Tribes - The Great Sioux Nation

The Lakota, Nakota and Dakota Nation (also known as the Great Sioux Nation) descends from the original inhabitants of North America and can be divided into three major linguistic and geographic groups: Lakota (Teton, West Dakota), Nakota (Yankton, Central Dakota) and Dakota (Santee, Eastern Dakota). In North America, their territory covers some 200,000 kilometers in the present day state of South Dakota and neighboring states.Today, many of the tribes continue to officially call themselves ‘Sioux’ which the Federal Government of the United States applied to all Dakota/Lakota/Nakoda people in the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Sioux are a proud people with a rich heritage. Though they were known as great warriors, the family was considered the center of life and children were the center of attention. The roles of men and women were clearly defined, with the men expected to provide for and defend the family while women served as matriarchs, ruling the family and domestic lives of the band.

A deeply spiritual people, the Sioux believe in one all-pervasive god, Wakan Tanka, or the Great Mystery. Today, the Sioux practice Christianity as well as traditional spiritual beliefs, but there is a growing return to traditional beliefs among the young.