Timeline	Previous Administrations	Historical Photos
	1934 - 1940	1936 - 1954	Council 1912
	1941 - 1950	1954 - 1969	RST Council 1937
	1951 - 1960	1969 - 1985	Sicangu Leaders 1894
	1961 - 1970	1985 - 2007	Rosebud Delegation 1888
	1971 - 1980
	1981 - 1990
	1991 - Present
1934	On June 18, the IRA is passed. This signaled a major change in the United States' Indian policy. The IRA stopped the allotment system, provided for home rule government, provided an economic package, upgraded education, and generally improved the conditions on the reservation systems On the Rosebud Reservation, the IRA divides the people into two factions regarding home rule government. These factions become known as the Old Dealers and the New Dealers. The Old Dealers were Traditional form of government. The New dealers were younger generation who accepted changes offered by the non Indians quickly. While the rosebud sioux accepted the IRA programs, they were divided on the home rule type of government. The BIA advocated for a constitution similar to the United States Constitution and a community plan for organization of the people, instead of the preferred district plan. It held reservation wide hearings.
1935	On November 23, the Sicangu hold a referendum and accepts the constitution and by-laws promoted by BIA and New Dealers by a narrow margin. The following month the constitution was formally adoped.
1936	The Sicangu hold their first elections. Antoine Roubideaux is elected as the first tribal president, Homer Whirlwind Soldier,Sr. is elected as Vice-President and twenty council representiatives are elected.
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1941	World War II is declared on December 11 and many Sicangu go off to fight in the war. The total focus on war weakens the gains made by IRA. As a result of this the Sicangu sink deeper into poverty.
1942	The Court of Claims acts on the 1923 Black Hills Claim by deciding that the 1920 Act did not authorize it to question the 1877 Black Hills Act as to whether it afforded just compensation. The court went on to say it was a moral claim, not covered by the just compensation clause and not authorized by jurisdictional law. The case was brought to the Supreme Court and was rejected.
1946	Public pressure forces Congress to pass the Indian Claims Commission Act on August 13. The act make it possible to sue the government on moral as well as other issues. The Indian Claims Commission Act was supposed to last for ten years or end by 1951. However, it survived into the 1970's under various changes.
1950	The Lakota claims on the Black Hills is refiled. The Indian Claims Commission ruled that the Lakota are entitled to $17.5 million. The United States appealed this decision to the Court of claims(CC). The CC ruled that the Indian Claims Commission is barred by Res. Judicata. This meant that the case had already been decided by previous action. On August 15, the original 74 Docket is filed to address the Lakota lands designated as the Unceded Indian country that was lost under the 1868 Treaty and under the 1887 Black Hills Act. Ralph Case was the attorney representing the Lakota. On June 27, President Harry Truman orders naval action against North Korea and the Korean war is precipitated. Many Sicangu join the armed forces to fight against communist North Korea.
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1953	On August 1, the House Concurrent Resolution 108 (HCR), the termination bill, is passed. This cut off all federal services to some tribes but each tribe had to be handled individually. 13tribes, the first group demmed ready for termination, is terminated. This act proved unsuccessful as public pressure mounted against this policy. On August 15, Public Law 280 (PL 280) is passed. This Law is a companion bill to HCR 108 that is designed to take over civil and criminal jurisdiction on the reservation systems. PL 280 extended this jurisdiction over five states with tribal populations under their systems. States could assume jurisdiction by enacting legislation to incorporate tribal governments, having a public referendum, and by amending its constitution to extend criminal or civil jurisdiction or both. This is how the Rosebud Sioux Tribe came under state jurisdiction.
1954	The original Docket 74 case is reviewed and dismissed.
1956	The Docket 74 case is appealed. The Indian Claims Commission uphold the dismissal.
1957	Ralph Case dies and the new Lakota lawyers, arthur Lazarus and Marvin Sonosky, file a motion to vacate the 1956 dicision. this was based on the alleged incompetent handling of this claim by Ralph Case.
1958	The Court of claims agrees with lazarus and Sonosky and allow them to re-open the case.
1960	The Black Hills Claim is divided into two parts, Docket 74A and Docket 74B. Docket 7A refers to the case involving 48 million acres regarded as the Unceded Indian Country under the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851. Docket 74B refers to the litigation involving 7.3 million acres taken by the Black Hills Act of 1877, the taken lands recognized under the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty.
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1961	John F. Kennedy becomes president and he repudiates the terminaiton act and begins to assemble his programs to fight poverty actoss the country. He is assassinated and Lyndon Johnson takes over.
1963	The Vietnam war begins and the United states commit ground troops to help South Vietnam fight against the North Vietnam. Many Sicangu go off to fight in this war.
1964	The Office of Equal Opportunity Act is passed. This is the legislation that is often called the war on poverty programs or the Great Society. These programs came to the reservaiton systems with the concept of tribal self determination. The programs and funding were given directly to OEO offices set up on each reservation that accepted the programs. Both the tribal administration and the BIA were purposely left out, especially the BIA, to allow community action organizations to promote grass roots programs. The OEO programs flourished unabated from 1964 to 1970. After 1970, the programs were cut in order to focus funding on the Vietnam War effort and other budgetary deficiencies.
1966	The Nation Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) is enacted. this act was one of the outcomes of Johnson's Great Society and war on poverty that relate to the need to boost the economy by identifying historic sites, to renovate these sites, to promote for tourism and to nominate such historic treasures to a national register so that they can be protected by federal law. Later on, this was amended to allow for Traditional Cultural Properties (TCP) to be protected under the same law, thus satisfying tribal concerns. Later on, a St. Francis Mission Building, the old RST agency building, the old hotel, and Spotted Tail's grave were nominated and entered into the federal register as historic buildings and sites.
1968	On April 11, the American Indian Civil Rights Act (AICRA) is passed. The goal of this statute is to grant tribal members an Indian Bill of Rights similar to the American Bill of Rights as interpreted in the constitution of the United States. This act also repealed PL 280 on many reservations.
1969	The National Environmental Policy Act becomes law. This statute is enacted to remedy the polluted air, water and land caused by human development, over a long period of time. This empowered tribal people and environmental groups to be consulted by the federal government whenever federal projects or government funded projects were in danger of harming the environment on trust lands.
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1970- 1971	The rosebud Sioux constitution is amended to allow for at large elections regarding elections of the president and vice president. Sinte Gleska Community College is chartered by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. In 1971, the college holds its first session with 156 students who registered in 16 classes. The instructors were all volunteers.
1972	On June 23, the Indian Education Act (Title IV of the Higher Education Act) is passed. This allowed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act impact aid to expand and ensure that funds appropriated for tribal members be administered by Indian controlled schools.
1973	The American Indian Movement (AIM) seizes the church at Wounded Knee to begin a sixty-seven day stand that highlights local and national treaty Indian grievances against the United States. This would have long range positive impacts on tribal identity.
1974	The Lakota renew the Black Hills Claim before the Indian Claims Commission and win a preliminary decision of entitling the Lakota with $17.5 million for the taking of the Black Hills and an additional 5% interest because the United States Violated the 5th amendment rights of the Lakota.
1975	On January 4, the Indian Self Determination and Educaiton Assistance Act is passed. This authorizes the BIA and HEW to allow the Indian tribes to contract these government services to outside entities with federal funds. The Sicangu uses 638 contracts, as amended, to contract health services, build new schools, secure tribal police services and other appropriate programs.
1976	The Indian Claims Commission makes a judgement on the Docket 74A case. It determines that the Lakota people are entitled to $43,949,000.00 for the taking of the Unceded Indian Country by the federal government. The U.S. government promptly claims of $65 million for offset payments.
1977	On April 4, the Supreme Court upholds the South Dakota's court decision to take jurisdiction of the lands lost by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe under the homestead of Gregory County Act of 1904, The Tripp County Act of 1907, the Mellette County Act of 1910.
1978	On July 17, the Indian Claims Commission denies the offsets of $65 million as claimed by the federal government against the Lakota, thereby clearing the way for the Lakota to accept the Docket 74A udgment award of 1976. The life of the Indian Claims Commission ends and all pending cases, including Docket 74A and 74B, are transferred to the trial division of the Court of Claims. On August 11, the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA) is passed. This act sets up policy allowing the United States to protect and preserve for the American Indian their inherent right of freedom to believe, express, and exercise the traditional religions of the American Indians, including accession of sites, the use and possession of sacred traditional rites. Although this was a significant milestone, this act did not alway protection these rights. The Indian Child Welfare Act is passed. This guarentees tribal role in adoption of indian children. This statute is controversial and has many errors that need to be adjusted or amended.
1979	After suffering a series of setbacks, the Lakota final achieve success in the Black Hills case. The Court of claims upholds the 1974 decision on the judgment award of $17.5 million and 5% interest for the violation of the 5th Amendment rights of the Lakoat by the taking of the Black Hill by the United States. The United States immediately appeals to the Supreme Court. The federal government makes an offer tro settle Docket 74A out of court for the amount of $39,749,700.00. The Lakota tribes refuse this offer. See 1984 date for the Sicangu of Rosebud's response. The Archaeological Resources Protection Act (ARPA) is enacted. This act provides protection for archaeological and TCP items, associated with these archaeological sites. Section 7 of ARPA mandates the notification of tribes of possible harm to or destruction of sites having religious or cultural significance. Moreover, the ARPA legislation stipulates that, in order to identify all Indian tribes having aboriginal or histroic ties to the lands under their jurisdiction.
