The 7 Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation

The Ur-Text (I love that term) of "The Smoke of the Sioux" is a 1904 book: "A History of the Dakota or Sioux Indians" by Doane Robinson. Mr. Robinson was the secretary of the South Dakota Department of History.

This book tied the Sioux together for me from the woodlands of Minnesota to the buffalo ranges of Wyoming and Montana. What had previously been for me a hodgepodge of confusing data points was suddenly viewable as a vast quilt across the Sioux Empire.

While I hope to eventually write about the famous battles of the 1876 Sioux War and Wounded Knee (1890), the focus of "The Smoke of the Sioux" will likely be to the east of those areas to events and personalities that are less well-known than Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull.

I would like to start with defining the "7 Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation" as this can get confusing. The locations defined are where we meet them in history. Buyer beware, I am defining them as best I can. I realize the lettering hierarchies don't quite align, but it is the best way I can figure out to do this.

1) The Teton Lakota are only one of the Council Fires. These are the famous Sioux names that resonate through history. Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull are names that should be familiar to all. For the sake of simplicity, consider the Teton as ranging largely west of the Missouri River. How and when they got there will be part of the story.

Confusingly, there are also 7 divisions of the Teton Lakota:

     A) Brule-"Sichangus" or Burnt Thighs. The Brules tended to be located in southern South Dakota and northern Nebraska. Spotted Tail was a famous Brule leader. The Brules were largely on the reservation by 1876.

     B) Oglala-"Scatter One's Own" were the largest division of the Teton Lakota. I tend to place them west of the Black Hills. Crazy Horse and Red Cloud were famous Oglala.

     C) Miniconjous- "Those Who Plant by the Stream." Most of the Sioux at Wounded Knee were Miniconjous.

     D) Two Kettles-"Oohenonpaas." The Miniconjous and Two Kettles ranged to the north of the Brules.

     E) Hunkpapas-"Those Who Camp at the Entrance." The Hunkpapas were a large northern division of the Teton Lakota. Sitting Bull and Gall were Hunkpapa.

     F) Black Feet-"Sihasapa." Note that this is a band of the Teton Lakota and not the Blackfoot Indians located far to the northwest of fur trapper fame.

     G) Sans Arcs (No Bows)- "Itazipchos"-The Sans Arcs and Black Feet are also northern divisions of the Teton Lakota.

2) Nakota are the central division of the Sioux. Two of the 7 Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation are found in the Nakota.

     A) Yankton- (E-hank-ton-wan)- "The People of the Farther End." I consider the range of the Yankton to be largely southeastern South Dakota.

     B) "Yanktonais"-(E-hank-ton-wan-na)- "Little People of the Farther End." I consider their range to be north-central South Dakota and south-central North Dakota. I think these are my favorite. They are like smoke on the prairie. They are everywhere and nowhere. There seems to have been a lot of interaction between the Hunkpapas and the Yanktonais.

3) Dakota are the eastern Sioux and include 4 of the 7 Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation.

     A) M'dewakantons- "People of the Sacred or Spirit Lake." These were the last of the Sioux to leave their previous home in the Minnesota woodlands and, along with the Wahpekute (see below) were most involved in the Dakota Uprising in Minnesota in 1862. These were the farthest northeast of the Sioux tribes.

     B) Wahpekutes- "People who Shoot in the Leaves"-Located southwest of the M'dewakantons. Inkpaduta, of whom more in future posts, was a Wahpekute. My kids loved to say "Wahpekute" when they were younger.

     C) Wahpetons- "People of the Leaf"-lived to the west of the M'dewakantons and Wahpekutes. They were ensnared in the 1862 Uprising on all sides. Charles Eastman (Ohiyesa) was a Wahpeton.

     D) Sissetons- "The People who Live in the Swamp." The Sissetons under Standing Buffalo were largely off hunting buffalo in North Dakota during the 1862 Uprising. However, they would face the consequences during the 1863 and 1864 US Army campaigns in the Dakotas.