The rise and fall of the Lakota Empire Pekka Hmlinen
In 1776, a powerful empire was
born in North America.
The Lakotas had reached the Black Hills,
the most sacred place and most coveted
buffalo hunting grounds
in the western plains.
Located in what is now South Dakota,
control of the Black Hills, or Paha Sapa,
marked the Lakotas as the dominant power
in the American West.
Just a few decades before, they were vying
for power in the eastern woodlands—
and losing.
One of seven nations,
or seven council fires,
that made up the Sioux Alliance,
the Lakotas had lived in the forests
and wetlands
between the Great Lakes
and the Missouri Valley for centuries.
In the 1600s, European colonizers
destabilized this region.
While some tribes profited by trading
furs with new France,
the Lakotas lived just out of range
of the best trade opportunities.
So in the early 1700s,
they turned their attention west.
The western plains were much less fertile
and abundant than the Lakotas’ homelands.
The only easy access to food and water
was immediately alongside the rivers—
land Arikaras had already claimed.
To compete, the Lakotas became
skilled buffalo hunters
and warriors on horseback.
They conquered the farming Arikaras,
forcing them to pay tributes
of maize and squash.
When the Spanish arrived expecting
to find lucrative trading grounds,
they had to pay tolls
to the Lakotas instead.
In 1804, a new spectacle came floating
up the Missouri River:
Merriwether Lewis and William Clark.
Lakota chief Black Buffalo refused to let
them pass until they paid a hefty tribute.
In spite of this rocky start,
the expedition marked the beginning
of a close trade alliance
between the Lakotas and the United States.
Lakota men hunted buffalo, while women
processed the hides into robes for trade.
The US government supplied guns,
ammunition, and other goods,
even providing Lakotas with smallpox
vaccines that protected them
from the deadly epidemics that ravaged
other Native American nations.
On paper, the United States had acquired
the Lakotas’ lands from France
in the Louisiana Purchase.
But the Lakotas would not cede their lands
because of an agreement
between two foreign powers.
Though there were 15,000 Lakotas
and 23 million Americans,
the bulk of US population and military
might was concentrated on the east coast.
Just getting an army to Lakota territory
presented a huge expense,
and once there they would face
formidable warriors
with deep local knowledge and alliances.
To avoid a war it couldn’t afford
and wouldn’t win,
the US government attempted to appease
the Lakotas,
paying steep tributes of ammunition
and rations demanded by Lakota leaders.
So while almost all the Native Americans
in North America
were being forced off their lands
and onto reservations,
the Lakota Empire was still expanding.
By 1850, they controlled
some 500,000 square kilometers.
They were spread thinly
across this vast area,
moving their villages
in pursuit of Buffalo.
Though there was no central authority,
the leaders of bands, or oyates,
came together at annual Sun Dances
to strategize and coordinate complex
diplomatic operations.
Lasting a few weeks each summer,
Sun Dances were spiritual ceremonies
that reaffirmed communal ties,
appeased Wakan Tanka, the Great Spirit,
and kept the world in balance.
Starting in 1849, the California gold rush
brought hordes of white settlers west,
encroaching on Lakota territory
and disturbing the buffalo herds.
Lakota leaders correctly interpreted
this migration as a signal
that the US no longer intended
to respect their claim to the land.
In retaliation, they attacked wagon trains
and government offices.
As the conflict grew, Chief Red Cloud
negotiated in Washington DC.
While back in Lakota territory, chiefs
Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and others
prepared for battle.
They mobilized their Cheyenne
and Arapaho allies
and almost all the other Sioux nations
against the US.
In 1876, exactly 100 years after
the Lakotas’ arrival,
gold prospectors occupied
the sacred Black Hills.
For many Lakotas,
this was the final straw.
Following a vision by Sitting Bull,
Crazy Horse led Lakota forces
to decisively defeat the Americans
in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
After this victory, the Lakotas
faced an even graver threat:
wagon travel and railroad construction
had decimated buffalo populations,
and they faced starvation.
To survive, they moved on to reservations,
where US officials murdered
Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse
and attempted to dismantle their culture,
prohibiting the Sun Dance on reservations.
The Lakotas started a protest movement
called the Ghost Dance.
Alarmed by this resistance, in 1890,
the US Army massacred hundreds of Lakotas,
many of them women and children,
at Wounded Knee Creek.
Today, Lakotas continue to fight
for their culture and their land.
In 2016, they drew supporters worldwide
to protest construction
of the Dakota Access Pipeline
through their reservation,
continuing a long history of resistance
to a government
known for breaking its promises.