1980	On June 30, the Supreme Court upholds the Court of Claims decision. Althought the monetary award for docket 74B settlement was not enough, this is important that the Supreme Court recognized a taking of a piece of property without just compensation. The Court of Claims reverses the Indian Claims Commission's decision of 1978, on Docket 74A, to deny the federal governemtn offset payments. The court ruled that the1868 treaty was a treaty of cession and not a treaty of peace and therefore the federal government was entitled to offsets.
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1982	The federal government again offered to settle Docket 74A with the same monetary offer that it made in 1979. The Lakota refuse the offer. The life of the Court of Claims ends. A new court called the Claims Court is authorized by Congress to replace the Court of Claims. Moreover, a new appeals court called the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Court is created. Thus all appeals from the new Court Claims court are new taken to the Federal Circuit. On June 30, the Jesuits finalize transfer of St. Francis Indian School to the Sicangu Oyate HO (voice of the Brule) School Board. This board, an all Indian controlled school organization, was organized decades ago to take over the operation of St. Francis Mission. Thus, after 95 years of missionary control of St. Francis, the Jesuits make their exit. The Black Hills Steering committee is formed to draft legislation to restore part of the Black Hills region and the Judgment award monies to the Lakota and lobby this bill through congress. This committee is made up of representatives from the eight Lakota-Dakota tribes involved in Docket 74B.
1983	In January, the North Central Association of colleges and Schools grants full accreditation to Sinte Gleska College.  The accreditation at associate and baccalaureate levels made Sinte Gleska College the first tribal college to receive accreditation at 4 year level.
1984	On April 23, the Sicangu of Rosebud hold a referendum poll to settle Docket 74A out of court for the amount of $39,749,700.00.  The Sicangu accepts this settlement by a narrow margin,  The RST Council meets to consider the poll and rejects the results.  The Rosebud sioux Tribe went on record to reject the monetary settlement offered by the United States Government.
1985	On February 22, the Claims Court terminates Docket 74A and enters the federal government's offer of $39,749,700.00 to the tribes as the judgment award for the Lakota.  The reason for terminating the case is because six of the eight tribes involved in Docket 74A reject the awards money to pursue a legislative remedy to settle the matter. Senator Bill Bradley, a Democrat from New Jersey, introduces a bill to Congress.  This bill returns 1.3 million acre of the Black Hills National Forest to the Lakota and compensation for the loss of the use of the Black Hills in the amount designated by the Court of Claims.  Moreover,  this monetary settlement amounting to the same judgment award by the 1980 Supreme Court is included. The bill fails because some of the eight Lakota tribes in the case disagree on the 6 million acres that are given up to get 1.3 million acres of the Black Hills and moreover, more money is sought by some of the tribes. The constitution and by-laws of the Rosebud Sioux tribe is amended.  The amendment extends the terms of office for the elected officials from a two year to a four year term.
1988	On January 11, the Rosebud Sioux Constitution and By-Law is amended again.  This time the 20 community organization is dropped in favor of a eight district system with 11 representatives as reapportioned to each district.
1989	The RST Constitution and By-Laws is amended to go back to a two year term for the RST tribal officers. The Docket 74A judgment award accumulates to $40,245,807.02 and the Lakota tribes are requested to divide up this award, in June, so that the deadline on December 5, 1989 could be fulfilled. The tribes are allocated the award money for 48 million acres as follows:   Cheyenne River 12.23 % $4,022,062.00     Crow Creek 04.22% $1,698,373.00     Flandreau 01.27% $511,122.00     Fort Peck 05.75% $2,314,134.00     Lower Brule 02.27% $913,579.00     Oglala 29.88% $12,025,447.00     Rosebud 24.04% $9,675,092.00     Santee 05.11% $2,056,560.00     Standing Rock 15.23% $6,129,436.00   The Lakota tribes allow the deadline to pass and now the shift is to a legislative remedy beacuse the Supreme Court refuses to hear the case. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and other tribes, who refuse to accept the money have resolutions to pursue the return of the land and money for the loss of the use of the land taken.  Two other tribes have accepted the money, but cannot proceed with it because the majority have rejected the money awards. Federal district court rules in favor of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe over south Dakota, regarding state highway jurisdiction.  Up to the time, under PL280, South Dakota patrolled and regulated the weighing stations on Highway 18 that runs through Rosebud Reservation.  The tribe challenges this by taking the case to the Federal court and the court uphold the tribe's challenge.
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1990	On September 20, Matthew Martinez, Rep.D-Cal., introduces the Sioux Nation Reconstruction Trust Fund Act of 1990 or the Grey Eagle Bill to Congress.  This bill contains the same amendments the Grey Eagle society members tried to place on the Bradley Bill.  This bill addresses the loss of the 6 million acres and would have boosted the money compensation to $3.1 billion.  Moveover, the worth of the Black Hills would be decided by a Blue Ribbon Panel. .The Gray Eagle Bill is quickly shot down by the south Dakota congressional delegation and the supporters of the Bradley Bill. The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) becomes a statute.  This act requires federal agencies and museum collections receiving federal funds to inventory their collections or holdings and reach  agreements with Native American descendants regarding repatriation or dispostition of four classs of items: burial remains, funerary objects, sacred objects, and objects of cultural patrimony.  When one of these classes are identified during surveys or construction activities, this law requires the developer or collector to consult with potentially affiliated tribes regarding the treatments and dispostiton of these items.
1991	The RST Constitution and By-Laws is amended to drop the 8 district system and create a 13 district system with 20 representatives based on a new reapportionment policy. Persian Gulf War begins when Congress authorizes use of force to remove Saddam Hussein from Kuwait, after the government of Kuwait asks for help. Many SICANGU go off to fight in the war.
1992	Sinte Gleska College (SGC) is granted university status by the North Central Accreditation in a special traditional ceremony when SGC is changed to Sinte Gleska University.  Simultaneously, the Board of Directors becomes the Board of Regents.  Thus, Sinte Gleska University becomes the first tribally controlled higher learning institution to become a univeristy. The RST Treaty Commission is created to address treaty issues.  The Treaty Commission's name is changed to SICANGU Treaty Council, later on.
1993	The RST NAGPRA consultation Group is created.  This nine member group's sole purpose is to repatriate artifacts, funerary objects, human remains, and documents from archival and museum institutions. Phil Stevens, with the help of Lakota attorneys formerly involved with the Grey Eagle Bill, put together a draft billcalled "The Black Hills Restoration Act of 1993" that outlined the following contents:   1. The return of the unoccupied federal held lands in the Black Hills amounting to 1,327,00 acres back to the Lakota;     2. The payment of back rent on the 7.3 million acres of the Black Hills, taken under the 1887, would be charge at the rate of one cent per acre per month over the past 117 years at a compunded interest rate at approximately 2 % amounting to the judgment award already held in the U.S. Treasury;       3. The 6,000,000 acres would be given up for future rent based on what the federal government already funds annually and with annual adjustments based on the cost of living index.
1994	In June, the Black Hills Restoration Bill of 1993 is presented to the SICANGU Treaty Council to review and begin the process of getting all of the treaty groups and tribal councils together to move this bill to Congress for passage. Stevens, virtually opposed by nearly all of the tribal councils and treaty groups, reasoned that the best way to pass this bill would be to give it to a receptive treaty group and from there a summit could be called where all parties involved would make a decision to accept, amend, or reject the bill. The goal was to accept the bill and move it to Congress. The Sicangu Treaty council held a series of meeting but failed get anything moving. PL 102-575the Mini Wiconi Act Amendment to the 1988 PL 100-526 is passed.  this amendment authorizes the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and the Rosebud Sioux tribe to enjoin with the Oglala sioux Tribe, Lyman-Jones and West Rural Water Supply System in creating a pipeline to the Missouri River for water supply.  the Mini Wiconi Project will supply all of these entities with sanitized water from the Missouri to alleviate the heavy stress on underground water.
1995	The Balkan War commences when Yugoslavia breaks apart and ethnic groups that are a part of this country battle for their independence.  Many Sicangu go off to participate in the peace keeping efforts in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo conflicts.
1997	The Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, and the State of South Dakota Terrestrial Wildlife Mitigation Act of 1997 is passed.  This Act is presently known as Title VI.  This law will transfer U.S. Corps of Engineer and tribal lands along the Missouri River to the state and the two tribes cited above. The Act opens up problems of treaty violations, cultural resources management, possession of way side parks and boating ramps, unity among the Oceti Sakowin membership, and a host of state and tribal jurisdictions. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe went on record to oppose this act because the tribe stands to lose 1,200 acres of land in the flood zone of Lake Francis Case.
2001	On 9/11, the twin towers are taken down and President Bush attacks the Taliban forces in Afghanistan, thus starting the Afghanistan war. Many Sicangu join the armed forces and go to fight the war.
2003	Bush turns his war efforts toward Baghdad and begins the Iraqi war.  Many Sicangu go off to fight in this war.
2004	Lakota Women for change group successfully completes a petition drive to reform the Rosebud Sioux Tribe's Constitution and By-Laws.  Subsequently, the tribal government authorizes a seven member Rosebud Sioux Constitutional Task force to begin the process of constitutional reform. The RST Constitutional Task Force begins to hold hearings in the spring and concludes in July.  The task force is in the process of reviewing 182 amendments and selecting the appropriate ones for Secretarial Election.
2005	- 2009 Being Updated
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Introduction

