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Nation

Yankton Sioux Tribe

Not yet reviewed by this nation. What follows comes from public records and research. It does not speak for the nation.

Official name
Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
Recorded status
Listed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (91 FR 4102, January 30, 2026)
Region
South Dakota

In the record

One court case turned on its rights: South Dakota v. Yankton Sioux Tribe.

The records group it with Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation). This nation carries the history of Oceti Sakowin (Great Sioux Nation), Sioux (as named in treaty records) and Yankton in the treaty record.

Written from the records linked here; open any of them for its sources. This is what the United States’ treaty record says, not the nation’s own account.

Treaty or agreementTreaty under documented pressureAct of CongressExecutive orderShapes from the 1899 federal record: approximate, not legal boundaries.

The record over time

178018001850190019502000todayTreatiesBlack Hills Agreement (Act of February 28, 1877), Lakota (1876)Sioux of the Lakes at Portage des Sioux (1815) (1815)Sioux of St. Peter's River at Portage des Sioux (1815) (1815)Yankton Sioux at Portage des Sioux (1815) (1815)Sioux of the Leaf, Sioux of the Broad Leaf, and Sioux Who Shoot in the Pine Tops at St. Louis (1816) (1816)Sioux (Teton, Yankton, and Yanktonai) at Fort Look-out Near the Three Rivers of the Sioux Pass (1825) (1825)Sioux (Sioune and Oglala) at Mouth of the Teton River (1825) (1825)Sioux (Hunkpapa) at Arikara Village (1825) (1825)Treaty of Prairie du Chien (1825) (1825)Treaty of Prairie du Chien (1830), Sauk, Fox, Sioux, Omaha, Iowa, Oto, Missouri (1830)Sioux (Wahashaw's Band) (1836) (1836)Oto, Missouri, Omaha, and Sioux (Yankton and Santee Bands) at Bellevue, Upper Missouri (1836) (1836)Sioux (Wahpekute, Sisseton, and Upper Mdewakanton) (1836) (1836)Sioux of Mississippi at Washington, DC (1837) (1837)Yankton Sioux at Washington, DC (1837) (1837)Treaty of Traverse des Sioux (Sisseton and Wahpeton), 1851 (1851)Treaty of Mendota (Mdewakanton and Wahpekute), 1851 (1851)Treaty with the Yankton Sioux, 1858 (1858)Sioux (Mdewakanton and Wahpekuta [Wahpekute]) at Washington, DC (1858) (1858)Sioux (Sisseton, Wahpeton) at Washington, DC (1858) (1858)Sioux (Miniconjou) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865) (1865)Sioux (Lower Brule) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865) (1865)Sioux (Two Kettles) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865) (1865)Sioux (Blackfeet) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865) (1865)Sioux (Sans Arcs) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865) (1865)Sioux (Hunkpapa) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865) (1865)Sioux (Yanktonai) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865) (1865)Sioux (Upper Yanktonai) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865) (1865)Sioux (Oglala) at Fort Sully, Dakota Territory (1865) (1865)Sioux (Sisseton and Wahpeton) at Washington, DC (1867) (1867)Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), Lakota (Sioux) and Arapaho (1868)Treaty of Fort Laramie (Horse Creek), 1851 (1851)Treaty with the Sioux (Pike), 1805 (1805)Land takenLand of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others in Iowa, Minnesota and Missouri, ceded 1830 (area 151) (1830)Land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others in Iowa, recorded 1830 (area 152) (1830)Land of the Iowa, Medewakanton and others in Iowa and Minnesota, ceded 1830 (area 153) (1830)Land of the Sioux in Minnesota and Wisconsin, ceded 1837 (area 243) (1837)Land of the Sioux (Wahpeton and Sisseton Bands) in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, ceded 1851 (area 289) (1851)Land of the Iowa, Medewahkanton and others in Minnesota, recorded 1830 (area 292) (1830)Land of the Yankton Sioux in South Dakota, ceded 1858 (area 410) (1858)Land of the Yankton Sioux in South Dakota, ceded 1894 (area 411) (1894)Land of the Sioux (Wahpeton and Sisseton Bands) in Minnesota, recorded 1851 (area 414) (1851)Land of the Sioux (Sisseton, Wahpeton, Medewakanton, and Wahpekute bands) in Minnesota and South Dakota, ceded 1863 (area 440) (1863)Land of the Sioux (Wahpeton and Sisseton Bands) in North Dakota and South Dakota, ceded 1891 (area 496) (1891)Land of the Sioux in North Dakota, recorded 1868 (area 516) (1868)Land of the Santee Sioux in South Dakota, ceded 1869 (area 523) (1869)Land of the Santee Sioux in Nebraska, taken 1869 (area 526) (1869)Land of the Sioux, Sisseton in North Dakota and South Dakota, ceded 1872 (area 538) (1872)Land of the Santee Sioux in Nebraska, ceded 1885 (area 556) (1885)Land of the Sioux in Nebraska, ceded 1875 (area 584) (1875)Land of the Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne and others in several states, ceded 1876 (area 597) (1876)Land of the Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne and others in South Dakota, ceded 1876 (area 598) (1876)Land of the Sioux (Drifting Goose's band) in South Dakota, ceded 1880 (area 613) (1880)Land of the Sioux in North Dakota and South Dakota, ceded 1879 (area 614) (1879)Land of the Sioux in South Dakota, recorded 1882 (area 632) (1882)Land of the Sioux in North Dakota and South Dakota, taken 1884 (area 653) (1884)Land of the Sioux in North Dakota and South Dakota, taken 1889 (area 699) (1889)Promises brokenFort Laramie 1868 and the Black Hills: abrogation by the Act of Feb. 28, 1877 (1874)Dakota Access Pipeline and Lake Oahe (2016-2026): context, not an adjudicated treaty violation (2016)Fort Laramie 1851: Pike's Peak gold rush invades treaty territory (1858)Act of March 2, 1889: the Great Sioux Reservation divided and about 9 million acres opened (1889)In courtSouth Dakota v. Yankton Sioux Tribe (1998)United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians (1980)Hodel v. Irving (1987)Land returnedBlack Hills (He Sapa) claim and LANDBACK Mount Rushmore campaign (1877)Pe' Sla returned to the Oceti Sakowin (2012)

