The Sioux Indians are a great nation of many peoples. Many tribes make up what we call the Sioux, but they are in fact a very diverse group of tribes, related through ancient connections. The Sioux homeland covers a vast range in America's Midwest and West - West to the Rocky Mountains, East to the Big Woods of Minnesota and Wisconsin - North to Saskatchewan, South to Nebraska. More than one-half of the land that Thomas Jefferson "purchased" from the French in 1803, the Louisiana Territory, was populated by what are known as the Great Sioux Nation.

For centuries, the Sioux lived in harmony with the land. As archaeologists argue about Pacific land bridges and a great Mongolian exodus of 10,000 miles, the Sioux have always known of their origins. The Great Spirit, Wakan Tanka or Taku Skanskan, created the children of the Plain, the Pte Oyate or Buffalo People. From their home in the Cave of the Winds, the Pte Oyate were invited to dwell on the land, to live a cooperative life with the Tatanka, the Great Beast or Buffalo.

Hunger, greed and power drove the White Man westward in the 1800's. While resources were plenty in the East, with room to spare, the Great Fathers (Presidents) of Washington continually pushed their boundaries past the Mississippi River into the peaceable lands of the Sioux. Andrew Jackson, known as Sharp Knife, declared a war on all native peoples in the Americas, and generations of conflict followed.

In 1868, the United States entered its most binding treaty with the several nations of the Sioux. These included the many bands of the Teton Sioux, the First People of Peace: the Brule, Hunkpapa, Oglala Lakota, Yankton, Blackfoot, and Itazipco, as well as the Sans Arcs and Cheyenne. The treaty, signed at Fort Laramie, reserved all of the land West of the Missouri River as "The Great Sioux Nation," or Reservation. It was designed to last for eternity, and included the Badlands and the Holiest Lands of Ka Sapa, the Black Hills.

All the Sioux of the Big Woods in the East were forced to move to the Plains, to live with their ancient brothers. The Great Father's forces moved all of the Pte Oyate into their new boundaries. Still, the Great Beast and open range provided a hope for eternal peace.

The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 has not been broken by the Plains Indians. The story of Zintkala Nuni is a tale of broken peoples and broken promises.