The Sicangu consist of two major divisions, the Heyata Wicasa (upper people/upper Brule) and Kuta or Kul Wicasa (lower people/lower Brule).  Upper Brule refers to the division that chose to move toward the higher grounds to the west of the Missouri River and lower people refers to those who decided to live along the lower grounds in the Missouri River region.  This division occurred during the 1860’s when agencies were formed and the major leaders signed the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty.  After 1868, Spotted Tail and a vast majority of upper Sicangu decided to move away from the Missouri River where they felt was a bad place to reside.

The Whetstone Agency, the first agency set up for the Sicangu and other divisions who wished to reside there was situated on the west bank of the Missouri River, a place consid-ered a “cesspool of evil.”   This is the place where a whiskey ring operated without restrictions.  The operators set up an invisible settlement called Harney City that was situated opposite the Whetstone.  It was here that the liquor peddlers bought equipment, farming items given to the Sicangu for farming by the federal government, in exchange for rot gut whiskey.  When these items became scarce the peddlers accepted or actually stole equipment and livestock from the Lakota.

The Missouri River, particularly the place where the agency was set up, was also a place to avoid because of the small pox and cholera epidemics that ravaged the Sicangu, less than a century ago.  The Lakota buried their dead on scaffolds along the Missouri and this remind-ed the people of that tragic event that could still happen.

Perhaps the biggest reason why the majority of Sicangu did not want to live on the banks of the Missouri River was a strategy employed by the leaders.  To avoid a massive farming program designed by the federal government, it made sense to move away to areas that were not conducive to farming.  The federal government planned to have the Lakota placed along the Missouri River and force them to be civilized by farming and becoming Christians, then they could take the lands without worrying about the treaties that protected the land.  They had already plowed up one hundred acres of land and provided farming equipment to carry this out.  This is what the Sicangu faced when they were forced to move to the Whetstone Agency in 1868. 

By 1878, the Sicangu successfully steered away from living along the Missouri River by refusing to go to the dreaded river and selecting Rosebud Agency as the place where they would reside, this was the seventh and last agency move.  Thus this was the background that led to the development of communities on the Rosebud Reservation.

The move to the Whetstone Agency community created divisions among the Sicangu that led to strengthening some divisions and creating new ones and when the tribe moved to their final agency, the communities became important entities to be considered.

The earliest communities known to the Lakota people were the tiospayes and there were many.  A tiospaye comes from ti (dwelling) and ospaye (a small part of the whole), a residential unit or an extended families.  Four to seven families made up a tiospaye and four to seven tiospayes made up an ospaye or band.  Four to seven ospayes made up a tribe.  The tiospaye was once the premier political unit and by 1830’s, it lost its political status to the ospaye or band system.  A tiospaye leader was a naca (from nata heca, he is the head) or often called tunkasila (grandfather).  One the other hand, an ospaye (band) leader was an Itancan (spokesman) or chief.  Nacas were always hereditary and served for life while Itancans were selected by the tribal council.  Itancans could be replaced by the people whenever a leader was deemed unfit to lead.

Tiospayes over a long period of time, underwent changes that led to some dissolving, some being absorbed with others and new ones being created.  Some of these early tiospaye have been listed in writing and maintained by oral tradition, the following is a compilation of a list of tiospayes that survived time.

1. Isanyati (see list on page 4, and all listed below without translations)
2. ‘Watchihoutairhe” or “War-chink-tarhe” ? (Waceunpa)
3. Cokatwela or Cokatontowela
4. Wajaje
5. Mnisala (Red Water-Junior status)
6. Kiyuksa
7. Waceunpa
8. Iyakoza (wart or lump on a horse)
9. Wablenica
10. Sicawipe (bad weapons)
11. Siyotanka (Grouse or large prairie chicken)
12. Homna (fish odor)
13. Siyo Subula (sharp tail Grouse)
14. Kangi Yuha (crow keepers)
15. Pispiza Wicasa (prairie dog people)
16. Walega Un Wohan
17. Sawala (Shawnee)
18. Ihanktonwan (Yankton)
19. Nahpahpa (kick off leggings)
20. Apewan Tanka (big manes)
21. Sicanguhca (Same as no. 3)
22. Kak’ega
23. Hihan Sunwapa
24. Sunka Ha Nap’in
25. Hiha Kanhanhanwin
26. Hunku Wanica
27. Mniskuya Kic’un
28. Tiglagu
29. Wagluh’e
30. Wagmiza Yuha
31. Oglala Ic’icaga
32. Tiocesli
33. Ieska Cinca
34. Oohenunpa
35. Okaga Wicasa
36. Wahna

James Dorsey (Siouan Sociology, Bureau of Ethnology Report-1897) compiled this list supplied by fur traders, tribal elders and reservation officials.  Numbers 2 and 7 are the same, 3 and 21, and numbers 9 and 26 are duplicated so the list should be up to 33.

