THE DAKOTAH NATION. 



153 



The Sioux and the Blackfeet being the most warlike 

 tribes of the north-west, and retaining their ancient 

 customs to the fullest extent, the following brief notices 

 of these formidable native races are introduced. The 

 Plain and Wood Crees and the Ojibways are almost 

 altogether amenable to the influence of the Hudson's Bay 

 Company, and are in fact the hunters upon whom they 

 rely for a considerable proportion of their furs, robes, 

 skins, and provisions. 



THE SIOUX OR DAKOTAH INDIANS. 



The nation of the Sioux Indians or Dakotahs * is 

 composed of seven principal bands. Their aggregate 

 number probably does not exceed twenty-five thousand. 

 Their hunting-grounds extend from the Mississippi Eiver 

 to the Black Hills in Nebraska, and from the mouth of 

 the Big Sioux Eiver to Devil's Lake. Although the Sioux 

 have no dealings with the half-breeds of Eed Eiver, or 

 with the Hudson's Bay Company, yet they often cross the 

 49th parallel in pursuit of the buffalo, and more fre- 

 quently in search of a scalp from their hereditary enemies, 

 the Ojibways and Crees. As the most dreaded invaders 

 of the prairies north of the boundary line, this powerful 

 nation deserves a special notice. 



The name Dakotah signifies the " Allied," and they 

 speak of themselves as the " Oceti sakowin " or " Seven 

 Council Fires." The following enumeration of the prin- 

 cipal bands which compose the nation, by the members of 

 the American Dakotah Mission, will be found at length in 

 the Grammar and Dictionary prepared with so much 

 care, labour, and zeal, under the editorial management of 



* See Introduction to a Grammar and Dictionary of the Dakotah Language, 

 published by the Smithsonian Institution. 