Circles are land the United States recorded as ceded, sized by acres and colored by how it was taken. Bars are treaties, broken promises, court cases and land returns.

Names

Each name shows where it comes from. A nation’s own name is shown as the nation writes it.

Self-names

Official names

Land recorded as ceded

This nation carries the history of peoples named in Royce’s schedule. Their record:

Sioux (as named in treaty records) About 129 million acres recorded as ceded by the end of 1894
  • Treaty or agreement40 million
  • Treaty under documented pressure58 million
  • Act of Congress7 million
  • Executive order23 million

Estimate from Royce’s maps; overlapping cessions counted once. Not a survey or legal measure.

41 cessions. Follow Sioux (as named in treaty records) through the years on the map

Yankton About 13 million acres recorded as ceded by the end of 1894
  • Treaty under documented pressure13 million

Estimate from Royce’s maps; overlapping cessions counted once. Not a survey or legal measure.

3 cessions. Follow Yankton through the years on the map

Who is doing the work

This history belongs to living nations. Start with them:

Working with these nations

Native legal and land defense, nationally

Gifts go straight to each organization; this atlas takes nothing. Listing is not endorsement: how organizations are listed.

Connections

These links were matched automatically by name or date and have not yet been reviewed by a person.

Land recorded in this nation’s name 18, matched by the Forest Service, under review

Show all 18

Carries the treaty history of 3

Part of 1

Named in 1

Sources

  1. govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-01-30/html/2026-01899.htmprimary record
    Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
  2. nps.gov/mnrr/learn/historyculture/yankton-sioux-treaty-monument.htmreference work
    a headman (chief) of the Ihanktonwan Nakota (Yankton Sioux), known as Struck By-the-Ree
  3. federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/html/2026/01/30/2026-01899.htmlprimary record
    Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota
  4. Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the BIA, 91 FR 4102 (Jan. 30, 2026)primary record
    Listed in 91 FR 4102 (Jan. 30, 2026).
  5. sdtribalrelations.sd.gov/tribes/Yankton-Sioux-Tribe.aspxreference work
    Bands: Ihanktonwan
Research notes

Name as printed in cases-seed.

Kind
Nation
Confidence
Medium
Nation review
Not yet reviewed by this nation

Correct this record