The list discussed, in the next section, consists of 21 bands or tiospaye and these bands or tiospaye absorbed the 13 that are no longer remembered.

                               

 

      Lakota Agencies
             
                        History of the Sicangu Tiospayes

 Prior to the settlement on the Rosebud Agency by the Sicangu, there were 18 bands that were evolving into the 21.  These 21 tiospayes or ospayes were led by 21 headmen who chose to settle on the White River tributaries of what was to become the Rosebud Reservation.  Moreover, these divisions formed a naca omniciye (tribal council) of 21 made up of nacas from each of the tiospayes that formed the bands or opayes, these nacas   appointed the itancan.  There were four or more tiospayes that made up an ospaye and the twenty one bands that made up the Sicangu Nation.  The following are the bands and extended families that made up the tribe.

1. Sicanguhca (Brule/Burnt Thigh Proper)
2. Kakega (make a scratching noise with an instrument)
3. a.  Hihan Sun Wapa (toward the owl feather) (a and b will separate)

1. Sunkaha Nap’in (dog necklace)

4. Hiha Kanhanhanwin (loose tooth women)
5. Hunku Wanica or Wablenica (have no mothers or orphans)
6. Mniskuya Kic’un (wears salt )
7. a.  Kiyuksa (breakers of marriage custom)  (a and b will separate)

b.  Tiglabu (drums in the home)
8.  Waceunpa (roasters)
9.  Wagluhe (loafers)
10. Isantyati (Santee)
11. Wagmiza Yuha (has corn)
12. a.  Walega Un Wohan (boils with a paunch)  (a and b will separate)
            b.  Wahna (snorts)
      13. Oglala Ic’icage (raised as Oglalas)
      14. Tiocesli (defecates in the lodge)
      15. Wajaje (Osage)
      16. Ieska Cinca (mixed bloods children)
      17. Oohenunpa (Two Kettle)
      18. Okaga Wicasa (southern folk)

The general formation and names of these divisions of the greater Sicangu tribe followed an age old pattern based on: location, significant incidents and habits, different groups from each dialects joining the tribe, foreign tribal groups joining the tribe, mixed blood groups that intermarried with the wasicun and other ways that resulted in additions to the tribe.

One stable element that can be found in the formation of a tiospaye is blood membership.  Thus the general way the groups joined and mixed with the tribe, as a whole, is generally attributed to the ospaye (band) that took on non blood membership.  Therefore the twenty one divisions found among the Sicangu Lakota leaned more to a band than an extended family organization; moreover, a band is larger than an extended family.  The following is how each received their name.

In 1762, the Sicanguhca, the lead tiospaye, got its name when it was surprised by a prairie fire that burned their thighs and forced them to jump into a nearby small lake and a creek.  Prior to this incident, their name was Cokatontowela or the contracted form Cokatowela (blue in the middle camp).  They were the lead band often called the original tintan otonwan (prairie or plains camp).  This is the parent division of all the Lakota speaking divisions.  Brown Hat (Wapostan Gi) a.k.a. Baptiste Good, a winter count keeper, recorded this event of the burnt thigh incident.

Cokatowela is also a contraction of Hocoka (the center of the hoop or ring) Otontowela (blue village)-the blue village at the center of the ring. The color blue represents Mahpiya To, the favorite color of Taku Skanskan (the supreme spiritual power).  The colors blue and black are interchangeable, they represent the west direction.  Hocoka represents Pesla or Reynolds Prairie, according to Lakota Astronomy.  Pesla is the center of the He Sapa (Black Hills) or the center of the huge ring called the Kiinyanka Ocanku Sa (the red race track) that surrounds the Black Hills.  Cokatowela was the placed at the center of the ring because it was the parent division of the Lakota speaking division.  Later on this camp was placed at the Catku position, the west position held by all lead bands.  The verification of this information can be found in Ring Bull and Brown Hat’s winter counts.

The leaders of the Ring Band were Makatojanjan (Clear Blue Earth) I and II, Wakinyan Cik’ala (Little Thunder) and Sinte Gleska (Spotted Tail).  Spotted Tail was the last of the Ring Band leaders and when he was killed the band broke up into three divisions,  one joined the Wajaje (Osage), the other became part of the old Itokaga (southern) division and the third division remained at Rosebud-Parmelee, under Spotted Tail, Jr.  The Ring Band consistently refused to take the name Sicanguhca (Sicangu proper) but was always called this new name by the United States.  

Kakega refers to one version of how these people made a grating or a scratching noise to the tipi to give notice that they were present.  Another version is that this was a society with an unusual way of drumming.  Society members would carve deep grooves on the flat part of an elk horn, these grooves were sharp like a saw tooth saw.  The drummer would grasp the grooved elk horn with one hand and strike the saw tooth part with a downward and away motion while keeping in time with the drum beats.  This instrument made a grating noise. This version is considered to be very old and accurate.

The Hinhan Sunwapa were named after the akicita society whose leader was Two Strike. These Akicita leaders wore owl feathered bonnets to emulate the power of the owl, this bird had the ability to see at night and become invisible.  The owl, appearing in human form, originated this society by saying “mawa tani” (mawa-I am, tani-visible), and after instructing how to start this society the owl transformed from a human back to its original form.

 It is said that Chief Two Strike used to don an owl feathered bonnet when he went after the BIA officials at the Rosebud Agency when they did not help the people.  They would shutter when they saw him coming.

Sunkaha Nap’in tiospaye was named because their members made dog necklaces.  One version addresses the idea that they obtained the power of the dog and wolf when they wore the necklaces. Other versions say they were unable to get regular hide to make necklaces. This indicates that this group may have been a dog society.

Hiha Kanhanhan was applied to women who were afflicted by a sickness that caused their teeth to dangle loosely from the gums.  This was mostly women who were pregnant or recently gave birth to their children.

Hunku Wanica or Wablenica received their name in 1844 when Big Raven and all of his men were killed by the Shoshone when they went on a raid against them in Wyoming.  This accounted for all of the men from the camps of the Oglala and Sicangu who joined together to go to war.  All of their camps were now fatherless.  The term refers to having no support or means to survive.

Mniskuya Kic’un acquired this distinction in an incident when a mother or grandmother went into dimly lit tipi to paint the cheeks of her grandchildren for a social event.  She mistakenly took a bowl of salt instead of red paint and painted the grandchildren with salt.

Kiyuksa received their name because they broke the custom of exogamy by marrying their blood kin.  This was a Santee division that joined the Sicangu.  Apparently this Santee division’s population was decimated by war and loss of many more by a disease caught by animals they hunted and ate.  In order for them to survive they were forced to marry their kinfolk.  Other fortunate Santee ridiculed them merciless so they left and joined the Titonwan division.  They were one of the oldest known bands that joined the Sicangu camp circle in the mid seventeen century (see the Waceunpa division).

Tiglabu were given this name when they used their tipi as a drum to sing out songs.  Another version indicates that they used canvases to make drums or made drums out of canvas from tipis.  They were part of the Kiyuksa but became independent later on.

