux Tribe website: https://www.rosebudsiouxtribe-nsn.gov/

Official Oglala Sioux Tribe website: https://oglalalakotanation.net/

Sioux encyclopedia page: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sioux

"Sioux Native Americans: Their History, Culture, and Traditions": https://blog.nativehope.org/sioux-native-americans-their-history-culture-and-traditions

The Sacred Pipe book: https://www.oupress.com/9780806121246/the-sacred-pipe/

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