Lakota Sioux: Did you mean...?

Of the many first-person accounts of the aftermath of the Wounded Knee Massacre, the report by Sioux author and physician Charles A. Eastman (also known as Ohiyesa, l. 1858-1939) is among the best-known. Eastman describes his experiences...

George Armstrong Custer (l. 1839-1876) was an officer in the US Army, serving in the cavalry from 1861 to 1865 during the American Civil War and the wars against the Plains Indians 1866-1876. Although he became a widely recognized hero during...

The Sioux stories known as Iktomi tales concern the trickster figure Iktomi (also known as Unktomi) who appears, variously, as a hero, sage, villain, clown, inept buffoon – or in other roles – but always serves to illustrate some important...

The Plains Indians (also known as Native Americans of the Plains and Prairie, Indigenous Peoples of the Great Plains) are the original inhabitants of the western plains of North America, now part of the United States and Canada. They are...

The Resuscitation of the Only Daughter is a Sioux story about a young maiden who dies and returns to life, helped by a hunter and his wife, and then lives into old age. The story is open to many interpretations including the concept of fate...

Tamahay (Tahama, Tamaha, "Pike", l. c. 1776-1864) was a Mdewakanton Dakota Sioux guide and scout who sided with the Americans against the British during the War of 1812. He was a famous advocate of the American cause and a close friend of...

The Dun Horse is a Pawnee tale about a poor boy and his grandmother, who find an old horse and take it in. The horse turns out to be magical, however, and improves their fortunes considerably. Like many Pawnee legends – and Native American...

Eastman's biography of Red Cloud (l. 1822-1909) is the first narrative of his Indian Heroes and Great Chieftains (1916), and it sets the tone for those that follow, including the pieces on Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, in explaining the motivation...

The Ghost Dance (Spirit Dance) is an expression of rebirth and renewal using the traditional Native American circle dance, first practiced by the Paiute Nation in 1869 and again in 1889 when it was adopted by other Plains Indians nations...

Black Elk Speaks (1932) is the popular and controversial book of the narrative by the Oglala Lakota Sioux medicine man Black Elk (l. 1863-1950) on his life and people as given to the American poet and writer John G. Neihardt (l. 1881-1973...