Lakota

/ləˈkoʊtə/

Other forms: Lakotas

The Lakota are one of the three tribes that make up the Sioux Nation. The language these Native Americans speak is also called Lakota.

There are many Lakota reservations in North and South Dakota, as well as Nebraska, and the number of Lakota speakers is estimated to be about 6,000 today. Before Europeans arrived in North America, Lakota people lived all over the Rocky Mountain ranges. Undoubtedly the most famous Lakota tribe member was Crazy Horse, a war hero who defended his people and their land against the encroachment of white settlers. The word Lakota is usually translated to mean "allies or friends."

Definitions of Lakota

1. noun

   a member of the large western branch of Sioux people which was made up of several groups that lived on the plains
   synonyms: Teton, Teton Dakota, Teton Sioux

   types:

   Brule

   a member of a group of Siouan people who constituted a division of the Teton Sioux

   Hunkpapa

   a member of the Siouan people who constituted a division of the Teton Sioux and who formerly lived in the western Dakotas; they were prominent in resisting the white encroachment into the northern Great Plains

   Miniconju

   a member of a group of Siouan people who constituted a division of the Teton Sioux

   Ogalala, Oglala

   a member of the Siouan people who constituted a division of the Teton Sioux and who formerly inhabited the Black Hills of western South Dakota

   Sihasapa

   a member of a group of Siouan people who constituted a division of the Teton Sioux

   Two Kettle

   a member of the Siouan people who constituted a division of the Teton Sioux

   type of:

   Siouan, Sioux

   a member of a group of North American Indian peoples who spoke a Siouan language and who ranged from Lake Michigan to the Rocky Mountains