A Dakota Village by Seth Eastman
The Villages of the Ochéti Šhakówiŋ
The Villages of the Ochéti Šhakówiŋ
The Year 1750 On The Northern Great Plains
By D. Jerome Tweton, The North Star Dakotan
BISMARCK, N.D. - They are commonly referred to as the
Sioux. They call themselves the Ochéti Šhakówiŋ,
Lakĥota for “Seven Campfires,” representing the seven major bands of the Great
Sioux Nation. Once each year representatives of the bands come together to hold
council, socialize, and participate in religious rites. This meeting of the
Great Sioux Nation takes place in Péšhla
“The Heart Of Everything That Is”—the Black Hills , the place, according to tradition, that gave
birth to the Ochéti Šhakówiŋ. It is a
serious mistake, however, to group all these Siouan-speaking people under one
name or characterization, for the ways of life of the Campfires differ
considerably.
The Dakota, sometimes referred to as
the Eastern Sioux or the Santee Sioux, live in the Mississippi
and Minnesota river valleys and account for
four of the seven Campfires: the Mdwakanton
(Spirit Lake People), the Waĥpékute
(Shooters Among The Leaves), the Waĥpétowon
(Dwellers Among The Leaves), and the Sissétowon
(People Of The Swamp). To the west of the Dakota in the region of the James River Valley lie two Campfires, the Ihanktowan (Yankton) and the Ihanktowana (Yanktonai), sometimes known
as the Middle Sioux. The Lakĥota, who
populate the plains from the Platte to the Knife
rivers, is the seventh Campfire. Also known as the Teton Sioux or Western
Sioux, the Lakĥota are comprised of
seven bands: Oglala (They Scatter
Their Own); Sĥičhaŋğu or Brule (Burnt
Thighs); Mniconjou (Planters Beside
The Water); Itážipčho or Sans Arcs (Those
Without Bows); Oohénoŋpa (Two Boilings/Kettles);
Sihasapa (Blackfeet); Hunkpapa (Campers At The Horn).
Siouan territory about 1750.
By the 1500s, the Ochéti Šhakówiŋ inhabited the prairie
and woods to the east of the plains. They could not avoid contact with the
Ojibway who were moving toward the same territory south of Lake
Superior . Tied closely to the French fur trade, the Objiwa, armed
with French guns, gradually pushed the Yankton, Yanktonai, and Lakota to the
west. The Ojibway made peace with the 5,000 Dakota who stayed in the Mississippi and Minnesota river
valleys.
The Dakota remain people of the
woods. The Mdewakanton occupy seven villages along the Mississippi ;
the Wahpekute have a large single village on the Minnesota River not far
upstream from where it empties into the Mississippi .
The Wahpeton’s seven villages and the 12 of the Sisseton are to the west on the
Minnesota River . That the Dakota are people of
the woods and water influences how they live. They construct permanent
heavily-timbered bark houses with pitched roofs. Some live in small conical structures
covered with skins and bark. Both men and women build the dwellings—sometimes referred
to as wigwams. For food, the Dakota depend upon the lakes and rivers for fish
and the woods for deer and small animals such as rabbits and muskrats. An
annual early winter deer hunt usually brings enough meat to get through the winter.
The Sisseton, the furthest west of the Dakota, venture out into the open
prairie to hunt buffalo. Some Dakota raise corn, squash, and pumpkins. Wild
rice and cranberries are plentiful and maple sugar mixed with water provides a
tasty hot drink. Dakota life reflects a typical woodlands culture.
The Yankton and Yanktonai lived
together around Leech
Lake prior to the late 1600s
when the two campfires separated. The Yankton, about 3,000 people, moved out of
the northern woodlands and onto the prairie country near the pipestone
quarries. A hundred years later they have established themselves in the region
of the lower James River
Valley . The Yanktonai,
with a population of about 6,000, left the woodlands in the early 1700s and
have built permanent winter homes in the James River Valley
to the north of the Yankton.
The two groups developed into mixed
cultures; that is, they combine the ways of the woods with the realities of a
new environment. They continue to live in permanent villages near water where
fish are plentiful. Gone are the large quantities of deer, wild rice, maple
sugar, and cranberries. In their place are large gardens and buffalo. Buffalo hunts take the Yanktonai north to Devils Lake ,
east to the Red River, and west to the Missouri River .
The Yanktonai have adopted the earthlodge , probably learning the building
technique from the Missouri
Valley tribes.
A Lakhota camp follows a bison gange, a scene by George Catlin.
The Lakota, the largest campfire
with about 12,000 people, moved to the plains between the late 1600s and the
mid-1700s. By the mid-1700s, the Lakota entered the sacred Black Hills, displacing
the Cheyenne
and Kiowa. As more and more bands reached the lower Missouri River, the Lakota
pushed the Sahnish (Arikara) northward upriver toward the Mandan and Hidatsa villages.
Facing a new land, the Lakota have
had to abandon their woodland ways and adjust to a completely different climate
and terrain. Soft-soled moccasins, so comfortable in the woods, have been
replaced by hard soles, more appropriate on the sun-baked plains. Total
dependence upon the buffalo has forced radical change. The buffalo, so numerous
that they look like a vast brown sea, have become the life blood for the
Lakota, providing food; skins for clothing, shelter, and beading; bone tools;
sinew for sewing; materials for making all kinds of containers including
cooking pouches and spiritual objects. One cannot overstate the importance of
the buffalo to sustaining Lakota life.
A Lakhota chases a bison bull on horseback, a scene by George Catlin.
Because the buffalo herds migrate
from place to place—sometimes hundreds of miles apart—so, too, do the Lakota.
This has made permanent villages impossible; the tipi, a portable dwelling, has
replaced the fixed wigwam. Village membership disappeared and has been replaced
by smaller units called tiospaye—groups of related people. Each tiospaye is
divided into camps that represent extended families. Because the Lakota have to
travel, skin cookery has taken the place of breakable and heavy pottery.
Because a tiospaye sometimes has to move suddenly, life is extremely
well-organized and the closing down of a campsite can be done in a short time.
The Lakota have acquired horses, making life much easier.
The Ochéti Šhakówiŋ are people of the woodlands, people of the prairie,
and people of the plains. Where they live has dictated how they live. Their bond
of togetherness, however, is stronger than their separatism.
The Sisseton Dakota were often referred to as the Western Dakota or plains Dakota since alot of their group reside on the plains... The Fort Peck Indian reservation in Montana and the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota as well as the Standing Rock reservation that sits in both North and South Dakota have an unknown percentage of these people on them. There are other reservations like the Spirit Lake Tribe in North Dakota and the Sisseton Reservation that sits mainly in South Dakota with a smaller part of it lies in North Dakota also consists of these Dakota People.
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