HfioxEY] SKETCH OF THE SIOUX 107)9 



of tbe camping circle" (Clark), on Standing Rock reservation; I. Mini- 

 Icanzu, " those who plant by the water," on Cheyenne River reservation; 

 5. Iin;ijil:<i. "without bows" (Sans Arcs), <>n Cheyenne River reserva- 

 tion; ii. Sihasapa, "black feet" (not to be. confounded with the Black- 

 foot tribe), on Cheyenne River and Standing Rock reservations; 

 7. Ohenonpa, " two kettles," on CheyenDe River and Rosebud reserva- 

 tions. According to the official report for 1893, the Sioux within the 

 United States number about 23,410, which, with (100 permanently settled 

 in Manitoba, make the whole population about 24.00(1 souls. 



The Sioux, under the name of NadoueSsi, are mentioned by the Jesuit 

 missionaries as early as 1632. They made their first treaties with our 

 government in 1815. The most prominent events in their history since 

 that date have been the treaty of Prairie du Chien in 1825, which 

 defined their eastern boundary and stopped the westward advance of 

 the Ojibwa; the Minnesota massacre of 1862, which resulted in the 

 expulsion of the Sioux from Minnesota; the Sioux war of 1876-77, 

 largely consequent on the unauthorized invasion of the Black hills by 

 miners, and the chief incident of which was the defeat and massacre 

 of an entire detachment under General Custer; the treaty by which the 

 great reservation was broken up in 1889, and the outbreak of 1890, 

 with the massacre of Wounded Knee. 



By reason of their superior numbers the Sioux have always assumed, 

 if not exercised, the lordship over all the neighboring tribes with the 

 exception of the Ojibwa, who, having acquired firearms before the 

 Sioux, were enabled to drive the latter from the headwaters of the 

 Mississippi, and were steadily pressing them westward when stopped 

 by the intervention of the United States government. The Sioux in 

 turn drove the Cheyenne. Crow, Kiowa, and others before them and 

 forced them into the mountains or down into the southern prairies. 

 The eastern bands were sedentary and largely agricultural, but the 

 Teton were solely and preeminently wandering buffalo hunters. All 

 dwelt in tipis — the word is from the Sioux language — which were of bark 

 in the timber country and of buffalo skins on the plains. In warlike 

 character they are probably second only to the Cheyenne, and have an 

 air of proud superiority rather unusual with Indians. Clark says of 

 them, -'In mental, moral, and physical qualities I consider the Sioux 

 a little lower but still nearly equal to the Cheyenne, and the Teton 

 are the superior branch of the family." {Indian Sign language, 345.) 

 The eastern Sioux are now far advanced toward civilization through 

 the efforts of teachers and missionaries for over a generation, and the 

 same is true in a less degree of the Yankton, while the majority of the 

 Teton are still nearly in their original condition. 



I found the Sioux very difficult to approach on the subject of the 

 ( . host ilance. This was natural, in view of the trouble that had resulted 

 to them in consequence of it. When I was first at Pine Ridge, the 

 troops still camped there served as a reminder of the conflict, while in 



