🦬 Lakota

Warriors of the Great Plains

Who Are the Lakota?

The Lakota are one of the three major divisions of the Sioux Nation, along with the Dakota and Nakota. Historically the most powerful tribe of the Great Plains, the Lakota were masters of mounted buffalo hunting and fierce resistance to American expansion. Today, approximately 170,000 Lakota people live primarily on reservations in South Dakota—Pine Ridge, Rosebud, Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, and Lower Brule—maintaining language, ceremony, and cultural identity despite centuries of attempted erasure.

170KPopulation
7Council Fires
TȟatȟáŋkaBuffalo
He SapaBlack Hills

The Buffalo Nation

The Lakota's entire way of life centered on the American bison (tȟatȟáŋka). Buffalo provided food, clothing, shelter (tipi covers), tools (bones), thread (sinew), fuel (dried dung), and spiritual connection. The Lakota followed buffalo herds across the plains, developing unmatched horsemanship after acquiring horses in the 1700s. The systematic slaughter of buffalo by the US government—from 30 million to near extinction—was explicitly designed to destroy Lakota independence. Today, tribes work to restore buffalo herds on reservation lands.

Wounded Knee and Resistance

The Lakota fiercely resisted American expansion, defeating Custer at Little Bighorn in 1876. But the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre, where US soldiers killed over 250 Lakota men, women, and children, marked the brutal end of armed resistance. In 1973, Wounded Knee became a site of renewed resistance when American Indian Movement activists occupied the village for 71 days, demanding treaty rights. Pine Ridge Reservation remains one of the poorest places in America, yet Lakota people continue fighting for sovereignty and justice.

The Sacred Black Hills

He Sapa (the Black Hills) are the spiritual center of Lakota cosmology—the place where the people emerged and where ceremonies connect them to Wakȟáŋ Tȟáŋka (the Great Spirit). The 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty guaranteed the Black Hills to the Lakota in perpetuity, but gold discovery led to illegal seizure in 1877. In 1980, the Supreme Court ruled the taking illegal, offering over $100 million in compensation. The Lakota refused, demanding land return instead. The money sits in trust, growing to over $1 billion, while Lakota insist: "The Black Hills are not for sale."

Sun Dance and Spirituality

The Sun Dance (Wiwáŋyaŋg Wačhípi) is the most sacred Lakota ceremony—a multi-day prayer for the people's wellbeing involving fasting, dancing, and for some, piercing. Banned by the US government from 1883-1978, the Sun Dance survived underground and has experienced powerful revival. Sweat lodge ceremonies (inipi), vision quests (haŋbléčheya), and pipe ceremonies continue connecting Lakota to ancestors and spiritual power. The sacred pipe (čhaŋnúŋpa) represents the Lakota's covenant with the sacred.

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