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United Sioux Tribes - South Dakota (U.S.)

Native American

image by Donald Healy, 1 February 2008

The band
The flag

See also:

The Band

map image by Peter Orenski based on input from Don Healy

United Sioux Tribes - South Dakota

The United Sioux Tribes, based in Pierre, South Dakota, is a development corporation with eleven member Tribes. Formed in May, 1970, to "promote the general welfare, health, economic development, educational opportunities, and provide assistance" to its members, it can speak as a single voice when there is agreement on a subject.

The current members, all from South Dakota, are: Cheyenne River Sioux, Crow Creek Sioux, Devil's Lake Sioux (ND), Flandreau Santee Sioux, Lower Brulé Sioux, Oglala Sioux of the Pine Ridge Reservation, Rosebud Sioux, Santee Sioux (NE), Sisseton & Wahpeton Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux, and Yankton Sioux (Presenting the United Sioux Tribes, pamphlet, n.d., Pierre).

The Flag

The flag of the United Sioux Tribes is white with the corporate logo in the center and "UNITED SIOUX TRIBES" in black across the lower part (photo provided by the United Sioux Tribes). The logo is a ring of eleven white, stylized tepees, topped in red. It resembles the well-known Oglala Sioux flag [see Oglala Sioux]. The tepees point outwards, their bases resting on an inner black ring which contains a white disk with a symbol composed of a black circle and four red triangles (representing arrowheads) pointing outwards. The four arrowheads refer to the four compass directions, the four seasons, the four natural elements, and the four races of man. When used on stationery, the black ring on the flag is usually altered to light blue. The color difference in the flag's manufacture is a cost-saving device. The logo on the current flag is slightly out of date - it has ten tepees instead of eleven - the Santee Sioux of Nebraska having recently joined. The flag will be updated to reflect this addition.

[Thanks to Kandace Kritz, Executive Assistant of the United Sioux Tribe, for information on the United Sioux Tribes and on other Sioux tribal flags. Her assistance allowed the complete documentation of every Sioux Tribe in South Dakota.]

© Donald Healy 2008
information provided by Peter Orenski, 1 February 2008