Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate

Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate
of the Lake Traverse Reservation

2006-7 Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Vietnam Veterans princess at the University of Minnesota, Morris powwow, photo by Nic McPhee
Total population
(12,300)
Regions with significant populations
United States ( South Dakota)
Languages
English, Dakota
Religion
traditional tribal religion, Christianity, Sun Dance, Native American Church
Related ethnic groups
other Dakota, Lakota, Nakota

The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation, formerly Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe/Dakota Nation, is a federally recognized tribe comprising two bands and two sub-divisions of the Isanti or Santee Dakota people. They are located on the Lake Traverse Reservation in northeast South Dakota.

The Lake Traverse Reservation and its boundaries were established by the Lake Traverse Treaty of 1867. From 1884 until the 1913, the tribal government was based upon the concept of the Soldier's Lodge. Due to external pressures from federal Indian agents and religious missionaries, as well as internal turmoil, in 1913 the tribe created an advisory committee. It served as the basis of government until 1946.

In 1934 the federal government urged the tribe to adopt the provisions of the Wheeler-Howard Act, also known as the Indian Reorganization Act. By 1946 the tribe had reorganized, establishing the current system of bylaws and elected tribal government at Agency Village. It gained self-government again as the federally recognized Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe. The authority was based in the Lake Traverse Treaty of 1867.

From 1946 to 2002, the federally recognized tribe was known as the Sisseton Wahpeton Sioux Tribe. For a brief period in 1994, they identified as the Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota Nation. During their 2002 tribal general elections, they approved a measure changing the name to Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, the latter word in the Dakota language meaning "people or nation".

The current enrollment of the tribe is approximately 12,000 members spread among seven districts located across the reservation. There were 9,894 living on the reservation circa 2004. The tribe's districts are:

On July 23, 1851 the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was formed between the United States government, and the (Dakota) Sioux of the Minnesota Territory. The territorial governor, Alexander Ramsey, and Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Luke Lea, instigated the treaty to gain concessions of the rich agricultural lands in Minnesota for European-American settlers. The Sioux ceded large tracts of land, from Iowa north to the Canada–US border. Some bands, such as the Sisseton and Wahpeton, were hesitant to give up so much, yet reluctantly did so; the federal government had shown during the 1825 Black Hawk War a willingness to fight when the Indian parties were hesitant to negotiate.