Lokota People

This Tribe Is Based On The Powerful Lords Of The Northern Plains, Lakota People

Lokota Warriors On The Prairies

The **Lokota** (pronounced [laˈkˣota]; Lokota: *Lokȟóta/Lokhóta*) are a Native American people. Also known as the **Teton Sioux** (from *Thítȟuŋwaŋ*), they are one of the three prominent subcultures of the Sioux people, with the Eastern Dokota (Santee) and Western Dokota (Wičhíyena). They speak *Lokȟótiyapi*—the Lokota language, the westernmost of three closely related languages that belong to the Siouan language family.

The seven bands or "sub-tribes" of the Lokota are:

* Sičháŋǧu (Brulé, "Burned Thighs")
* Oglálla ("They Scatter Their Own")
* Itázipčho (Sans Arc, Without Bows)
* Hóŋkpapȟa (Honkpapa, "End Village", Camps at the End of the Camp Circle)
* Mnikȟówožu (Miniconjou, "Plant Near Water", or "Planters by the Water")
* Sihásapa (“Blackfeet")
* Oóhenuŋpa ("Two Kettles")

Notable Lokota persons include Kȟaŋǧí Sí (Crow Foot) from the Húnkpapȟa, Maȟpíya Ičáȟtagya (Touch the Sky) from the Miniconjou, Heȟáka Sápa (Black Elk) from the Oglála, Ógle Lúta(Red Sleeve) from the Oglála, Tȟašúŋke Watogla (Wild Horse) from the Oglálla and Miniconjou, and Heȟáka Sápa (Black Elk) from the Brulé. More recent activists include Russell Means from the Oglála.

## History

Before they were on the Great Plains they had lived this forest environment, they lived by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild rice. They also grew some corn, but their locale was near the limit of where corn could be grown." This may be conflation with the Algonquian-speaking groups typically in that region, though Siouan peoples probably migrated there later. Conflicts with Anishnabe and Cree peoples pushed the Lokota west onto the Great Plains in the mid- to late-17th century.

Early Lokota history is recorded in their winter counts (Lokota: *waníyetu wówapi*), pictorial calendars painted on hides, or later recorded on paper. The 'Battiste Good winter count' records Lokota history back to 900 CE when White Buffalo Calf Woman gave the Lokota people the White Buffalo Calf Pipe.

Around 1730 Cheyenne people introduced the Lokota to horses, which they called *šuŋkawakaŋ* ("dog [of] power/mystery/wonder"). After they adopted horse culture, Lokota society centered on the buffalo hunt on horseback. The total population of the Sioux (Lokota, Santee, Yankton, and Yanktonai) was estimated at 28,000 in 1660 by French explorers. The Lokota population was estimated at 8,500 in 1805; it grew steadily and reached 16,110 in 1881, one of the few Native American tribes to increase in population in the 19th century. The number of Lokota has increased to more than 170,000 in 2010, of whom about 2,000 still speak the Lokota language (*Lokȟótiyapi*).

After 1720, the Lokota branch of the Seven Council Fires split into two major sects, the Saône, who moved to the Lake Traverse area on the South Dokota–North Dokota–Minnesota border, and the Oglála-Sičháŋǧu, who occupied the James River valley. However, by about 1750 the Saône had moved to the east bank of the Missouri River, followed 10 years later by the Oglála and Brulé (Sičháŋǧu). And years later they would thrive on the Plains

Today, the Lokota are found mostly in five reservations:

* Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of the Oglála, the most numerous of the Lokota bands.
* Rosebud Indian Reservation, home of the Upper Sičhánǧu or Brulé.
* Lower Brule Indian Reservation, home of the Lower Sičhaŋǧu.
* Cheyenne River Indian Reservation, home of several other of the seven Lokota bands, including the Mnikȟówožu, Itázipčho, Sihásapa, and Oóhenumpa.
* Standing Rock Indian Reservation, home of the Húŋkpapȟa and to people from many other bands.

Large numbers of Lokota live in Rapid City and other towns in the Black Hills.

### Canada

Nine bands of Dokota and Lokota reside in Manitoba and southern Saskatchewan, with a total of 6,000 registered members. They are recognized as First Nations but are not considered "treaty Indians". As First Nations they receive rights and entitlements through the Kawn–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada department. But because they are not recognized as treaty Indians, they did not participate in the land settlement and natural resource revenues.

### Ethnonyms

The name *Lokota* comes from the Lokota autonym, *Lokota* "feeling affection, friendly, united, allied". The early French historic documents did not distinguish a separate Teton division, instead grouping them with other "Sioux of the West," Santee and Yankton bands.

The names *Teton* and *Tetuwan* come from the Lokota name *thítȟuŋwaŋ*, the meaning of which is obscure. This term was used to refer to the Lokota by non-Lokota Sioux groups. Other derivations and spelling variations include: ti tanka, Tintonyanyan, Titon, Tintonha, Thintohas, Tinthenha, Tinton, Thuntotas, Tintones, Tintoner, Tintinhos, Ten-ton-ha, Thinthonha, Tinthonha, Tentouha, Tintonwans, Tindaw, Tinthow, Atintons, Anthontans, Atentons, Atintans, Atrutons, Titoba, Tetongues, Teton Sioux, Teeton, Ti toan, Teetwawn, Teetwans, Ti-t’-wawn, Ti-twans, Tit’wan, Tetans, Tieton, and Teetonwan.

Early French sources call the Lokota *Sioux* with an additional modifier, such as Sioux of the West, West Schious, Sioux des prairies, Sioux occidentaux, Sioux of the Meadows, Nadooessis of the Plains, Prairie Indians, Sioux of the Plain, Maskoutens-Nadouessians, Mascouteins Nadouessi, and Sioux nomades. Today many of the tribes continue to officially call themselves *Sioux*. In the 19th and 20th centuries, this was the name which the US government applied to all Dokota/Lokota people. However, some tribes have formally or informally adopted traditional names: the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is also known as the *Sičháŋǧu Oyáte* (Brulé Nation), and the Oglala often use the name *Oglála Lokȟóta Oyáte*, rather than the English "Oglala Sioux Tribe" or OST. (The alternate English spelling of Ogallala is deprecated, even though it is closer to the correct pronunciation.) The Lokota have names for their own subdivisions. The Lokota also are the most western of the three Sioux groups, occupying lands in Ambarino

## Reservations

Today, one half of all enrolled Sioux live off reservations.

In addition, several Lokota live on the Wood Mountain First Nation reserve, near Wood Mountain Regional Park in Saskatchewan, Canada.