Waceunpa division was so named because they once roasted a baby.  One version about this incident is that a young woman gave birth to a child and the child was born out of wedlock.  She was punished by her older kinwomen by roasting the baby to death.  Another version is that a child was born out of an incestuous relationship and since this was taboo, the baby was  thrown into the fire.  Moreover, it was said that the baby was still born and it’s possible that it was cremated by being burnt up in secrecy.  (Secrecy could never be kept in a tiospaye because Lakota society was open and no one could hide anything, so the story spread from one tiospaye to another).

The Waceunpa and the Kiyuksa were Santee and two of the oldest divisions that formed the original Sicangu camp circle in the mid eighteenth century.  Moreover, they made a treaty with the Ponca, intermarried with them and their descendants became the Wajaje group in 1769. Their chiefs, Ring Bull I, Red Leaf I and Makatojanjan I dominated the events in the early 1800’s.

 

Another head man of the Waceunpa was Botahunka Tanka (Grand Partisan), a powerful leader who led his band as an akicita, war and civil leader for over thirty years. 

Wagluhe division was named this because they had a tendency to live off their relatives or hang on to them no matter what happened.  They were called hang around the fort Indians or loafers.  Chief Smoke was their original leader.

Walega Un Wohan tiospaye was named this because they were probably the last to use this form of cooking meat and vegetables.  Often times this form of cooking was done in ceremonies when the participants were told not to touch wasicun pots or pans to cook.

Isanyati received this designation when they joined the Sicangu after the war in Minnesota during 1862.  Little Crows were found on Rosebud Sioux rolls indicating that they were Santee.  Rosebud contained many divisions from almost all of the reservations.  This Santee group was one of the first divisions to acquire a lead position in the Sicangu camp circle in 1700.  Their depleted numbers were partially filled by more Santee joining in 1862, as alluded to above.

Wagmiza Yuha refers to a Lakota division that took up farming corn, taught to them by a non Indian.  This was one of the divisions led by Swift Bear and Tall Mandan and before it was named the corn band, it was called Mnisala. (Red River).  This originally was made up of Sisseton and Hohwoju members before they joined the Sicangu.

Growing corn was frowned upon because this entailed farming or horticulture practices and the Lakota were primarily a hunting nation. One of the reasons the headmen wanted to get away from the Missouri River was to free themselves from government forced farming.

Wahna was given to a division whose horses snorted a lot.  Some say that the members snorted like horses.

Oglala Ic’icaga division was given this name because they reared their children like Oglalas.  Another version is that they came from the Oglala after they were old enough to take up residents at Rosebud.  Stands and Looks Back was their leader.

Tiocesli was applied to a division whose members defecated in a council hall.  According to oral tradition, a group of Lakota were placed in a meeting hall by the government officials to sign a treaty and they could not come out unless they signed the document.  Some refused and when they couldn’t hold on they defecated in the corner of the room.

The Wajaje was so named because their leader shaved his head like an Osage or a Shawnee, both tribes had similar hair styles. This chief was called Sawala (Lakota rendition of Shawnee) and his band had the same band name, Sawala.  Such a band or tiospaye was listed by Dorsey when he wrote a paper that appeared in the Bureau of Ethnology report in 1897 and a leader called Sawala was listed as leading the Wajaje division in an account written by Joseph N. Nicollet (1839), published in the American Museum of Natural History.   

Another version is that, in earlier time, a Ponca division joined the Lakota, the Ponca have clans and one of their clans is called Osage.  Wajaje is a corruption or an Anglicized version of Osage, in fact it is the same.  Wajaje means snake because their medicine men have the power to cure poisonous snake bites.  Their pipes have carved images of snakes to indicate their power.  They were powerful medicine men.  Perhaps this is the reason why the Wajaje division have the largest ratio of medicine men and leaders in Norris and Parmelee.

As alluded to earlier, this division was the product of the intermarriage of  the Waceunpa and the Kiyuksa with the Ponca division, whose leader was from the Osage.  This Osage band was one of the clans that made up the Ponca tribe.  The Osage clan was in the same position that the Assiniboine or Hohe experienced, when this tribe made a bold decision to join the Cree against their sister band, the Wazikute, a member of the Yanktonai division. The Assiniboine reasoned correctly that if they didn’t join the Cree they would be annihilated.  This Osage group made their decision to join the Lakota under the same circumstances.  

Ieska Cinca were given this name because they were mixed bloods, two ethnic groups joined by both bloods.  Earlier, these mixed bloods tried to remain distinct by forming a division to acquire land and separate itself from the full membership.  The federal government rejected this.

Oohenunpa came from the northern division, Cheyenne River Agency, in the 1870’s and settled in the Two Kettle district north of White River.  The name Two Kettle was acquired when they were migrating out of Minnesota and when they came near a series of lakes that were called Kettle Lakes, they got caught in a blinding late spring blizzard.  They were forced to camp for several days without food.  They were fortunate to locate a cache that contained winter and spring provisions of food, mainly two kettles worth of corn.  They were saved by cooking these two kettles of corn, hence they were called Oohenunpa (two kettles). Their Chief Tall Mandan was part Wagmiza Yuha , a division of Sicangu, and Two Kettle, he was reported to be six feet eight inches tall.

Okaga Wicasa is a contracted from the original word Itokaga and received their name because they were from the southern zone of the Sicangu territory. This group would combine more divisions than all of the Sicangu bands to form a powerful camp circle in the southern region.  This was Little Thunder’s old division that possibly broke off the Wajaje.  Spotted Tail combined both divisions when he became the leader.

These twenty one divisions set the standard number for the modern communities but the original names of the communities are not recognized; however, there are clues to make that connection, the survival of communities found in the names of leaders.  There are other clues such locations where each originally settled.  Still other clues such as the formation of what seems to be a new community is really a group that absorbs an established community, so what happens is that only the name changes to accommodate the modern setting.  The base number 21 is important to remember because this has never been substantially overhauled.  

The evolution of these ospayes and tiospayes, first into districts and eventually into communities is based on the passage and enforcement of acculturational policies such as the Dawes Severalty Act that forced the Lakota to accept sedentary terms for tiospaye and ospaye.  These two terms originally related to mobile units that are equivalents to a community and a district.  It is when an extended family settles in a camp location permanently that makes this term coincide with a community and when a band settles in a broader area such as a wicoti (camps) location that makes this term relevant to a district. This is based on the concept of  a tiospaye being a smaller part of an ospaye and an ospaye being  a smaller part of a whole such as an oyate, several or more ospayes make up an oyate-the tribe.  Thus a tiospaye becomes a community and an ospaye becomes a district.

When the Rosebud Reservation was first created by the Sioux Act of 1889, boss farming districts were formed to accommodate the policy of farming as stipulated by this act and communities or tiospayes were placed under them.  The following are the first boss farming districts or farming stations that were set up.

1. Spring Creek District consisted of St. Francis, Grass Mountain and Two Strike
2. White Lake District made up of Lakeview settlement and surrounding areas
3. Wososo included Parmelee, Lower Cut Meat, Upper Cut Meat, He Dog, Salt Camp and Ironwood
4. Black Pipe was made up of Norris, Corn Creek and Red Leaf
5. White River included Bad Nation
6. Antelope consisted of northern Mission and Mission Proper
7. Butte Creek consisted of White Thunder and Wood
8. Ponca included  Upper and Lower Ponca
9. Okreek consisted of Little Crow

 

By 1920, the districts evolved into political units as they were organized into separate entities.  Each district consisted of interrelated communities and each district provided services to the communities by being the seat of social and political activities.  The districts had day schools, infirmaries, beef and ration issue stations and fairs for their respective communities.  The following districts, similar to the 1880’s districts, were in place and functioning.

