Dakota (given name) Dakota (given name) Dakota is a unisex given name derived from the name of an indigenous Native American tribe: Dakota people or from the name of two states in the United States: North Dakota and South Dakota which are also derived from the Dakota people local to that area. The name is translated to mean "friend", "friendly" or "allies" in the Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee dialects of the Lakota Sioux language. The name has been in occasional use for both sexes in the United States since at least the 1940s. The name's popularity grew in the 1990s in the US. It
Native American cultures in the United States women had many additional tasks that were also essential for the survival of the tribes. They made weapons and tools, took care of the roofs of their homes and often helped their men hunt bison. In some of the Plains Indian tribes, medicine women gathered herbs and cured the ill. The Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota girls were encouraged to learn to ride, hunt and fight. Though fighting was mostly left to the boys and men, occasionally women fought with them, especially if the tribe was severely threatened. Native American leisure time led to competitive individual and team sports. Jim Thorpe,