Yankton Sioux Tribe Yankton Sioux Tribe The Yankton Sioux Tribe of South Dakota is a federally recognized tribe of Yankton Western Dakota people, located in South Dakota. Their Dakota name is Ihanktonwan Dakota Oyate, meaning "People of the End Village." Historically, the tribe were the protectors of the sacred Pipestone Quarry for the Oceti Sakowin. The tribe maintains a free-ranging bison herd. According to local legend, when Meriwether Lewis learned that a male child had been born near the expedition's encampment in what is today southeastern South Dakota, he sent for the child and wrapped the new born baby boy in an American
Spirit Lake Tribe treaty with the United States that established a reservation for Dakotas who had not been forcibly relocated to Crow Creek Reservation in what is now called South Dakota. The name "Devils Lake" is a calque of the Dakota phrase "mni wak’áŋ" (literally: spirit water), which is also reflected in the names of the Spirit Lake Tribe and the nearby town of Minnewaukan. The Dakota called the lake "mni wak’áŋ chante", which separately translate as "mni" (water), "wak’áŋ" (literally "pure source" but often translated as "spirit" or "sacred"), and "chante" (heart). European-American settlers misconstrued this name to mean "Bad Spirit Lake",