1. Spring Creek consisting of the same communities as the 1880’s list
2. Agency District was made up of Rosebud and nearby settlements
3. Cut meat was made up of Upper and Lower Cut meat
4. Black Pipe was made up of Norris, Corn Creek and Red Leaf
5. Little White River was made up of Swift Bear’s Camp and Pine Creek
6. Butte Creek consisted of Bad Nation, White Thunder, Wood and Little Crow
7. Keya Paha was made up of Antelope and Mission
8. Big White River was made up of Bull Creek and surrounding communities
9. Ponca consisted of Upper and Lower Ponca (Milk’s Camp)

 

 Cut Meat District Beef Issue Station (beef issue house is at the left)  
 
 
Butte Creek District Beef Issue Station (Boss Farmer’s house used as the station)

 

 
Rosebud Agency District Beef Issue Station
 
 
*He Dog Day School

 

 

 

 
Red Leaf Day School at Norris

 

       
Rosebud Day School (preparing for flag raising ceremony)

 

 
Rosebud Fair camp circle (mile wide view of camps arranged by districts/community order)
By the 1930’s and up to the IRA period, twenty two communities emerged and replaced the district systems.  The expansion of each community was the result of the growth of each community within the districts that claimed separate identities thus forcing the tribal council and BIA to depart from the district structure.  Perhaps the overall reason was the rejection of farming or breaking out of the bondage of each boss farming districts and the BIA’s desire to curb the expanding districts.  The following are the communities prior to 1963.

1. Bad Nation
2. Black Pipe
3. Bull Creek
4. Butte Creek
5. Corn Creek
6. Grass Mountain
7. He Dog
8. Horse Creek
9. Ideal
10. Little Crow
11. Okreek
12. Parmelee
13. Ponca
14. Upper Ponca
15. Ring Thunder
16. Soldier Creek
17. Spring Creek
18. St. Francis
19. Swift Bear
20. Two Strike
21. Upper Cut Meat
22. White Thunder

 
 The Rosebud Tribal Council determined that the communities had to be revised because of compliance with the reapportionment policy that required communities to maintain certain population standards every ten years when the US Census came out with the new population estimates.  The following is the list recognized by the RST Constitution in 1963.

1. Antelope
2. Bad Nation
3. Bull Creek
4. Corn Creek
5. Grass Mountain
6. Corn Creek
7. Grass Mountain
8. He Dog
9. Horse Creek
10. Ideal
11. Milk’s Camp
12. Okreek
13. Parmelee
14. Ring Thunder
15. Rosebud
16. Soldier Creek
17. Spring Creek
18. St. Francis
19. Swift Bear
20. Two Strike
21. Upper Cut Meat

 

 In 1966, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council decided to organize the communities by creating a resolution authorizing them to revise the status of each community whenever they saw fit to do so, Bad Nation was deleted as a result of this action.   The following communities were recognized in 1966.

1. Antelope
2. Black Pipe
3. Bull Creek
4. Butte Creek
5. Corn Creek
6. Grass Mountain
7. He Dog
8. Horse Creek
9. Ideal
10. Milk’s Camp
11. Okreek
12. Parmelee
13. Ring Thunder
14. Rosebud
15. Soldier Creek
16. Spring Creek
17. St. Francis
18. Swift Bear
19. Two Strike
20. Upper Cut Meat

 

Washington, D.C. politics addressing the deteriorating national economy started to slash the tribal programs thus forcing the Rosebud Sioux  Tribe to streamline the tribal governments in an attempt to cut their budget deficits. Thus by 1988, the constitution was revised to create 8 districts and reduce the tribal representatives to 11.  The following is the composition of the district system.

1. District 1 with 1 representative for Bull Creek, Ideal and Milk’s Camp
2. District 2 with 1 representative for Butte Creek and Okreek
3. District 3 with 2 representatives for Antelope
4. District 4 with 2 representatives for Ring Thunder, Rosebud and Soldier Creek
5. District 5 with 1 representative for St. Francis  
6. District 6 with 1 representative for Grass Mountain, Spring Creek and Two Strike
7. District 6 with 1 representative for He Dog, Parmelee and Upper Cut Meat
8. District 7 with 2 representatives for Black Pipe, Corn Creek, Horse Creek and Swift Bear

 

In 1991 just three years after the constitutional revision allowing for the creation of the 8 districts, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Council decided to change the constitution by increasing the districts and by including more representatives.  The people were dissatisfied with the less representation and the imbalance of communities lumped under each district. One more community, Winner, was added and 13 districts and 20 representatives were created. The following is the list of districts and their respective communities.

1. District 1 with 1 representative for Ideal and Winner
2. District 2 with 1 representative for Butte Creek and Okreek
3. District 3 with 4 representatives for Antelope
4. District 4 with 1 representative for Ring Thunder and Soldier Creek
5. District 5 with 3 representatives for St. Francis
6. District 6 with 1 representative for Spring Creek and Two Strike
7. District 7 with 1 representative for Grass Mountain and Upper Cut Meat
8. District 8 with 1 representative for Swift Bear
9. District 9 with 1 representative for Parmelee
10. District 10 with 3 representatives for Rosebud
11. District 11 with 1 representative for Black Pipe and He Dog
12. District 12 with 1 representative for Corn Creek and Horse Creek
13. District 13 with 1 representative for Bull Creek and Milk’s Camp 

 

By the close of the decade in 1990’s, the communities were transformed to what exists today.  Moreover, ever since the communities were in place during the 1880’s and the close of the century, there was a constant struggle to maintain a distinct number of communities from 22 to 21 then to 20 and when the last community was created in 1991, the transformation of the community numbers was complete.  There probably won’t be anymore number changes in the communities for a long time so they are destined to remain at 21, the exact number that the Sicangu came in with in 1878.  Moreover, there is a desire for some people to go back to a community based political unit thus replacing the district system.  Perhaps in the near future this concept of a community organization over a district system will be on the minds of the younger generation and they may debate the issue.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                         

 

Brief History of the Communities or Tiospayes

1.  Antelope (Tatoka/Nige Sanla)     Community is named after abundance of antelope that                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
                                                          could be found north of Mission, in earlier times.

2.  Bad Nation (Oyate Sice)              The original members of the community were called   
                                                          this because they acquired a bad reputation.

3.  Black Pipe                                   Camp named after a prominent Wajaje leader.
     (Cannunpa Sapa Tawicoti)

4.  Bull Creek (Tatanka Wakpala)    So called because male buffalo frequently grazed   
                                                          in the pasture here.

5.  Butte Creek (Paha Wakpala)       This name was applied to this community because of
                                                          a conspicuous butte along the creek.

6.  Corn Creek (Wagmiza Yuha)       Named after the creek where people often grew corn,
                                                          in the distant past.

7.  Grass Mountain (Peji He)            This name was given to this community because of
                                                          an abundance of grasslands growing on a mountain.

8.  He Dog                                        Camp named after a prominent Wajaje Leader.
     (Sunka Bloka Tawicoti)

9.  Horse Creek                                Named after an ideal watering hole and grazing for   
     (Sunkakan Wakpala)                   horses.

10. Ideal (Waste)                              Named for its pleasing and ideal location for a camp.

11. Milk’s Camp                              Camp named after a prominent Loafer Chief.
      (Asunpi Tawicoti)

12. Okreek (Otuhu Oju Wakpala)    A place where a creek flowed into an oak grove.  
                                                         When the town applied for a post office, they were
                                                          rejected because they weren’t allowed to enter a town
                                                         with two words (Oak Creek) so it was renamed
                                                         Okreek.

13. Parmelee                                     Originally called Spotted Tail’s camp but was
      (Sinte Gleska Tawicoti)              changed to (David) Parmelee, the surveyor’s name.

14. Ring Thunder                              Camp named after a prominent leader.
      (Cangleska Wakinyan Tawicoti)

15. Rosebud (Ojinjintka Oyanke)    Name given to the community because of the
                                                         abundance of rosebuds that surrounded this area.

