Wanderlust World Wanderlust World The land now called South Dakota has been home to Indigenous peoples for 13,000+ years. By the 18th–19th centuries, these were the principal nations:
Lakota (Teton): Western SD (Black Hills, Badlands, Plains). 7 bands (Oglala, Sicangu/Brulé, Hunkpapa, Miniconjou, Sihasapa, Itazipco, Oohenunpa). Horse culture, bison hunters, defenders of Paha Sapa (Black Hills).
Dakota (Santee): Eastern SD/MN border. 4 bands (Mdewakanton, Wahpekute, Wahpeton, Sisseton). Riverine horticulture + hunting. Minnesota River valley.
Nakota (Yankton/Yanktonai): Central SD (James/Missouri River). 3 bands. Middle ground — diplomacy, trade.
"Sioux" is an Ojibwe exonym ("little snakes/enemies"); Oceti Šakowiŋ is the endonym.
Close Dakota relatives; split c. 1600. Northern SD/MT/ND. Allied with Cree; traded with Hudson’s Bay Co. Pushed west by Dakota expansion.
Originally western SD/eastern MT. Pushed west by Lakota (1700s) → settled Yellowstone/Bighorn. Famous scouts for US Army. Not in SD by reservation era.
Moved from Great Lakes → SD (Black Hills) c. 1700s. Allied with Lakota/Arapaho. Split 1830s: Northern (MT) & Southern (CO/OK). Sand Creek (1864), Little Bighorn (1876).
From CO/WY → allied Cheyenne/Lakota. Northern Arapaho (Wind River, WY); Southern (OK). Traded at Fort Laramie.
Earth-lodge villagers, Missouri River (ND). Hunted far west into SD. Sacagawea was Hidatsa (captured by Hidatsa, sold to Charbonneau).
These nations are not "history"—they are sovereign governments, cultures, and communities shaping South Dakota today.