This historical stone has a name closely associated with its intense color. Its name was derived from the Latin word 'lapis' meaning 'stone', and from the Arabic and Persian word 'lazaward'. 'Lazaward was the Persian name for lapis stone, as well as the name of its mining location.
History. The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation is situated in North and South Dakota. The people of Standing Rock, often called Sioux, are members of the Dakota and Lakota nations. Dakota and Lakota mean friends or allies.. The people of these nations are often called Sioux, a term that dates back to the seventeenth century when the people were living in the Great Lakes area.
On February 28, 1973, AIM leaders Russell Means (Oglala Sioux) and Carter Camp , together with 200 activists and Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux) of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation who opposed Oglala tribal chairman Richard Wilson, occupied the town of Wounded Knee in protest against Wilson's administration, as well as against the federal government's persistent failures to honor its treaties with Native American nations.