Academic literature on the topic 'Dakota Oyate'

Tribal communities recognize the need to improve roadway safety. A five-step methodology was developed by the Wyoming Technology Transfer Center, Local Technical Assistance Program (WYT2/LTAP), to improve roadway safety on Indian reservations. This methodology was implemented initially on the Wind River Indian Reservation (WRIR); the success of this implementation was the impetus for the Wyoming Department of Transportation, Cheyenne, to fund three systemwide, low-cost safety improvement projects. Given the success of the program on the WRIR, tribes across the country became interested in the program. WYT2/LTAP and the Northern Plains Tribal Technical Assistance Program (NPTTAP) assist tribes to implement this program on their reservations in the Great Plains region and developed criteria to identify tribes to participate. Reservations in North Dakota and South Dakota applied to NPTTAP, and three tribes were accepted to participate: the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe (SRST), the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe, and the Yankton Sioux Tribe. Although work had begun on all three reservations, this study focused on the implementation on the roadway safety program by the SRST. Members of the SRST were located in North Dakota and South Dakota, and crash data were collected from each state separately. Because the reporting and years of data differed, several analyses were performed to identify trends in crashes on the SRST. The South Dakota portion of the reservation was compared with statewide rural roads and with the WRIR because the two reservations were of similar size and character. Many challenges and differences were identified through the analysis, which demonstrated that a single procedure would not work for all reservations. Through extensive coordination and collaboration with the tribes and government agencies, WYT2/LTAP and the technical assistance program centers could provide the technical assistance that the tribes would need to develop their own road safety improvement programs.

This paper discusses changing "national" identities of the Lakota and Dakota on Standing Rock, "Sioux" Indian Reservation, through an overview of the traditional Lakota, the United States, conceptual differences of Lakota Oyate with U.S. sovereign power, and political representations. Envelopment/incorporation of the Lakota are discussed as struggles over sovereignty and treaty rights leading to formation of the "Sioux Nation" and six separated Lakota-Sioux reservations. External national identities range from "Hostiles" alien labels to "Indians" ultimately as citizens. American citizenship is reviewed as both inclusion and dissolution, with the re-organization, political re-construction, and assimilation strategies of the United States. 20th century resistance and cultural domination are considered in the American Indian Movement as political resurgence.

I was born to Philip Myran and (late) Alma Myran in the community of Cankaga Oti (Birdtail), Manitoba. Our family belongs to the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) of the Dakota Oyate (People)which includes; five sisters and two brothers. Because our family moved from the community of Cankaga Oti when I was very young, I became disconnected form our tiospaye (relations). Consequently, this migration to a rural farm, and later an urban centre, resulted in a generation of children who were uncertain of our Dakota cultural values. Upon returning to Manitoba, as a young woman, I was introduced to tiospaye and female responsibilities which had been absent for most of my childhood. As I reached adulthood, I became keenly aware of the many important responsibilities Dakota women and kunsis carry for our families and for our communities. However, both of these experiences, living in the wasicu world and the practice of walking the red road, allow me to walk between two cultures. The Dakota oyate call this makoce nupa umanipi (walking in two worlds). This experience has generated a cultural and spiritual interest to bring our kunsi voice alive in the academia, where the female voice was temporarily silenced, I want to honor and respect our kunsi voice through tradition. The Dakota people call this wicakihnapi (to follow in our ancestor's ways, traditions). This thesis is part of my own journey of learning the past and present positions and responsibilities of Dakota kunsis. I have examined a selection of scholarly articles on Dakota culture, with an emphasis on what has been said, or not said, that pertains to women.