Sioux Reservations

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Last Updated: 10 years The Great Sioux Nation is made up of many tribes. The Sioux peoples maintain many separate tribal governments scattered across several reservations in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Montana in the United States; and in Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada.

The Great Sioux Nation is divided into three linguistically and regionally based groups and several subgroups. Linguistically, all three language groups belong to Siouan languages.

  1. Lakota(a.k.a. Lakȟóta, Teton)
    • Northern Lakota (Húŋkpapȟa, Sihásapa)
    • Central Lakota (Mnikȟówožu, Itázipčho, Oóhenuŋpa)
    • Southern Lakota (Oglála, Sičháŋǧu)
  2. Western Dakota(a.k.a. Yankton-Yanktonai or Dakȟóta)
    • Yankton (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ)
    • Yanktonai (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna)
  3. Eastern Dakota(a.k.a. Santee-Sisseton or Dakhóta)
    • Santee (Isáŋyathi: Bdewákhathuŋwaŋ, Waȟpékhute)
    • Sisseton (Sisíthuŋwaŋ, Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ)

The term “Great Sioux Nation” is also sometimes applied to a hypothetical state in the western and midwestern United States, which would occupy the following recognized Indian Reservations:

  • Oglala (Pine Ridge Indian Reservation)
  • Sićangu (Rosebud Indian Reservation)
  • Hunkpapa (Standing Rock Indian Reservation/Cheyenne River Indian Reservation)
  • Minniconjou (Cheyenne River Indian Reservation)
  • Sans Arc (Cheyenne River Indian Reservation)
  • Two Kettles (Cheyenne River Indian Reservation)
  • Crow Creek Indian Reservation
  • Lower Brule Indian Reservation
  • Santee Indian Reservation
  • Yanktonai (Yankton Sioux Indian Reservation)
  • Flandreau Indian Reservation
  • Lake Traverse Indian Reservation (Sisseton-Wahpehton)
  • Lower Sioux
  • Upper Sioux
  • Shakopee-Mdewakanton
  • Prairie Island
  • Standing Rock Indian Reservation
  • Spirit Lake Tribe (Formerly Devil’s Lake Reservation)

The hypothetical state would also include the defunct Great Sioux reservation and other “unceded Indian territory” in four states, as well as parts of the following states:

  • South Dakota
  • Montana
  • Nebraska
  • North Dakota
  • Wyoming

Historically, the Great Sioux Nation and the United States have had a turbulent relationship. The last great Indian battles, the Battle of Little Bighorn and the Wounded Knee Massacre, were fought between these two peoples.

The Assiniboine

The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people, also known as the Hohe, Nakota, Nakoda, or Nakona, are a Siouan people originally from the Northern Great Plains of Canada and the United States. Today, they are centered in present-day Saskatchewan, but they have also populated parts of Alberta, southwestern Manitoba, northern Montana and western North Dakota.

In Montana, the Assiniboine have two reservations: Fort Belknap Reservation, which they share with the Gros Ventre,  and Fort Peck Reservation, which they share with the Sioux divisions of Sisseton, Wahpetons, Yanktonais, and the Teton Hunkpapa.