Bands
Each of the twenty tribes were subdivided into bands (tiyośpaye), which consisted of a number of smaller family camps (tiwahe). During parts of the year, the small camps were scattered across the region; at other times, these camps gathered together as a tiyośpaye to cooperate on activities such as a large buffalo hunt. Each summer, usually in early June, bands from many groups gathered together for the annual sacred Sun Dance.
Writing in 1875, Dr. John J. Saville, the US Indian agent at the Red Cloud Agency, noted that the Oglala tribe was divided into three main bands: the Kiyuksa, the Oyuĥpe and the head band or True Oglala. "Each of these bands are subdivided into smaller parties, variously named, usually designated by the name of their chief or leader."
In the years immediately following the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868, these bands became increasingly polarized as they and their leaders struggled with decisions relating to the continued American encroachment on their territory. Some bands chose to come in to the Indian agencies (forerunner to the reservations), where they received beef and other rations from the U.S. government. Other bands decided to remain out, attempting to continue the traditional lifeways for as long as possible. Many bands moved between these two extremes, coming in to the agencies during the winter and joining their relatives in the north each spring. These challenges further split the various Oglala bands.
Just prior to confinement on the reservations, the Oglala bands included:
Oyuȟpe Tiyošpaye
- True Oyuȟpe (Big Road's band). Other members include: Black Elk
- Wakaŋ
- Makaicu (Red Dog's band)
Oglala Tiyośpaye
- True Oglala
- Caŋkahuȟaŋ (He Dog's band). Other members include: Short Bull; Amos Bad Heart Bull.
- Hokayuta (Black Twin's band)
- Huŋkpatila (Little Hawk and Crazy Horse's band)
- Iteśica (Red Cloud's band)
- Payabya (Young Man Afraid of His Horses's band)
- Wagluȟe (Chief Blue Horse, American Horse and Three Bear's bands)
Kiyaksa Tiyošpaye
- True Kiyaksa
- Kuinyan (Little Wound's band)
- Tapišleca (Yellow Bear's band)
Read more about this topic: Oglala Lakota
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