Dakota people Dakota people The Dakota people are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultures of the Sioux people, and are typically divided into the Eastern Dakota and the Western Dakota. The Eastern Dakota are the Santee ("Isáŋyathi" or "Isáŋ-athi"; "knife" + "encampment", ″dwells at the place of knife flint″), who reside in the eastern Dakotas, central Minnesota and northern Iowa. They have federally recognized tribes established in several places. The Western Dakota are the Yankton, and the Yanktonai ("Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ" and "Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna"; "Village-at-the-end" and "Little village-at-the-end"), who reside in
Tribe (Native American) context, a nation comprise several tribes. Crudely, a nation speaks a language, however that is conceived. In addition to their status as legal entities, tribes have political, social, historical, and other aspects. The term is also used to refer to various groups of Native Americans bound together for social, political, or religious purposes, including descendants of members of these groups. Tribes are typically characterized by distinct territory, and common language or dialect. Other characteristics include common culture and ethnicity. Tribes are susceptible to overlapping external and internal definition. Whereas outsiders use their own definitions for what a tribe is, and