Lakota Songs
“Let us put our minds together to see what life we can make for our children.” ~ Sitting Bull

ABOUT THE LAKOTA

The Lakota are a Native American tribe. They are part of a confederation of seven related Sioux tribes (the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ or seven council fires) and speak Lakȟóta, one of the three major dialects of the Sioux language.

The Lakota are the western-most of the three Sioux-language groups, occupying lands in both North and South Dakota. The seven bands or "sub-tribes" of the Lakota are:

Sičháŋǧu (a.k.a. Brulé, Burned Thighs)
Oglála (a.k.a. Scatters their own)
Itázipčho (a.k.a. Sans Arc, Without Bows)
Húŋkpapȟa
Mnikȟówožu (a.k.a. Mnicoujou)
Sihásapa (a.k.a. Blackfoot Sioux)
Oóhenuŋpa (a.k.a. Two Kettles)

Notable persons include Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (Sitting Bull) from the Hunkpapa band; and Tȟašúŋke Witkó (Crazy Horse) from the Oglala band, Maȟpíya Lúta (Red Cloud), Heȟáka Sápa (Black Elk), Sinte Gleška (Spotted Tail), Billy Mills and Touch the Clouds from the Oglala band.

Today, the Lakota are found mostly in the five reservations of western South Dakota: Rosebud Indian Reservation (home of the Upper Sičangu or Brulé), Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (home of the Oglala), Lower Brule Indian Reservation (home of the Lower Sičangu), Cheyenne River Indian Reservation (home of several other of the seven Lakota bands, including the Mnicoujou, Itazipco, Sihasapa and Oohenumpa), and Standing Rock Indian Reservation(home of the Hunkpapa), also home to people from many bands. Lakota also live on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in northeastern Montana, the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation of northwestern North Dakota, and several small reserves in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Their ancestors fled to "Grandmother's [i.e. Queen Victoria's] Land" (Canada) during the Minnesota or Black Hills War.

Large numbers of Lakota live in Rapid City and other towns in the Black Hills, and in metro Denver. Lakota elders joined the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) to seek protection and recognition for their cultural and land rights.