Sioux Topics – Page 2 of 4 – Access Genealogy

Treaty of August 19, 1825

Treaty with the Sioux and Chippewa, Sacs and Fox, Menominie, Ioway, Winnebago, and a portion of the Ottawa, and Potawattomie Tribes. The United States of America have seen with much regret, that wars have for many years been carried on between the Sioux and the Chippewas, and more recently between the confederated tribes of Sacs and Foxes, and the Sioux; and also between the Ioways and Sioux; which, if not terminated, may extend to the other tribes, and involve the Indians upon the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the Lakes, in general hostilities. In order, therefore, to promote peace among these … Read more

Treaty of September 17, 1851

Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Fort Laramie, in the Indian Territory, between D. D. Mitchell, superintendent of Indian affairs, and Thomas Fitzpatrick, Indian agent, commissioners specially appointed and authorized by the President of the United States, of the first part, and the chiefs, headmen, and braves of the following Indian nations, residing south of the Missouri River, east of the Rocky Mountains, and north of the lines of Texas and New Mexico, viz, the Sioux or Dahcotahs, Cheyennes, Arrapahoes, Crows, Assinaboines, Gros-Ventre Mandans, and Arrickaras, parties of the second part, on the seventeenth day of September, A. … Read more

Treaty of September 23, 1805

Conference Between the United States of America and the Sioux Nation of Indians. Whereas, a conference held between the United States of America and the Sioux Nation of Indians, Lieut. Z. M. Pike, of the Army of the United States, and the chiefs and warriors of the said tribe, have agreed to the following articles, which when ratified and approved of by the proper authority, shall be binding on both parties: Article 1. That the Sioux Nation grants unto the United States for the purpose of the establishment of military posts, nine miles square at the mouth of the river … Read more

Sioux Indian Chiefs and Leaders

The Sioux Indian chiefs and leaders discussed in this article played significant roles in shaping the history of their people during periods of great upheaval and conflict in the 19th century. From the tragic leadership of Big Foot during the Wounded Knee Massacre to the educational and diplomatic achievements of Charles Alexander Eastman, each figure contributed uniquely to the struggles, survival, and legacy of the Sioux. This article provides brief overviews of these influential individuals, highlighting their backgrounds, key actions, and enduring impacts within both Sioux culture and American history.

Red Cloud Sioux Indian Chief

Array

Sioux Indians

Siouan Family, Siouan Tribe, Sioux Tribe. The most populous linguistic family North of Mexico, next to the Algonquian. The name is taken from a ‘term applied to the largest and best known tribal group or confederacy belonging to the family, the Sioux or Dakota, which, in turn, is an abbreviation of Nadowessioux, a French corruption of Nadowe-is-iw, the appellation given them by the Chippewa. It signifies ‘snake,’ ‘adder,’ and, by metaphor, ‘enemy.’ Before changes of domicile took place among them, resulting from contact with whites, the principal body extended from the west bank of the Mississippi northward from the Arkansas … Read more

Blackfeet Tribe in War

The Blackfeet were a warlike people. How it may have been in the old days, before the coming of the white men, we do not know. Very likely, in early times, they were usually at peace with neighboring tribes, or, if quarrels took place, battles were fought, and men killed, this was only in angry dispute over what each party considered its rights. Their wars were probably not general, nor could they have been very bloody. When, however, horses came into the possession of the Indians, all this must have soon become changed. Hitherto there had really been no incentive … Read more

Yesterday and Today

“We then proceeded on for a mile, and anchored off a willow island, which, from the circumstances which had just occurred, we called Badhumored Island.” This is quoted, not for the chronicles of Swiss Family Robinson, but from a much nearer source, the journal of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804-6; and it sums up the impression left by the first meeting of the party with the Teton Sioux, one of the three great branches of that numerous tribe more properly known as Dakota. Of all the Indians on the long journey into the wilderness that the United States … Read more

The New Day

So though the tepee still stands beside the house of wood, though incantations are still heard where the sick man lies, we can only be surprised that so much of the old life has vanished that so much of the new has taken its place; that so many steps have already been taken by these sturdy people on their strange way, the “white man’s road.”

