Spirit Lake Tribe Spirit Lake Tribe The Spirit Lake Tribe (in Santee Dakota: "Mni Wakan Oyate", formerly known as Devils Lake Sioux) is a federally recognized tribe based on a reservation located in east-central North Dakota on the southern shores of Devils Lake. It is made up of people of the Pabakse ("Iháŋkthuŋwaŋna"), Sisseton ("Sisíthuŋwaŋ") and Wahpeton ("Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ") bands of the Dakota tribe. Established in 1867 in a treaty between Sisseton-Wahpeton Bands and the United States government, the reservation, at , consists of of land area, primarily in Benson and Eddy counties. Smaller areas extend into Ramsey, Wells and Nelson counties. According to
Native American mascot controversy majority society continues the systems of dominance and subordination that have been used to colonize, assimilate, and oppress indigenous groups. Some see the use of caricatures of Native Americans as sports mascots as contributing to their political and economic marginalization. Where other minorities would be consulted, decisions impacting Native Americans, such as building the Dakota Access Pipeline, are made while excluding Native concerns. Another incident cited as indicative of the misunderstanding of Native American legal status because of stereotyping is the Baby Veronica case, in which a child was adopted by a white family without the consent of her father,