4G6 THE SIOUX OR DAKOTA INDIANS. 



THE SIOUX OR DAKOTA INDIANS. 



Bv Col. Albert G. Brackett, V. S. Army. 



To tbose who take an interest in the aborigines of America, a visit to 

 tbe Sioux or Dakota Indians is full of novelty. They are the most 

 powerful tribe or nation of Indians on this continent, and have always 

 been noted for their freedom of action, impatience under restraint, and 

 bravery in battle. There are twelve confederate bands of the Sioux or 

 Cut-throats, named respectively the Ogalalla, Brule, or Ishango ; Yank- 

 ton ; Minuecoujouor Minueconjou ; Uncpapa; Yanktonnais, Cut Heads; 

 Sautees ; Tetons ; Sissetons and Warpetous ; and Ohanapa or Two Ket- 

 tles. To this number might be added the Blackfeet of the far north, or 

 Se-ash-ha-pa, so named from their wearing black moccasins. The most 

 powerful of these bands is the Ogalalla, and the greatest warrior is Red 

 Cloud, chief of this band. Sitting Bull, another renowned warrior and 

 chief, belongs to the Uncpapa band. My personal experience is confined 

 to the Ogalallas, though I have met Indians of several other bands of 

 this nation. Their principal ground is in and about the Red Cloud 

 agency in Nebraska, and along the White Earth River, a beautiful 

 stream of water embowered with trees, and surrounded with high lands 

 and sharp peaks. 



We first hear of the Naudouisses or ISTaudouisioux, so called by the 

 Chippewas, from the Jesuit Charles Raymbault, who went far to the 

 westward in 1612. The name Naudouisioux, being too long, was 

 changed by use to Sioux, by which name they are now known. The 

 bands on the Mississippi, or rather those who used to reside there, called 

 themselves Dakotas, while those of the plains now call themselves La- 

 kotas. The Jesuit Father Raymbault did not visit them in 1642, but 

 heard of their existence, and of their being, even then, a powerful tribe. 

 It was not until the year 1659 that the French traders discovered their 

 teepees or lodges. They dwelt for the most part west of the Mississippi 

 and the Red River, and extended from the Saskmtchawan in the north 

 to the lands south of the Arkansas. They were visited by the Francis- 

 can Father Hennepin in 1080, and by Father Joseph Marest and another 

 Jesuit in 1687 and 1689. Father Hennepin himself suffered a short 

 captivity among them in 1680. Being so far away their intercourse with 

 the whites was exceedingly limited, and it was many years before much 

 was known concerning them by the people of our country. 



Captains Lewis and Clarke visited them in 1804 and in 1806, and in 

 the history of their expedition give a very fair account of them. The 

 names of the different bands are somewhat mixed up, and it is a difficult 

 matter for any one to understand much about them, as I find those who 

 speak the Dakota language perfectly, have but a vague idea of them. 



As near as I have been able to ascertain the meaning of the names of 

 the different bands, they are as follows: Ogalallas, Thin Shirts; Ish- 