The Minnesota Massacre

The line established between the Sioux and the Chippewa by the treaty of 1825 ran in a south-easterly direction across what is now the State of Minnesota, from a point near where Fargo now stands, crossing the Mississippi River at St. Cloud. Below this line were the four bands of the Eastern division of the Sioux. With the exception of a tract set apart for Fort Snelling by treaty made with Lieutenant Pike, there was until 1837 no authority for white settlement within the region. Yet settlers had come; at first the French traders, later Americans from the east. By … Read more

The US Peace Policy with the Sioux

So read the treaty of 1868, made at fort Laramie, Dakota, with a dozen or more tribes of Sioux who had been at war continuously for a half dozen years. For between the nine treaties of 1865 and this new agreement warfare had been going on unceasingly, the annihilation of Fetterman’s command near Fort Phil Kearney being one of the outstanding events of this officially peaceful period.

The Western Wilderness

Of the great Siouan family of tribes found along the upper reaches of the Mississippi when the curtain of history lifted, those to whom we give the name of Sioux were by far the most numerous and the most powerful. Dakota, or “allies,” they called themselves; and their own name has been preserved in the two states in which the greater portion of these people now live. But the name by which we call them is a reminder of their age-long feud with the Chippewa or Ojibwa, north and east of them. Through the Canadian-French the Chippewa word has come … Read more

The Sioux Indian Ghost Dance

The manifestations of a new religious idea always have about them something of the mysterious. We who have noted the sudden waves of religious fervor which spread over our own race only to subside as quickly as they come, need not wonder at the rapid growth of the Messiah craze of 1890 among the Sioux Indians. After their five lean years in the Canadian forests, Sitting Bull and his people chose surrender to starvation, and returned to the United States where rations awaited them. Held as prisoners of war for a year and a half at Fort Randall, Dakota, they … Read more

The Cherokee of Kansas

The Cherokee Indian Tribe

Sioux Indian Photos

The following photographs are of Brulé Sioux, Blackfoot Sioux, Unc-Pa-Pa Sioux, Yanktonai Sioux, Cut Head Sioux, and two chiefs, Sitting Bull and Hole in the Day.

1889 Mdewakanton Sioux Indian Census

1889 Mdewakanton Sioux Census, of Sioux living in Minnesota. Compiled by Robert B. Henton Special Indian Agent. No information was given as to where exactly they lived. Sioux Photos

Tribal Signs – Cree to Kutine – Sign Language

Sign Language Among North American Indians – Tribal Signs

The Sioux, or Dacotah

Tokakon A Sioux Brave Signifies "He that inflicts the first wound"

An accurate classification of the American Indians, either founded upon dissimilarities in the language of different tribes, or upon differences in physical peculiarities, is impossible, particularly in treating of the scattered and wandering people of the far west. The races vary by such slight shades of distinction, and such analogies exist between their languages, that even where the distinction is perfectly evident in the nation at large, the line of demarcation can with difficulty be drawn. In other instances, the same nation, when divided into separate clans, inhabiting districts of dissimilar nature, and resorting to different modes of life, will … Read more

The Sioux Massacre, Minnesota

The Sioux massacre of the whites in Minnesota in August, 1862, is one of the bloodiest that has ever occurred in the history of the Indian races in North America. In the earlier periods of the country, the frontier settlements were constantly exposed to. Indian depredations, and their destruction at any time seemed probable from their comparative feebleness and remoteness from succor; but that the savage tribes should rise against the whites almost within sight of our populous cities, our railroads and steamboats, was not dreamed of by any one. The Sioux massacre, had it occurred in a time of … Read more

The Teepee

The teepee, a versatile and historically significant structure, has been widely associated with the Lakota Sioux in popular culture, particularly through depictions in Hollywood Westerns. However, the use of conical dwellings like the teepee extends beyond the Plains tribes to other indigenous peoples across North America, as well as to groups in northern Scandinavia and Siberia. This article explores the origins, construction, and cultural significance of the teepee, with a particular focus on its architectural features and adaptations to various environments. It also addresses misconceptions about indigenous housing styles, highlighting the diverse ways in which Native American tribes built their homes, depending on their resources and needs.