Outline of Sioux History
The Sioux Nation contained about twenty thousand people in seven different tribes throughout the Northern Great plains. The Sioux were originally part of the seven council fires, Oceti Sakowin, which was made up of seven bands: four Dakota, two nakota and one teton or lakota band. The word "Sioux" originated from the near by Chippewa tribe where they called the Oceti Sakowin Nadoweisiw meaning "little snakes". The French later corrupted the term to nadowessioux which the English later shortened to Sioux. The Sioux lived in the head waters of Mississippi, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Around 1750-1775 the Oglala Lakota split off of the main Dakota homeland in Minnesota and moved west to the Black Hills where the Cheyenne along with the Kiowa and Crow lived. By 1794 the Lakota controlled the Black Hills and latter created alliances with some of the tribes. The lakota also set a trend for the rest of the tribes to follow. Around 1851 the US and Native American tribes signed the Fort Laramine treaty which was to guarantee peace between the US and many tribes in the plains area. However, this did not happen. There was constant US involvement which broke many of the treaty's promises. Chief Red Cloud, along with the
The Sioux regarded the universe as life, growth and death which are powers that are difficult to understand. Time is considered non-casual and does not show change or progress and nothing in the universe can be considered avoidable. Anything hard to understand is Wakan. Wakan tanka is the total of the personality brought into all things, also called the six grandfathers. Human kind is said to be emerged from the womb of mother earth, as did the buffalo. Everything has it's own spirit but all share the same spirit of Wakan Tanka. Other beings often share their knowledge with humans in times of crisis. At birth the child receives from Takuskanskan, a guardian spirit which comes from the stars at death then returns to the spirit world. Later on in life young adults would participate in what is called a vision quest. The young people looked for visions of spirits who would become guariands for them. Before the quest men and women would fast for four days. At the end of the fasting they went through a sweat bath. The act of sweating symbolized shedding of physical and psychological impurities. During this time the man or woman left camp alone to think and pray. At this time the individual did not sleep. The reason is so that they can find a spirit for guidance to guide them through life. The Sioux were known to be great warriors but they were also very family oriented. The primary importance of a family were the children, otherwise known as wakanisha (waka meaning "sacredness"). Within Sioux life, Indian men could marry more than one wife. Indian men and women took on very different roles, one being which men had to hunt and defend while women ruled the family and household chores. It was also very common for men to move into the woman's house. The Sioux people typically lived in bark covered Wigwams or tipis. The tipis were commonly made from buffalo skin which men typically painted designs on the
Some common words found in the essay are:
Life Sioux, Wakan Tanka, Black Hills, Games Sioux, Sitting Bull, Wakan Wakan, Spirituality Sioux, Lakotas Cheyenne, Oceti Sakowin, Cortez Spanish, black hills, sitting bull, sioux people, sun dance, chief sitting bull, vision quest, universe song, family children, laramine treaty, sioux life, bear butte,
Approximate Word count = 1304
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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