Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-06-27
Sioux Sought to Keep Lands With Arrows

ATew-rifIes-suits at lav Ths.
mas been the somewhat surnrfSin1
cCcrse o. evolution in the weapons
win which the Sioux Indians have
aayed themselves In contest with
inc whites, points out an old bull
Ntin Of the National Geographic
society, in regard to the tribes
winch have sought from the fed
erai government hundreds of mill
lions Of dollars, claimed 10 he dne
them in payment for their "oId
homestead"
1t Is probable that the Sioux would
WIN easily in a vote to determine
which Indian tribe is most widely
Known. says the bulletin. with the
possible exception of the much less
generally known Ojibwa, it is the larg-
Mexico. ~ o'
But this has not been the only
factor IN making us familiar with the
Sioux. The Sioux of today are plains
Indians; and although our great-great-
grandiatherS knew the forest Indians
OF the east all too we'll it is the eX-
PLOTS OF the tribes from whom the
west has hardly been won that lie
lfeSheSt IN the memory OF the living
generations. The main body OF the
Sioux, too, lay in the northern prairie
regions across which led the route of
the greaStest westward trek of the pio-
neerS, whether they were bound to the
soil OF Iowa or far beyond TO Oregon
and California.
UnfOrgetable Names
FINALLY the unforgetable names and
the dramatic incidents that the history
OF the Sioux has yielded, are sufficient
alone TO give them prominent place
whenever Indians are the subject of
thought. Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, Rain
m-the-Face, and the redoubtable Sit
ting Bull were Sioux. The Sioux have
had a greater hand at furnishing our
best known geographic names than any
other division of Indians. Dakota
Minnesota Omeha,' 'Arkansa,' Kan
sa.' Iowa and Missouri are a few
examples, most of them the names of
Slouan sub-tribeS.
"A number of students of the Indian
agree that the stock originated in the
forest region near the Atlantic coast.
Except for relatively a few in the
southeastern states, however, the main
body of the people had been pushed
west by the time the white settlers
reached the new world.
The Sioux call themselves .Dakotas'
Sioux is a contraction of a French
corruption of an Ojibwa word meaning
little snakes or enemies Until COM
paratively recently the Sioux have been
consistent enemies Of the new Ameri-
cans. They assisted the English both
during the American Revolutionary
war and the war of 1872, and prac-
ticany every advance westward which
the white settlers have since made has
been vigorously contested by the Sioux.
by the first great treaty between
the United States and the Sioux, made
in 1925 at Prairie du Chen, Wis, the
"a Cipvy IpfiNoaI c
lying mainly to the west of the Mis-
siSSippi river. and including a tremen-
Gous area covering roughly two-thirds
OF the DakotaS and considerable por
lions of the present states of WiScon-
sin, Iowa. Missouri and wyoming.
Big sale in 1887
I'm 1887 came the first big sale Of
territory by the Sioux when they dis
posed OF all claims to territory east If
the Mississippi. In 1851 they sold the
greater part of their holdings in Min
nesota. Delay on the part of the gov
eminent in carrying out its part OF
the agreement aroused discomfort
among the Indians and in 1857 they
massacred settlers near the Minnesota
Iowa border. This was followed in 1862
by the terrible Minnesota massacre in
which nearly 1000 settlers lost Their
lives. AS result of this uprising the
Sioux were driven out of Minnesota
and pushed further west. For the mex
six years they were continually on the
warpath.
"A period of peace followed the
treaty of 1868 which was unbroken IN
til white miners, attracted by the dis
covery of gold. invaded the Black Hills
in the seventies. Efforts 10 induce the
Sioux TO go on reservations were re-
sisted by Sitting Bull. who, with thou
sand. OF followers trekked furthec
westward In 1876 his band surrounded
Clusters command of several hundred
United States cavalrymen on the Little
Big Horn and massacred them. Sitting
Bull escaped to Canada and soon after
this all Sioux of the United States
we're living on their great reservation
embracing all Of South Dakota west OF
the Missouri river as well as areas in
adjoining states.
Reservations Reduced
The history of the Sioux from that
time onward has recorded the reduc-
ton of their reservations. In 1889
treaty was made reducing the, great
reservation by one-half, and dividing
what remained into five smaller resef-