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
Sterilization of Native American women minimum one fourth of the Native Americans child bearing individuals were unable to become pregnant if they were able and wanted to. The decline in birth rate was a quantifiable effect however, sterilization also impacted individuals psychologically and socially. Within Native American culture a woman's fertility along with the family unit are greatly valued. For a woman to be unable to bare children would cause shame, embarrassment and possible condemnation from the individuals tribe due to how Native American peoples view motherhood. These emotions could have been exacerbated due to Native American's deep cultural roots that are based on the