Wall Street Journal: Sadly, Sioux Funeral Home Thrives On Chronic Ills of Local Reservation
The term Sioux, an exonym from a French transcription (Nadouessioux) of the Ojibwe term Nadowessi, can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or to any of the nation's many language dialects.
The Sioux are originally from the Mississippi River Valley as well as the Great Lakes region, but wars with the Iroquois and Ojibwe Nations forced their migration west. The name "Sioux" derives from a French interpretation of an Ojibwe reference.
The Oceti Sakowin, or Sioux, are an alliance of Native American peoples who speak three related Siouan languages: the Dakota-speaking Santee, the Nakota-speaking Yankton, and the Lakota-speaking Teton, each having lesser divisions.
The Sioux are one of the most historically influential and culturally significant Indigenous peoples of North America. Known collectively as the Oceti Sakowin or “Seven Council Fires,” the Sioux nation has played a central role in shaping the history of the Great Plains and the American West.
The Sioux are a confederacy of several tribes that speak three different dialects: the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota. The Lakota, also called the Teton Sioux, comprise seven tribal bands and are the largest and most western of the three groups, occupying lands in both North and South Dakota.
Lakota, Dakota, Nakota – The Great Sioux Nation - Legends of America
Cultural Info: Sioux were traditionally woodland people, meaning they hunted and fished as well as harvested wild rice. Most tribes of Sioux converted to a plains culture when they moved westward, where they began hunting the then abundant buffalo. When the Sioux lived in northern Minnesota, they traveled in birch bark or dugout canoes.