The Sioux

American Indian tribes

The Sioux Indians actually came to North America from the continent of Asia. The name Sioux actually means “little snake”, which was given to the tribe by the Chippewa Indians. The features of Sioux Indians that particularly stand out is their long, straight jet-black hair, representative of people descending from Asia.

Generally, the Sioux Indians were nomadic, meaning that they never really stayed in one place for a very long amount of time.     

Yellow Lark

Crest Sioux

Region

The Sioux lived in the south of Canada, in the northern Great Plains in lands that are today the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. Tribes travelled all over the plains, however, and sometimes ended up in other states for periods of time. In this region there are the Appalachian Mountains and the Blue Ridge.

The climate is humid and subtropical, with mild winters in the plains, while in mountain it is continental humid with cool summer and cold  winter.

Region

The Village and Daily Life

Though the Sioux were known as great warriors, the family was considered the center of Sioux life. Children were called “Wakanisha” which meant sacred and were the center of attention.

The roles of men and women were clearly defined with the men expected to provide for and defend the family.

War and battles were another underlying principle of the Sioux people, because through it, men gained prestige, and their prestige was reflected in the family honor.

Women were the matriarchs, ruling the family and domestic lives of the band.

They took care of their children, farmed the garden and tidied up their house.

Children took in order the weapons.

A woman

Sioux on horses

Food

Originally probably the Sioux were semi-nomadic farmers but they turned into nomadic hunters.

Some Sioux grew crops like corn, squash, and beans, however the majority of the Sioux gained most of their food from hunting. Their primary food source was meat from bison, but they also hunted deer and elk. They would dry the bison meat into a tough jerky that could be stored and lasted for over a year. 

Their food didn’t change according the seasons.

Cooking

Bison

Clothing

The women wore dresses made from deerskin. They would decorate them with rabbit fur. The men wore leggings and buckskin shirts when it was cool. When it was really cold they would wear warm cloaks made from buffalo hides.

Like most Native Americans they wore soft leather shoes called moccasins.

Women wore clothes and moccasins decorated with animal teeth and feather. Both women and men wore a lot of jewellery made of sea-shells, metal, and beads. Men wore necklaces and sometimes arm brand. Women wore earrings and bracelets.

Clothing

Sioux clothing

Shelter

The Sioux lived in teepees made from long wooden poles and covered with bison hides. The poles would be tied together at the top and spread wide at the bottom to make the shape of an upside down cone. Teepees could be taken down and set up quickly. This enabled entire villages to move on a regular basis. 

Shelter

Tepees

Interesting Facts

The Sioux were a deeply spiritual people, believing in one all-pervasive god, Wakan Tanka, or the Great Mystery. Religious visions were cultivated and the people communed with the spirit world through music and dance. Rituals of self-sacrifice, by inflicting slashes upon themselves or other self-inflicted wounds, asserted their identity as Indian warriors. 

Cerimony

An Indian Sioux

Ghost Dance Revelations

They believed in a sacred pipe and they thought that it was a principal instrument of prayer. The pipe rapresent the union between the phisical world and the unreal world. The Sioux praticed many rituals. The Sioux’s traditional cerimonies were seven:

• Hut of purification;
• Sun Dance;
• Research vision;
• The custody of the spirit; 
• The ceremony of brotherhood;
• The ceremony of female puberty;
• Launch of the ball.