Who Are the Oglala Sioux?
The Oglala Sioux tribe is the largest division of the Teton Sioux. Oglala Native Americans are also known as the Lakota Indians, which means “friend” or “ally” in their dialect. Powerful Oglala chiefs, including Crazy Horse, fought for land in the United States. The Sioux tribe has a tribal council and commemorate their traditions and ancestors today. Oglala means “to scatter one’s own” in the Native American tribe’s language. They lived in areas delineated as the Dakota and Minnesota territories in the mid-19th century. Explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark encountered the Oglala Sioux Indians living by the Missouri River in 1806. At the time, they cooperated with the Cheyenne tribe and the settlers in the area. Clashes between the native tribes and the United States government broke out, however, peaking in the late 19th century.
