Part 3: American Indian Tribes of North Dakota

Questions: Section 3

Comprehension Questions

  1. What does “Dakota” mean?
  2. What people occupied almost all of Minnesota and other areas west of the Mississippi River?
  3. What did the Chippewa Indians call the people of The Great Dakota Nation?
  4. When the French tried to say this name in the Chippewa language, it came out sounding like what?
  5. Name the three separate groups of The Great Dakota Nation.
  6. What was the large northern area west of the Mississippi River called?
  7. Which tribe was the largest and most nomadic group of The Great Dakota Nation?
  8. Which Sioux group moved into North Dakota after conflicts with settlers and U.S. Army troops?
  9. Which Sioux group settled in South Dakota and the southern part of North Dakota?
  10. When the Mandan and Hidatsa were losing thousands of people in the smallpox epidemic of 1837, what did Sioux warriors do?
  11. The survival of the plains people depended on what?
  12. Name the only continent where bison lived.
  13. Who killed the millions of bison in the 1800s?
  14. About how many bison lived on the plains before 1800? By 1900?
  15. What led to the defeat of the Lakota and other plains tribes?

Critical Thinking Questions

  1. Describe how you would have felt if you had been a plains Indian and had witnessed the senseless killing of the bison.
  2. About how long ago were horses brought to North Dakota?