THE GREAT SIOUX NATION
Picture the "he sapa," a range of pine-covered mountains so green they look black from a distance.  Mysterious "mako sica" or "bad land," a mass of buttes and spires that stretches as far as the eye can see.  Imagine a colorful "wacipi," a powwow filled with traditional singing and dancing.  And legendary leaders like Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. 

This is South Dakota, home of the Great Sioux Nation.  Here, you can discover the sweeping prairie that captured your imagination in "Dances With Wolves."  Here, you can meet the people whose heritage and culture run through that land like a strong, steady stream. 

Great Beginnings.  Several theories concerning the origin of the Great Sioux Nation exist.  Many creation stories trace the nation's birth to the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Other say the people of the "Oceti Sakowin" migrated to the area from the woodlands of Minnesota. 
The Path to History...

The seven original bands of the Great Sioux Nation were joined in an alliance called the "Oceti Sakowin," or "Seven Council Fires."  This confederation of tribes spoke three dialects.  The Santee spoke Dakota.  The Yankton originally used Nakota, but any adopted the Dakota dialect in the mid-1800's.  And the Teton spoke Lakota. 

The term "Sioux," short for "nadouessioux" or "little snakes," actually came from the Chippewa, a longtime foe.  Over the years, it has been widely adopted.  However, the people of the Great Sioux Nation prefer to be called Dakota, Lakota or Nakota, according to their language group. 

A rich oral tradition relates the values, culture and spirituality of the Great Sioux Nation.  The stars, known as the Great Spirit's holy breath, the sun and the earth figure prominently in this tradition. 

Today, as yesterday, the people of the Great Sioux Nation seek to live in harmony with the universe. 
Milestones...

1800-Present

1800
By early 19th century, the Great Sioux Nation dominates the northern Plains, an area including most of the Dakotas, northern Nebraska, eastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. 

1803
The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France.  The westward expansion that follows eventually leads to depletion of the buffalo, an animal central to the Lakota way of life. 

1866-68
Red Cloud leads the successful fight to close off the Bozeman Trail, a pass leading to the gold mines of Montana.  The trail crosses over the traditional hunting grounds of the Teton. 

1868
The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 establishes the Great Sioux Reservation, encompassing most of present-day South Dakota west of the Missouri River, including the Black Hills.  The U.S. Government pledges to keep whites out of this territory. 

1874
An expedition led by Lt. Col. George A. Custer discovers gold in the Black Hills, sending a rush of prospectors to the area.  As more and more whites enter the area, the Indian people defend their home and way of life. 

1876
On June 25, Custer attacks a large Indian encampment.  Sitting Bull, Gall, Crazy Horse and several Cheyenne leaders defeat Custer and the 7th Cavalry at the Battle of Little Big Horn.  Custer loses his entire command of more than 200 men in the battle. 

1889
An act by the U.S. Congress in March 1889 splits the Great Sioux Reservation into six smaller reservations. 

Some of the tribes begin performing the Ghost Dance, a religious ceremony thought to extinguish the whites, return the buffalo and the former way of life. 

South Dakota is admitted to the union in November. 

1890
Sitting Bull is murdered on the Standing Rock Reservation.  Following this event, Big Foot and his Minnecoujou band flee to Pine Ridge to seek protection under Red Cloud. 

More than 250 members of Big Foot's band are massacred by the 7th Cavalry on Dec. 29 at Wounded Knee. 

1924
The Citizenship Act of 1924 naturalizes Indians born within the territorial limits of the United States. 

1934
The Indian Reorganization Act recognizes tribal governments as sovereign nations. 

1973
Members of the American Indian Movement seize the village Wounded Knee and occupy it for 71 days. 

1990
South Dakota Governor George S. Mickelson and representatives of the state's nine tribal governments proclaim 1990 a Year of Reconciliation.  A Century of Reconciliation is declared in 1991.
Tragedy at Wounded Knee...

Following the death of Sitting Bull on Dec. 15, 1890, Chief Big Foot and his Minnecoujou band set out for Pine Ridge.  They were intercepted by the 7th Cavalry and brought, under a white flag of truce, to Wounded Knee. 

On the morning of Dec. 29, soldiers prepared to search the band for weapons.  A rifle was fired, setting off intense shooting that left more than 250 Indians, most of them unarmed, dead.  Many were buried in a mass grave nearby. 

Today, a solitary stone monument stands on the mass grave site.