Location & Facts: The Lakota tribe, also known as the Sioux, was a fearsome group located in the Great Plains. They were located there because their larger, neighboring tribe eventually pushed the Lakota west to the Plains and that's where they stayed ("Native American Legends"). However, their exact location varied because the Lakota were a nomadic group who migrated often ("Sioux Indians"). An interesting fact worth knowing is that the name Lakota means "the allies", while Sioux means "little snakes" ("Lakota Tribe"). You can guess which name they were called by their neighboring tribes.

Homes: Because they were nomadic, the Lakota people lived in tipis that were easy to set up and take down with just a moment's notice ("Lakota Tribe"). For instance, a whole tribe could be packed up and ready to depart within an hour ("Lakota Tribe").

Advances in Survival & Interactions: The Lakota tribes traveled around the Great Plains tracking buffalo, as this was their main source of survival. They would kill these giant beasts by running them over cliffs or surrounding them on foot while shooting into the circle of the confused animals (Pritzker). In earlier times they were corn farmers and buffalo hunters, because the lack of faster transportation forced them to stay closer to their tipis and travel smaller distances ("Lakota Tribe"). However, later on in the late 17th century, the Europeans introduced horses to them, which completely eased their lifestyles by allowing them to travel farther to track the buffalo and eliminating the need for large corn farms (Pritzker). Another thing the Europeans introduced to the Lakota was disease. Many of the tribe members got smallpox from the settlers (Brinkley). That aside, the Lakota didn't have many problems with the settlers until they started moving west further into their territory in the 1800s ("Native American Legends"). As well as relying on buffalo, the Lakota also ate an assortment of deer, elk, antelope, and sometimes dogs (Pritzker).

Government Structure: The Lakota tribe is organized into "13 political subdivisions, combined into seven major tribes ("Lakota Tribe"). Each group has control of their own land and independently make decisions within each Lakota tribe ("Lakota Tribe"). Also, each tribe had what the Lakota called an "itancan", translated to "chief" in English ("Lakota Tribe").

Gender Roles: Lakota women were in charge of many things, most involving home life. Not only were they responsible for cooking and cleaning, but they also built the family's tipis, and when necessary, they carried the big logs used to set up the tipis whenever and wherever the tribe moved ("Lakota Tribe"). Women also made clothing and skinned the animals caught by the men (Pritzker). Therefore, the men were responsible for tracking and hunting the animals, following under the command of a male chief, and for defending their families and the tribe. Children were also extremely important to the Sioux because they were seen as "sacred" according to their religion ("Native American Legends").

Religion: Not much is revealed about the Sioux religion; however, they believe in the existence of "Wakan Tanka", who is all powerful and is responsible for bringing everything into being ("Lakota Tribe"). However, all life forms such as buffalo and mankind came from Mother Earth's womb ("Lakota Tribe"). Also, whenever someone in their tribe dies, then they are returned to the spirit world ("Lakota Tribe"). And finally, the Lakota believed that they could communicate with the spirit world through tribal dances, chants, and songs ("Native American Legends"). One war song of the Sioux is listed below.