Self-Government by the Oyate

The American Indian Tribes of the Great Plains are often referred to today as the Great Sioux Nation, but traditionally we refer to ourselves as the Oceti Sakowin—the Seven Council Fires. Deeply connected to one another and to all living beings, family has always been extremely important to us. We think in terms of “all our relations” and when we die we are judged by how good of a relative we have been. Politically we organize ourselves according to a system of kinship, with the extended family—tiospaye—at the center. Responsibility towards relatives extended outwards in networks, to the nation—tonawan—and ultimately to the Seven Council Fires, composed of the seven nations in our land:

• Mdewakantonwan—Nation by the Sacred Lake
• Sisitonwan—Nation of the Marshland
• Wahpetowan—Nation Among the Leaves
• Wahpekute—Nation of Shooters Among the Leaves
• Ihanktowan—Nation at the End of Horn
• Ihanktonwanna—Nation at the Little End of Horn
• Tintatonwan—Nation of the Plains

This is how we governed ourselves for thousands of years. Our nations traded goods, shared cultural practices, and cooperated in hunting and agriculture. We developed extensive traditions and became known as fierce warriors, elegant dancers, accomplished artists, and powerful healers. From mother earth and our sacred brother, the buffalo, we received all of our material needs and left no footprint behind.

But beginning in the mid-1800s, the U.S. Government began to undermine the Seven Council Fires and our kinship system. Families were torn apart first as our children were sent to distant boarding schools and now as they are taken and put into the foster care system. In 1934, Congress passed the Indian Reorganization Act and imposed a new form of government on the tribes, dubbed the IRA government after the title of the Act. These IRA councils, formed by the U.S. Government and modeled on American-style democracy, are the only tribal authority that the United States will recognize. And since the U.S. gave itself “final say” over any act taken by an IRA government, it uses these structures to maintain control over our land and people.

Restoring the Lakota People must mean restoring our kinship society and reviving the Seven Council Fires structure and allowing the people—oyate—to govern themselves. The Lakota People’s Law Project is working to restore the Oceti Sakowin by researching the tiospaye and other kinship structures to identify historical and contemporary relationships. This work is also integral to goals of rescuing Lakota children. Today, familial connections are not always clear, and children that need to be cared for are often not placed with their relatives even when those relatives are willing and able to care for them. Restoring the Seven Council Fires will help us in recovering our children.