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POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS

The Oceti Sakowin or Seven Council Fires (the Sioux)
Political Division Reservation Location Dialect Division Geographic Division
Teton   Lakota Western
a. Oglala: They Scatter Their Own Pine Ridge
b. Sincangu: Burned Thighs Rosebud and Lower Brule
c. Hunkpapa: End of the Circle Standing Rock
d. Miniconju: Planters Beside the Stream Cheyenne River
e. Sihasapa: Black Foot (not Algonquian) Cheyenne River
f. Oohenunpa: Two Kettles Cheyenne River
g. Itazipco: Without Bows Cheyenne River
Yankton   Nakota Middle
a. Yankton: End of Camp Circle Dwellers Yankton
b. Yanktonais: Little End Dwellers Crow Creek
Santee   Dakota Eastern
a. Mdewakanton: People of Spirit Lake Flandreau
b. Wahpeton: Leaf Dwellers Sisseton
c. Sisseton: People of the Marsh Sisseton
d. Wahpekute: Leaf Shooters Flandreau

 

The people of the Oceti Sakowin call themselves Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota which translates into "friend" or "ally." They share three mutually intelligible dialects of the same language. The term "Sioux" is a French corruption of an Algonquian word meaning little adders or little enemies and is commonly used to describe the Oceti Sakowin.



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