Fill in the chart below using information from the text below... The Sioux were an important confederacy of North American Indian tribes of the Siouan
language family and of the Plains culture area. The Sioux generally call themselves Lakota or
Dakota, meaning “allies.“ The seven tribes fall into three major divisions: the sedentary and
agricultural Santee; the Nakota; and the warrior and buffalo-hunter Teton. In the 17th century
the Sioux comprised small bands of Woodland Indians in the Mille Lacs region of present-day
Minnesota.
They lived on small game, deer, and wild rice, and were surrounded by large rival tribes.
Conflict with their enemy the Ojibwa Indians forced the Sioux to move to the buffalo ranges of
the Great Plains. As they became adept buffalo hunters, the tribes grew and prospered. By
1750 the Sioux comprised some 30,000 persons firmly established in the heartland of the
northern Plains. They dominated this region for the next century.
The average teepee was made of about 12 buffalo skins, dressed and sewn together by women and
placed over a pole framework. A teepee held one family. The interior fire was slightly off center. Two
skin flaps at the top, attached to long poles, regulated the smoke hole. A small, elevated doorway
was covered by a rawhide door.
The Buffalo Hunt:
The Sioux Indians were nomads, which meant they followed the buffalo. The buffalo hunt was taken
very seriously and was well planned. The Chief would chose leaders and scouts for the hunt. It
might take weeks before the scouts found the buffalo. Then the camp would move. The women were
in charge of moving everything. The supplies were put on travois and were pulled by horses. The
Takola, a group of Indian men, were in charge of keeping order on the trip. On the day of the actual
hunt, every hunter took part. No one was allowed to kill more buffalo than the tribe could use. While
the hunters were gone, the camp was worshipping, trading, and visiting other tribes.
When the hunters came back the women followed them. The men would help the women to skin, cut
the meat, and load it on horses. Then there was a great feast, thanking the spirits for the buffalo
that were killed.
Uses of the Buffalo:
Every part of the buffalo was used. Nothing was wasted. Here are some examples of what each
part was used for:
o Bones: toys, awls, painting sticks
o Muscles: thread
o Horns: spoons, cups
o Stomach: pots
o Tongue: saved for special religious celebrations
o Droppings: fuel
o Hair: ropes, belts, decorations
o Ribs: sleds
o Hide: makes hard leather, rawhide, which was made into drums, rattlers, bags, glue, splints.
Makes tanning hide which was made into bags, moccasins, clothing, pipe holder, teepee cover
Lakota Sioux recorded their
history by painting figures and
pictures of significant events
on buffalo robes.

The Sioux are often discussed as a single tribe, but were, and are, a loose alliance of many
different Siouan culture groups. The name Sioux comes from the Ojibwa (Chippewa) word for
them, rendered into French by early explorers and traders as Nadouessioux (“adders,” a kind
of snake, used in the sense of “enemies”). This term was shortened to Sioux and passed into
English. The Sioux generally call themselves Lakota, Dakota, or Nakota, all meaning “allies"
or "friends.”
The differences between the Lakoka, Dakota, and Nakota languages are one of dialect. This is
similar to the way "Northerners" speak English, as compared to how "Southerners" pronounce
English words, or how US English speakers pronounce words compared to English speakers
in Europe. While there are some words that are different and do not make sense to speakers of
another dialect of the language, much of each dialect is intelligble to speakers of another
dialect of the same language.
The Sioux tribes were hunters-gatherers. They relied upon buffalo, deer, smaller game, wild
rice, roots, herbs, and berries. They subsisted in a mostly nomadic lifestyle that followed the
game they hunted and the seasons for the plants they gathered, although some eastern bands
farmed for part of the year.
The basic social unit of the Sioux was the tiyospe, an extended family group that followed
the buffalo herds together. Every part of the animal was used for food, clothing, shelter, or
tools; even dried buffalo dung was used for fuel. The portable cone-shaped tipi, made from
poles and buffalo hides, was the predominant type of Sioux dwelling.

1. Where are they located? (include region and present-day states)

2. Type of dwelling house(Include Description)

3. Describe their lifestyles... (Nomadic or agriculture)

4. What important natural resources did they use