16. Soldier Creek                            A warrior was wounded while crossing this creek.
      (Akicita Wakpala)

17. Spring Creek                            This creek was one of the sources for Little White  
      (Wiwila Wakpala)                    River located in the marshy areas where spring water
                                                        oozed up during spring.

18. St. Francis (Sapunti)                Also called Hinhan Sunwapa (Owl Feather Bonnet)
                                                       but was changed to where the black robes reside.

19. Swift Bear                                Camp named after a prominent Wagmiza Yuha leader.
      (Mato Luzahan Tawicoti)

20. Two Strike                               Camp named after a prominent Owl Bonnet Feather
       (Nunp Kahpa Tawicoti)          tiospaye leader.

21. Upper Cut Meat (Wososo)       Named after a beef issue station.

 

The communities are named after location, leaders-chiefs-headmen, tiospaye-ospaye, creeks, and by specific landscape that surround the community.  Communities are named after 7 leaders, 2 are named after tiospaye/band,  7 are named after creeks,  3 are named for landscapes that surround the community, 1 is named for a Catholic school and 1 is named after an animal.  The 7 leaders that bear community names are Black Pipe, He Dog, Sinte Gleska, Ring Thunder, Two Strike, Swift Bear and Milk;   the 2 that are named for tiospaye/ospaye are Bad Nation and Upper Cut Meat; Bull Creek; Butte Creek, Corn Creek, Horse Creek, Okreek, Soldier Creek and Spring Creek are the 7 communities named after creeks; the 3 named after landscapes are Grass Mountain, Rosebud and Ideal; St. Francis is named after a catholic school; and Antelope is named after an animal.  Moreover, St. Francis and Parmelee have dual names such as Hihan Sunwapa and Sinte Gleska Tawicoti respectively but St. Francis and Parmelee remain as the official name adopted by the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

Perhaps the most significant thing about communities is that some are named after Sicangu leaders  and they are honored for their great deeds.  The following are those prominent figures who led a nation through turbulent times with the best of their abilities.

 Black Pipe was a great traditional leader from the Wajaje division who led his people, now residing in the Norris area, through trouble times of the acculturation era (1880’s).  He was selected by Swift Bear to join the Lakota leaders to go to Washington, DC for treaty concerns in the early 1870’s.   He is not well know because no detailed record of him exists but being a member of the wajaje division, he certainly opposed the break up of the Great Sioux Reservation by taking  a stand  against the officials who came down from the east to divide up the Great Sioux Reservation as most Wajaje opposed the Great Sioux Agreement.  No known picture of him exists.

Two Strike (Nunp Kahpa)

                                                    

 Two Strike received his name when he duplicated two almost impossible feats, he shot an arrow through the heart of a buffalo and the arrow penetrated and killed another and later on, he killed two enemies riding on the same horse.  Although his grandfather was also called Two Strike because he knocked off two enemies and earned this name, Two Strike duplicated this feat twice and was honored with this name.  His name prior to this was Living Bear.

Two Strike was a ferocious leader in war whether it was going against an enemy tribe or the United States.  During the southern war fought from 1864 to 1869, he terrorized the Platte River and Republican River areas by joining with the Cheyennes in a campaign to remove the wasicun from those areas.  The Cheyennes used their vaunted Dog Soldiers as a vanguard to fight against the United States Army while Two Strike organized the Owl Bonnet Akicita society, a strong society equal  to the Dog Soldiers, to attack the settlements and trails heading west.  Later on, Two Strike joined forces with Little Wound, Pawnee Killer and Iron Shell to continue warfare that nearly caused a collapse to the American frontier on the overland trails that took the emigrants west. Two Strike’s war gave Spotted Tail added leverage to bring the United States to the table for peace talks that resulted in the signing of the Treaty of 1868.

When the Sicangu settled on the Rosebud Reservation, Two Strike, ever the traditional, helped fight off the sweeping acculturational policies that was intended to convert the Lakota into meek carbon copies of the rural non Indian farmer.  This forced the federal government to resort to implement slow changes.

Two Strike played a prominent part in the Ghost Dance.  He strongly believed in the new religion and felt that the Lakota should be able to worship what they chose to, without the interference of the federal government, and when Big Foot camp was destroyed at Wounded Knee, Two Strike was enraged.  He enticed Colonel Forsyth and his 7th Cavalry into a small valley at White Clay and occupied the high ground.  He then fired at Forsyth and his command and threatened to over run them.  Just when Two Strike had the advantage, the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th Infantry appeared causing Two Strike to back off.  The Chicago Inter Ocean Journal reported “If not for the valiant effort of the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th , the massacre of 1876 would have been repeated.”

Two Strike returned to Rosebud Reservation settled in the community that bears his name and led his people through hard times.  He opposed the allotment act but favored education.  He, Hollow Horn Bear and He Dog helped to secure grounds for St. Francis Mission School.  The site St. Francis occupies is the land where Two Strike’s original community extended.  This community was called Hinhan Sunwapa but was changed to Sapunti (from sapa-black, un-to wear and ti-residence of) translated as Black Robe Residence and then to St. Francis.

Spotted Tail (Sinte Gleska)

 Sinte Gleska or Spotted Tail is regarded as a great statesman and leader.  He is the most written about among the Sicangu leaders and therefore is widely known.  Among his many accolades is that a university carries his name as well as a community because of his promotion of the first bilingual education program.  He felt that the Sicangu may not survive because of the lack of skills to exist in the non Indian world.  He especially felt strongly about this among his grandchildren.  He sought to remedy this by inviting the Black Robes to the reservation and when this did not happen immediately he welcomed the efforts of Pratt, superintendent of Carlisle boarding school, and sent his son and many grandchildren to learn English, reading, writing and arithmetic at this new school while still retaining Lakota values.  This did not work out so he withdrew his children and grandchildren from Carlisle.

One of the little known reason why his outlook of the wasicun changed from one of hostility to peace was because of his daughter, Mni Akuwin (Brings Water Woman).  She was a tall beautiful teenager who had a close relation with her father.  She enjoyed life like any other teenager but in a different way.  She felt most comfortable in the company of the wasicun.  Her character was molded by the lifestyle of the Wagluhe or Loafer band, especially her grandfather’s clan, Chief Smoke.  She loathed war and the terrible physical strain that was imposed on her. 

She spent lots of time at Fort Laramie sitting in front of the sutler’s store observing the people and soldiers when they drilled and paraded through the streets.  It is said she longed to marry an officer of the United States.  Her father tried to discouraged her ties with the non Indian world and frowned on her love of the wasicu way of life, especially the materials things that she was attracted to.  She had many fights with her father over her friendly ideas about the wasicun.

One day, he took her away and traveled to Powder River to recuperate from fighting the soldiers in his brief war with them, during the period from 1864-66.  It was during this time that Mni Aku became sick from tuberculosis and died in 1866.  Before she died, her father spent most of his time near her trying to help her.  It was at this time that she pleaded with her father to do three things, to stop his war with the U.S. Army and make peace, to get to know their ways because she felt that this was inevitable and she wanted to be buried at Fort Laramie beside her grandfather Smoke.  Spotted Tail was devastated when she passed on to the spirit world.  Spotted Tail then carried out the three wishes he promised to do.  Those three things brought him to prominence as he promoted and signed the Treaty of 1868, tried to learn some of the non Indian ways and placed her burial scaffold near Chief Smoke at Fort Laramie.
Ring Thunder (Cangleska Wakinyan)
                                                         
                                                          

Not much is known about Chief Ring Thunder, but what has survived, like so much of the leaders who wanted to stay anonymous, were his pictures found among many Lakota delegates that went to Washington, D.C.  This meant that he was an important leader who traveled to the great wasicun cities to negotiate on behalf of his people.  One thing that is certain about him is that he left a legacy of  treaties, inherent in his descendants.  Ring Thunder community and descendants were the center of the modern day treaty activities.

