OGLALA LAKOTA

The 'Oglala Lakota' or 'Oglala Sioux', meaning "to scatter one's own" in Siouan, live in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota bordering Nebraska and 50 miles east of Wyoming, the second largest reservation in the United States. The reservation has broadly three parts, pine covered hills and ridges, grassy plains and a desert area. All three parts are noted for natural beauty. The Oglala Sioux see themselves primarily as part of the Lakota or Sioux people.

Contents

History

Sex Roles

Traditional Culture

Bands

On the Reservation

Notes

Reference

History

The Oglala Sioux, along with the six other groups of Lakota, had separated from each other by the early 19th century. By 1830, the Oglala had around 3,000 members. In the 1820s and 1830s the Oglala, along with the Brules (another division of Lakota) and three other Sioux sects, formed the Sioux Alliance. This Alliance caused much warfare between the Western Sioux and surrounding tribes for territorial and hunting reasons.

Sex Roles

Typically, in the Oglala Sioux society, the men are superior to the women and are in charge of the politics of the tribe. The men are always the chiefs, leaders, and warriors. However, women are and always have been highly regarded and respected in the tribe. Any forms of violence against women are extremely looked down upon. Similar to non-Indian outside cultures, women are beginning to participate more in leadership roles such as superintendents of reservations, community leaders, and teachers.

Traditional Culture

Family was and still is of utmost importance to the Oglala Sioux, with loyalty to the tribe coming in close second. Each family had one or more tipi households, usually one for each of the man's polygamous relations, a highly practiced tradition.

Bands

Each of the seven Lakota tribes were subdivided into bands (''tiyospaye''), which consisted of a number of smaller family camps (''tiwahe''). During parts of the year, the small camps were scattered across the region; at other times, these camps gathered together as a ''tiyospaye'' to cooperate on activities such as a large buffalo hunt. Each summer, usually in early June, bands from many groups gathered together for the annual sacred sundance.
Writing in 1875, the Indian agent at the Red Cloud Agency, Dr. John J. Saville, noted that the Oglala tribe was divided into three main bands: the Kiyuksa, the Oyuhpe and the head band or True Oglala. "Each of these bands are subdivided into smaller parties, variously named, usually designated by the name of their chief or leader."^[1]
In the years immediately following the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, these bands became increasingly polarized as leaders struggled with decisions relating to the continued American encroachment on their territory. Some bands chose to come in to the Indian agencies (forerunner to the reservations) where they received beef and other rations from the U.S. government. Other bands decided to remain out, attempting to continue the traditional lifeways for as long as possible. Many bands moved between these two extremes, coming in to the agencies during the winter and joining their relatives in the north each spring. These challenges further split the various Oglala bands.
Just prior to confinement on the reservations, the Oglala bands included:
'Oyuhpe Tiyospaye'

★ True Oyuhpe (Big Road's band)

★ Wakan

★ Makaicu (Red Dog's band)
'True Oglala Tiyospaye'

★ Cankahuhan (He Dog's band). Other members include: Short Bull, Grant; Amos Bad Heart Bull.

★ Hokayuta (Black Twin's band)

★ Hunkpatila (Little Hawk and Crazy Horse's band)

★ Itesica (Red Cloud's band)

★ Payabya (Young Man Afraid of His Horses's band)

★ Wagluhe (Blue Horse, American Horse and Three Bear's bands)
'Kiyaksa Tiyspaye'

★ Kuinyan (Little Wound's band)

★ Tapisleca (Yellow Bear's band)

On the Reservation

After being moved several times during the 1870s, the Red Cloud Agency was relocated one final time in 1878 and renamed the Pine Ridge Reservation. By 1890, the reservation included 5537 people, divided between at least 30 distinct bands.

Notes

1. Saville to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Aug. 31, 1875, published in ''Annual Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs'' (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1875), p. 250. Dr. Saville actually listed four bands, however, one of these (the Wajaje) while closely associated with the Oglala, still considered themselves to be Brulé)

Reference

★ Oglala Sioux Tribe A Profile