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Nation / Tribe

Sioux Tribe/Nation

The Sioux, or Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires), are a large confederation of Siouan-speaking peoples whose territory spanned the Northern Great Plains from Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains. The confederation includes three major divisions: the Dakota (Santee), Nakota (Yankton-Yanktonai), and Lakota (Teton). The Sioux were among the most significant Indigenous powers encountered during and after the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with the Teton Lakota famously confronting the expedition at the confluence of the Bad and Missouri rivers in 1804. Multiple Sioux bands entered into treaties with the United States at Portage des Sioux and other locations in the 1810s–1820s.

Portrait: George Catlin, "Ha-wón-je-tah, One Horn, Head Chief of the Miniconjou Tribe," 1832. Smithsonian American Art Museum.

36 treaties 112 total items 89 mapped locations

Most Mentioned in Sioux Tribe/Nation-tagged Entries

People

Places

Wildlife

Deer (21)
Buffalow (20)
Elk (20)
buffaloe (9)
Beaver (8)
Antelope (6)
goats (5)
pelican (4)
Swans (3)
white bear (3)

Territory & Encounter Locations

Pin color = Planning (1801–1804) Westward (1804–1805) Fort Clatsop (1805–1806) Return (1806) Post (1806–1812)

Master expedition route Approximate territory

Note: the longest gap between tagged appearances is about 9 months (Apr 14, 1805 → Jan 9, 1806). No journal entries during that window were explicitly tagged with this nation.

Treaties (36)

Treaty with the Arapaho et al., 1851

Treaty with the Arapaho et al., 1868

Treaty with the Blackfeet

Treaty with the Cheyenne River Sioux, 1890

Treaty with the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of the Crow Creek Reservation, 1790

Treaty with the Indians of Fort Peck agency, 1888

Treaty with the Iowa et al., 1830

Treaty with the Iowa, 1815

Treaty with the Kickapoo, 1815

Treaty with the Makah, 1815

Treaty with the Osage, 1815

Treaty with the Potawatomi, 1815

Treaty with the Santee Sioux, 1867

Treaty with the Santee Sioux, 1869

Treaty with the Santee Sioux, 1873

Treaty with the Sauk, 1815

Treaty with the Sioux (Wahpeton and Sisseton Bands), 1851

Treaty with the Sioux Of St. Peter’s River, 1815

Treaty with The Sioux of the Lakes, 1815

Treaty with the Sioux of the Mississippi, 1863

Treaty with the Sioux, 1816

Treaty with the Sioux, 1868

Treaty with the Sioux, 1875

Treaty with the Sioux, 1882

Treaty with the Sioux, 1884

Treaty with the Sioux, 1889

Treaty with the Sioux, Cheyenne River, 1889

Treaty with the Sioux, Crow Creek, 1889

Treaty with the Sioux, etc., 1825

Treaty with the Sioux, Lower Brulé, 1889

Treaty with the Sioux, Pine Ridge, 1889

Treaty with the Sioux, Rosebud, 1889

Treaty with the Sioux, Standing Rock, 1889

Treaty with the Teton, 1815

Treaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1815

Treaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1858

Tent of Many Voices (1)

Chief Cliff Snyder on Chinook and Clatsop Relations with Lewis and Clark

Chief Cliff Snyder on Chinook and Clatsop Relations with Lewis and Clark

Chief Cliff Snyder Chinook

Journal Entries (75)