He Dog (Sunka Tabloka)
  

He Dog was born in 1836 in the Niobrara River valley of Nebraska and died on the Rosebud Reservation in 1927.  He, like Swift Bear and Milk, saw there was futility in resisting the non Indian and became a scout in 1865.  Before he received his name, he was known as Nite Waste (good hip).

By 1875, he became a prominent akicita leader who accompanied Spotted Tail and his delegation to Washington, D.C. to discuss the sale of the Black which they rejected. Later on he is credited with starting the Treaty Council of 1894, to address the taking of the Black Hills and holding the government to the many promises they made and reneged on.  This treaty council is still in existence and is regarded as one of the most traditional.

In 1885, he became a tribal policeman and settled with his people in the He Dog Camp, a community especially named after him, where he remained until he died.   During this time,  he supported education by helping to start St. Francis Mission to educate the Sicangu children and, in 1891, he was selected as a delegation to travel to Carlisle to inspect the quality of education there.  Because of his keen interest in the education of the Sicangu children a school was named after him, the He Dog School, where many of his descendants go to be educated.

He Dog often supported Chief Spotted Tail on the peaceful approach to problems.  He was one of the few who saw the assassination of Spotted Tail and later testified  to relate the truth.

 

Swift Bear (Mato Luzahan)
                                                                       

Swift Bear was the ultra peace chief who foresaw the dominance of the wasicun way of life and advocated for this way of life. He always supported Spotted Tail in his peaceful endeavors with the non Indian.  This was critical because Swift Bear always swung the balance of power in favor of Spotted Tail when a crisis came to go to war or maintain peace.  Part of the influence of advocating for the non Indian ways came from James Bordeaux who married his sister and ran a successful store.  He was one of the first Sicangu leaders to settle on the Whetstone and begin to farm.

Swift Bear was a physical specimen, he stood just under six feet and four inches and had a muscular built.  He was a skilled horseman who had the fastest horses, an advantage in hunting the buffalo and running races.  Despite his physical aptitudes, he was also a gentle person and adept at drawing.  He inherited this from his father who was a winter count keeper.  Swift Bear was also a winter count keeper and one of his counts can be found in the museum in Pierre, South Dakota.

In order to keep away from the other leaders who did not want to farm and accept the wasicun way of life, he settled at Milk’s camp on the Ponca and led a peaceful life during the early reservation period.  During his stay at the Ponca area, a flu epidemic hit and he lost most of his family members.  Most of his descendants settled at Swift Bear in White River where the Wagmiza Yuha (they have corn) tiospaye  was taught to plant corn along the river by a non Indian.

Milk (Asanpi)

 

Chief Milk (Asanpi) real name was Sagye Waste (Good Cane ) and was an Oglala and a member of the Smoke division that separated from the Kiyuksa in the 1830’s.  During his youth, the Oglala were at war with the Crow and Shoshone for the possession of the territory in Wyoming.  During this time, he achieved warrior status and honor during these wars.  He was made an akicita, possibly a Kit Fox, and served with distinction that culminated in his appointment as an Akicita to Chief Red Cloud.

 He married Waste Win (Good Woman), who bore him twelve children.  Waste Win was  a Bad Face Oglala  and a sister to Red Cloud. This married life and responsibility as a leader led him to make a decision to separate himself from Red Cloud, who advocated for the Bozeman Trail war.  Milk took a different approach about the wasicun and felt it would be better to work with them because they would dominate the future and war would prolong the inevitable.  In order to show his loyalty to the wasicun, he joined as a scout to fight against other tribes who warred against the United States.  He served with great distinction and was honored by the United States for his services with for his valiant effort in rescuing soldiers from being overrun and killed by the Cheyennes, Arapahoes and their allies in Colorado.   

When the Union Pacific hired him as a scout to help protect the rail workers, he again served with great distinction in his knowledge of the terrain and ability to stop hostile tribes from successfully attacking the railroad crews.  He was so effective that the UP singled him out as outstanding scout leader and later on the UP officials never forgot his valuable service to them by recommending that he be given a choice of where he wanted to settle when the Lakota were forced to live on the Great Sioux Reservation.  Thus after the Treaty of 1868 was signed, he was the first to settle at the Whetstone Agency, where he wanted his followers to live in peace and take up the non Indian ways of living, this decision gave his descendants a jump start in furthering their survival skills that included educating themselves successfully.

Milk initially settled with his band on the Ponca Creek, then moved to Milk’s camp after the Spotted Tail Agency, near White Clay, was moved back to the Missouri River. Here at Milk’s Camp, the chief settled permanently far away from the agency headquarters at Rosebud.  Two other chiefs, Swift Bear and Little Thunder and their followers settled near Milk where peace and tranquility prevailed.

Chief Milk was wise and his band benefited from his ability to led them gently toward integrating into the non Indian system and despite his stand as a progressive, he was still very traditional.  The chief was so knowledgeable about the Lakota lifestyle and events  that he became a winter count keeper, although none of his counts survived time.  He truly impacted his descendants and community members deeply and because of this Milk’s camp, the more distant of the Sicangu communities, continues to successfully strive for a  better way of life. 

Conclusion
The tiospaye system was once the foundation of tribal government, its family units were a model for tribal organization, and the family system was truly the pattern for successful tribal government.  The collapse of the family organization sent the tribal government into a downward spiral and the tribe has never fully recovered from this collapse.  Perhaps one day, the family system will be reformed and will become stronger and when this happens, the tiospaye will be lifted to its former prominence.

 

 

 

The Lakota camp circle is depicted in the constellation called Kiiyanka Ocanku Sa or the Red Race Track.  The Black Hills sits on a perch or a red limestone formation that surrounds the great hills.  The key alignment found in Buffalo Gap is a hill called Unpapa Peak, it is a giant pyramid shaped hill that marks the east entrance of the Black Hills.  This peak is equivalent to Capella or Auriga B, these two stars form the gateway or gap in the heavens where the spiritual buffalo embryo called Tayamni (three parts of the buffalo) is attempting to come out of the womb.

This symbolizes the birth of Tokahe, the first man, who eventually leads the people out of the womb or cave entrance called Wasun Niye (breathing hole) in the Black Hills.

This Lakota camp circle has the beginning point called Unkpapa Peak where the Hunkpapa tribe is seated, the next position is the tail star of Tayamni called Sirius and this is located in the west position, opposite the Hunkpapa position, held by the oldest division of the Lakota speaking group.  This oldest group or the parent division is the Sicangu and they occupy the catku position, usually situated opposite the entrance of a tipi or camp circle.  The next oldest division is the Oglala division and it occupies the left hand side of the catku position, next comes the Mnikowoju (plants by the river) or Hohwoju division, the third oldest occupying the seat on the right side of the catku position.  The Itazipco (no bows) occupy the space to the left of the Oglala, the Sihasapa (Black Foot) occupy the upper camp entrance and the Hunkpapa occupy the lower entrance of the camp circle.  The youngest division called the Oohenunpa (two kettle) occupy the position between the Hunkpapa and the Hohwoju. 

The reasoning why the Sicangu is the oldest division is the fact that they were once called the Cokatowela (blue in the middle village).  Cokatowela is a contraction of hocoka otonwaheto and  this is located in the middle of the Black Hills at a place called Pesla (bald spot).  This original position was given to the oldest or the parent division and when the Lakota organized the camp circle, the center or hocoka was converted to catku, the place or seat accorded to the parent division. This parental position or catku was given to the Sicangu and its color is blue, this color represents the west direction.  Moreover, the tinta otonwahe (plains or prairie village) is what the Cokatowela division was originally called.