Lakota Nation

The Lakota are the westernmost of the three Sioux groups, occupying parts of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming.

Fast Facts:

1. Population: 70,000
2. Region: Montana, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming
3. Languages: Lakota, English
4. Related tribes/groups: Nakota and Dakota Sioux
5. Also called Teton, Tetonwan
6. In December 2007, Lakota activists informed the United States State Department] of their withdrawal from treaties signed with the U.S.

Key Figures

1. Red CloudOglala Lakota Sioux chief who battled U.S. forces in 1860s in effort to prevent them from establishing forts on Bozeman Trail in Montana. Red Cloud succeeded in forcing the United States to honor previous treaties, and the chief later visited Washington, D.C..
2. Crazy HorseOglala Lakota Sioux warrior who wiped out General George A. Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876.
3. Sitting BullRenegade Chief of Lakota whose resistance to United States encroachment on tribal lands resulted in Battle of the Little Big Horn in 1876. Sitting Bull later performed as part of Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. He was shot in the head in December 1890 by police who attempted to suppress the Ghost Dance movement. Only two weeks later, the Wounded Knee Massacre would result in the deaths of 153 Lakota men, women, and children.

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