Great Sioux Nation Information & Great Sioux Nation Links at HealthHaven.com

The Great Sioux Nation is a general term sometimes applied to the Sioux. The Great Sioux Nation is divided into three linguistically and regionally based groups and several subgroups:

Lakota (a.k.a. Lakȟóta, Teton)
- Northern Lakota (Húkpapȟa, Sihásapa)
- Central Lakota (Mnikȟówožu, Itázipčho, Oóhenuŋpa)
- Southern Lakota (Oglála, Sičháŋǧu)
Western Dakota (a.k.a. Yankton-Yanktonai or Dakȟóta)
- Yankton (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ)
- Yanktonai (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna)
Eastern Dakota (a.k.a. Santee-Sisseton or Dakhóta)
- Santee (Isáŋyáthi: Bdewákhathuŋwaŋ, Waȟpékhute)
- Sisseton (Sisíthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ)

The term "Great Sioux Nation" is also sometimes applied to a hypothetical state in the western and midwestern United States, which would occupy the following recognized Indian Reservations:

Oglala (Pine Ridge Indian Reservation)
Sićangu (Rosebud Indian Reservation)
Hunkpapa (Standing Rock Indian Reservation/Cheyenne River Indian Reservation)
Minniconjou (Cheyenne River Indian Reservation)
Sans Arc (Cheyenne River Indian Reservation)
Two Kettles (Cheyenne River Indian Reservation)
Crow Creek Indian Reservation
Lower Brule Indian Reservation
Santee Indian Reservation
Yanktonai (Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation)
Flandreau Indian Reservation
Lake Traverse Indian Reservation (Sisseton-Wahpehton)
Lower Sioux
Upper Sioux
Shakopee-Mdewakanton
Prairie Island
Standing Rock Indian Reservation
Spirit Lake Tribe (Formerly Devil's Lake Reservation)

The hypothetical state would also include the defunct Great Sioux reservation and other "unceded Indian territory" in four states, as well as parts of the following states:

Therefore, the theoretical Great Sioux Nation occupies only parts of the United States where Sioux tribes have some legal claim with regard to treaties with the Federal government. (See, e.g., Treaty of Fort Laramie and map of treaty land in External Links section, below.) It does not include the traditional Sioux homeland in the Carolinas. It also is heavily tilted in favor of the Lakota people. Only a fraction of land occupied by Dakota and Nakota tribes immediately before white settlement is included, while virtually all Lakota land is included.

Historically, the Great Sioux Nation and the United States have had a turbulent relationship. The last great Indian battles, the Battle of Little Bighorn and the Massacre at Wounded Knee, were fought between these two peoples.

[edit] Further reading

Decker, Doug. An Analysis of "The Bradley Bill" Proposing to Return the Black Hills to the Great Sioux Nation. [Pierre, S.D.]: South Dakota Legislative Research Council, 1987.
Hans, Frederic Malon. The Great Sioux Nation; A Complete History of Indian Life and Warfare in America. Minneapolis: Ross & Haines, 1964.
Ortiz, Roxanne Dunbar. The Great Sioux Nation Sitting in Judgment on America. San Francisco: American Indian Treaty Council Information Center, Moon Books, 1977.
Pommersheim, Frank, and John P. LaVelle. 2002. "Toward a Great Sioux Nation Judicial Support Center and Supreme Court: An Interim Planning and Recommendation Report for the Wakpa Sica Historical Society's Reconciliation Place Project". Wicazo Sa Review. 17, no. 1: 183-232.
South Dakota. The Great Sioux Nation. [Pierre, S.D.]: South Dakota Office of Tourism, 2006.

[edit] External links