Sioux
![](/Images/godic/202501/10/En-chief-sitting-bull1716.jpg")
![Siege of New Ulm, August 19, 1862.](/Images/godic/202501/10/The_Siege_of_New_Ulm_Minn1716.jpg")
![Drawing of the mass hanging of Dakota in Mankato, Minnesota](/Images/godic/202501/10/MankatoMN381716.JPG")
![Mass grave for the dead Lakota after massacre of Wounded Knee.](/Images/godic/202501/10/Woundedknee18911717.jpg")
The Sioux /ˈsuː/ are a Native American tribe and First Nations band government in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects. The Sioux comprise three major divisions based on Siouan dialect and subculture: the Santee, the Yankton-Yanktonai, and the Lakota.