Alphabetical Index to Gass's Published Account

Pressing Past Grand River Without Hunting

Chouteau's Barge Met; Spirits Obtained on Missouri

Corn Given to Yankton Sioux; Wind Impedes Travel

Past Teton River; Loiselle's Fort Found Empty

Cer-wer-cer-na River; Sixty Abandoned Arikara Lodges

Four Indians Spotted; Three Cross River at Dusk

Indians Steal the Horse; Five Appear on Bank

Buffalo Swimming the Missouri; Two Killed

Maha Man Among Sioux at Jacques River

Rain and Thunder; Men Return from Indian Camp

Seine Nets and Pike at Maha Creek

Buffalo Swimming the River; Three Streams Converge

Sioux War Party Kills One, Wounds Two Hunters

Past Willow Creek and the Sioux River

Lewis Kills a Large Pelican at Little Sioux River

Four Men Sent to Retrieve Deserter Dead or Alive

French Fur Traders Yield a Guide from Sioux Country

Day Among the Teton Sioux; Gass Counts Eighty Lodges

Indians Steal Colter's Elk Meat at Riverbank

Teton Sioux confrontation near Pierre, SD — John Ordway: September 26, 1804

Mineral Deposits of Sulfur, Brass, and Copperas Examined

Deserter Moses Reed Tried and Sentenced to Run Gauntlet

Gooseberries and Raspberries; Boat Towed at Rocky Stretch

Ripe Mulberries and the Two Chariton Rivers

Plum Creek Abundance; Frenchmen Passed on River

Fifty Teton Sioux Spotted; Party Avoids Contact

Arikara Council; Chiefs Decline to Send Delegation

Sioux War Declaration Disrupts Canoe Building

Sioux War Party Kills Hunter, Steals Horses

Four Indians Spotted at Elk Island Camp

Indians Steal the Expedition's Horse

Grand Council Opens with Cannon Fire at Mandan Villages

Lightly Clad Sioux Encountered in Bitter Cold

Fur Traders Encountered Near the Sioux River

Sailing to Little Sioux Prairie with Four Bears

Final Plans Drawn for Dividing the Corps

Clark's Party Climbs Headland with Whale Meat and Oil

Stray Dog Joins Party Near Assiniboine Camps

Packing Specimens and Skins for President Jefferson

Supplies Divided Eight Ways; Sioux Massacre Reported

Shoeman Village Chief Recounts His People's History

North West Company Letters and a Snake-Bite Remedy

Sioux Raid the Meat-Hauling Party Downriver

Lewis Leads Armed Response to Sioux Horse Theft

Half the Mandan Nation Departs to Hunt Buffalo

Sioux War Party Kills Mandan Chief; Clark Mobilizes

Cheyenne and Mandans Smoke Peace Pipe at Fort

Big White's Wife Carries a Hundred Pounds of Meat

Moving into Fort Mandan as River Ice Runs

Clark's Rheumatism and Naked Teton Sioux War Party

Abandoned Mahaha Village in Wooded Country

Arikara Chief Boards Boat; Two Women Turned Away

Second and Third Arikara Chiefs Speak for Peace

Grand Council Held with Arikara Under American Flag

Stone Idol Creek and the Arikara Transformation Legend

Clark Declines Offered Woman; Watches Sioux Dance

Reaching the Cheyenne River Mouth Through Sandbars

Teton Sioux Women and Children View the Boat

Meeting Trader Loisel at Cedar Island

Vast Buffalo Herds and Reuben Fields Finds Creek

Sioux Reportedly Threaten Colter; Medals Prepared

Sioux Neutral Ground at Three Rivers Passage

Yankton Sioux Chiefs Accept the American Message

Chalk Bluffs Passed; Search Party Sent for Shannon

Shallow River Crossing; Both Captains Fall Ill

Seventy Yankton Sioux Arrive Across the River

Expedition Hikes to the Mound of Little People

Burning Blue Clay Bluff and Delicious Currants

Grass Specimens Collected Near 99th Meridian

Passing Floyd's River and the Sioux River Mouth

Lewis Nearly Poisoned Testing Cobalt Mineral Deposits

Diplomatic Council with Yankton Sioux at Calumet Bluff

Aug 30, 1804 · William Clark

Armed Standoff with Teton Sioux at Bad River

Sep 25, 1804 · William Clark

Sergeant Floyd Dies: Expedition's Only Fatality

Aug 20, 1804 · William Clark

Cross-Narrator Analyses

AI-assisted scholarly analyses that cite or discuss Sioux Tribe/Nation — showing 1 of the most recent matches.

Figure: Sioux Tribe/Nation

The Sioux Nation in the Lewis & Clark Journals: A Note on Absent Sources

Although the Sioux figure prominently in the documented history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the source set provided for this synthesis…

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