Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Territory Poster
Traditional Homeland Of Great Sioux Nation
By Dakota Wind
Bismarck, N.D. (The First Scout) - Over 1800 places across the Great Plains have been pinned on a Google Map, drawn from oral tradition, books, journals, historic maps, to create a resource that reflects a historical and cultural occupational history of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ (Seven Council Fires, or "Great Sioux Nation") over the past three hundred years.
The Google Map, called Makȟóčhe Wašté (The Good Country, or The Beautiful Country), has over 1800 places in the language of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ people. Over 24,000 geo-referenced pins on over two hundred historical maps using Google Earth and the David Rumsey Map Collection at the Stanford University Library were employed to create a map history detailing the historic and cultural occupation of the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ in the heart of North America.
The Makȟóčhe Wašté Map demands a lot of computer memory and bandwidth that it is best accessed online via desktop computer. This poster was created to provide viewers and educators a general view of the Great Plains as the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ saw it, with a south-orientation. A screen capture image of various points shows not just occupation but far reaches of inter-tribal trade. The map is updated as placenames are shared or revealed.
Three historic maps drawn by Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna Dakhóta (the Whitestone Hill Massacre Map by Richard Cottonwood guided by Takes His Shield) and Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta (the two maps of the 1876 Little Bighorn Fight) are included. All three are south-oriented. A Google Map overlaps the various historic occupations (blue is Dakhóta; purple is the Middle Dakhóta; red is Lakȟóta).
Also included are two historic trader maps, one by John Pope when he was a trader before the 1862 Minnesota Dakota Conflict, and the other by Joseph Nicollet. Both of these maps demarcate the landscape with hundreds of placenames in Dakhóta.
An explanation of the south-orientation worldview perspective can be found here.
Lastly, several Lakȟóta names appear in large, bold, red text which recalls how they referred to the Great Plains, and by extension North America. This poster measures 36"x48". Download your free Lakota Territory Poster and share it.
