Mounted Lakota Warrior

The Lakota people (pronounced [laˈkˣota]; also known as Teton, Titunwan (“prairie dwellers”), Teton Sioux (“snake, or enemy”) are an indigenous people of the Great Plains of North America. They are part of a confederation of seven related Sioux tribes, the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ or seven council fires, and speak Lakota, one of the three major dialects of the Sioux language. Their population was drastically reduced after the European invasion of North America.

The Lakota are the westernmost of the three Siouan language groups, occupying lands in both North and South Dakota. The seven bands or “sub-tribes” of the Lakota are:

• Sičháŋǧu (Brulé, Burned Thighs)
• Oglála (“They Scatter Their Own”)
• Itázipčho (Sans Arc, Without Bows)
• Húŋkpapȟa (“End Village”, Camps at the End of the Camp Circle)
• Mnikȟówožu (“Plant beside the Stream”,Planters by the Water)
• Sihásapa (“Black Feet”)
• Oóhenuŋpa (Two Kettles)

Notable persons include Tȟatȟáŋka Íyotake (Sitting Bull) from the Húnkpapȟa band; Touch the Clouds from the Miniconjou band; and, Tȟašúŋke Witkó (Crazy Horse), Maȟpíya Lúta (Red Cloud), Heȟáka Sápa (Black Elk), Siŋté Glešká (Spotted Tail), and Billy Mills from the Oglala band.

On display at the Suncoast Center For Fine Scale Modeling (FLA)