Western Dakota people
Dr. Charles Alex Eastman (1858–1939), physician, author, and co-founder of the Boy Scouts of America
|
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (20,460 (2010)) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 United States (South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Montana, North Dakota), Canada (Manitoba, Saskatchewan) |
|
| Languages | |
| Dakota,English | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (incl. syncretistic forms), traditional tribal religion, Native American Church | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Lakota, Assiniboine, Stoney (Nakota), and other Sioux |
The Dakota people are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux /ˈsuː/ people, and are typically divided into the Eastern Dakota and the Western Dakota.
The Eastern Dakota are the Santee (Isáŋyathi or Isáŋ-athi; "knife" + "encampment", ″dwells at the place of knife flint″), who reside in the eastern Dakotas, central Minnesota and northern Iowa. They have federally recognized tribes established in several places.
The Western Dakota are the Yankton, and the Yanktonai (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ and Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna; "Village-at-the-end" and "Little village-at-the-end"), who reside in the Missouri River area. The Yankton-Yanktonai are collectively also referred to by the endonym Wičhíyena (″Those Who Speak Like Men″). They also have distinct federally recognized tribes.
In the past the Western Dakota have been erroneously classified as Nakota, a branch of the Sioux who moved further west. The latter are now located in Montana and across the border in Canada, where they are known as Stoney.
The word Dakota means "ally" in the Dakota language, and their autonyms include Ikčé Wičhášta ("Indian people") and Dakhóta Oyáte ("Dakota people").
The Eastern and Western Dakota are two of the three groupings belonging to the Sioux nation (also called Dakota in a broad sense), the third being the Lakota (Thítȟuŋwaŋ or Teton). The three groupings speak dialects that are still relatively mutually intelligible. This is referred to as a common language, Dakota-Lakota, or Sioux.
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