The Sioux tribe, originally from Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, engaged in trade with European settlers, leading to conflicts and warfare with the US government in the 1800s. The Sioux won a tactical victory at the Battle of Little Bighorn but suffered a massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Sioux participated in civil rights protests, including the occupation of Wounded Knee.
The best-known events in Sioux history follow contact with European settlers in the Americas. The Sioux, a Native American tribe who originally settled in what are now the U.S. states of Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, engaged in trade with settlers and acquired new technologies that changed their way of life. However, a series of hostilities broke out between the Sioux and the Americans. The last major battle in Sioux history was in 1890 in South Dakota, where large numbers of Sioux are found.
The Sioux are thought to have settled a large area around the headwaters of the Mississippi River at the time of European contact. Both hunted and farmed for sustenance. French merchants engaged the Sioux in the fur trade in the 17th century. It is probable, however, that the Sioux were under indirect European influence prior to this period. European horses and metal tools, along with harmful microbes, made their way through many Native American societies through trade.
Intermittent warfare with the French increased during the 1700s, and many Sioux were driven south. Large-scale Sioux movements often led to conflicts with other Native American groups who were occupying the lands in question. During the War of 1812, the Sioux allied with Great Britain. The end of the war, however, marked the end of great relations between the Sioux and the European powers.
A series of conflicts with the United States characterizes Sioux history during the 1800s. Treaty violations by the US government and payment delays by Sioux financial agents resulted in violence between American settlers and the Sioux. These armed conflicts are collectively known as the Dakota War of 1862. Hundreds of American settlers were killed and 39 captured Sioux were publicly hanged. The remaining Sioux near the US settlements were pushed further west.
The Battle of the Little Bighorn was one of the Sioux’s few tactical victories against US troops. Lieutenant Colonel George Custer attacked a much larger Sioux force in southern Montana. The Sioux warriors, who were on horseback and possessed modern weapons, retaliated and killed Custer along with 267 of his men. News of a Sioux victory shocked Americans, who had historically experienced military superiority over native groups.
The last major battle with US forces in Sioux history is known as the Wounded Knee Massacre. A U.S. cavalry unit tasked with escorting a group of Sioux away from their homes for forced relocation ended up in a firefight with the natives. Twenty-five soldiers and 150 Sioux were killed during this engagement on December 29, 1890.
Another episode in Sioux history involves the Sioux civil rights protests in the 1960s and 1970s. The South Dakota town of Wounded Knee was occupied by American Indian Movement activists for 71 days in 1973. The standoff ended peacefully, although US authorities surrounded the town.
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